There are some pivotal elections in Arizona this fall — including for governor, secretary of state, attorney general and a Senate race.
But the news out of Arizona Monday included some shadow boxing ahead of a race not on the calendar for more than 600 days: Arizona’s 2024 Democratic Senate primary.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., spoke Monday at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, where she was introduced by the eponymous Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. There, the GOP leader called Sinema “one of the most effective first-term senators,” as well as “a genuine moderate and a dealmaker.” And Sinema defended her stance on the filibuster, calling for it to be strengthened, not abandoned.
The back-and-forth prompted a barb from Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who has flirted with a Senate primary bid against Sinema, who repeatedly tweeted criticism of Sinema, arguing that Sinema “would actually prefer the Dems lose control of the Senate and House.”
All just weeks away from a Senate race this cycle that so far has been trending the Democrats’ way.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Georgia Senate: Republican Herschel Walker’s campaign listed a woman arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as well as one of the state’s “fake electors” who sought to overturn the 2020 election, as two of his campaign’s “county captains,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
North Carolina Senate: The Senate Leadership Fund is out with new ads in a handful of states, including North Carolina, criticizing Democrats for strengthening funding for the IRS. The spot argues that “Beasley’s gonna knock on your door with an army of new IRS agents,” using footage of police raids and special agents at a gun range behind the claims.
New Hampshire Senate: Republican nominee Don Bolduc, who repeatedly made false claims about former President Trump winning the 2020 presidential election before walking it back after the primary, opined during a recent podcast that “the narrative that the election was stolen, it does not fly up here in New Hampshire for whatever reason.”
Pennsylvania Senate: Some Democrats are warning that Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman isn’t doing enough to win over Black voters in the state’s cities, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. And a new Marist Poll showed Fetterman with a 10-point lead over Republican Mehmet Oz. On Monday Oz picked up an endorsement from the Philadelphia police union, which also backed Democrat Josh Shapiro for governor.
Arizona Governor: Republican nominee Kari Lake is going up on TV for the first time since the primary with a new ad buy starting Tuesday, per AdImpact. Her campaign has booked $250,000, but also booked another flight starting Wednesday with the Yuma County GOP for a whopping $7.3 million.
Pennsylvania Governor: The New York Times looks at how little Republican Doug Mastriano’s campaign is spending on ads, and how GOP outside groups don’t look eager to help him. The Marist Poll also found Mastriano trailing Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro by 13 points.
Michigan-07: Republican Tom Barrett is up with a new ad that links Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin to President Biden, arguing that on inflation, “the Democrat Party has gotten us to where we are.” The DCCC is running a new ad in the district that accuses Barrett of “trying to hide” his “extremist stance on abortion.”
Los Angeles Mayor: Fox News reports that businessman Rick Caruso is attacking California Democratic Rep. Karen Bass in a new ad for praising Scientology. Bass addressed the comments last cycle when she was in contention for the vice presidential nomination.