President Joe Biden may have joined Democrat John Fetterman on the trail in Pennsylvania Thursday, but a trip to Nevada on the same day shows the clear limits Democrats have when using Biden as an ally on the trail.
NBC News’ Garrett Haake and Frank Thorp swung through Nevada and spoke with both Senate candidates there — Republican nominee Adam Laxalt and Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto — and a clear theme emerged. Laxalt’s the one who wants to be talking about Biden, not the Democrat.
“She never breaks from her party,” Laxalt said of Cortez Masto. “People are really upset with Joe Biden.”
When asked about Biden, Cortez Masto told Haake “my priority has always just been Nevadans first and foremost.” Pressed twice to discuss the president, the Democrat never mentioned his name.
“I can tell you what I hear from Nevadans, and that’s my priority. And it’s not what you just asked me. It is about everyday issues, kitchen table issues,” she said.
The dynamic typifies how both parties are trying to win control of the Senate when the dust settles on November: Republicans by going through Biden, and Democrats by going around him.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Georgia Senate: The New York Times explores Republican Herschel Walker’s claims that he has “overcome” his struggles with dissociative identity disorder. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock released his first TV ad referencing the allegations that Walker paid for an abortion for an ex-girlfriend, while Walker and the NRSC are up with a new spot that links Biden and Warnock and says they are “radically changing America” with things like “driving us into recession” and “teaching our kids to hate America.”
Nevada Senate: Senate Leadership Fund added another $2.1 million to their TV buys in the race, per AdImpact.
Pennsylvania Senate: President Joe Biden addressed donors at a fundraiser for John Fetterman, saying, “The rest of the world is looking to this election,” per the Philadelphia Inquirer. And the Associated Press delves into how Republican Mehmet Oz “may have made his reputation as a surgeon. But he made a fortune as a salesman.”
Utah Senate: Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., hit the campaign trail on Thursday with independent Evan McMullin, who is running against GOP Sen. Mike Lee. Kinzinger knocked Lee’s penchant for carrying a small copy of the Constitution saying, “I wouldn’t be able to find fake electors in that pocket Constitution,” per the Deseret News.
Pennsylvania Governor: Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro is leaning into his Jewish faith in his run for governor as he also tries to paint his opponent, GOP state Sen. Doug Mastriano, as extreme, per the Washington Post. Mastriano, meanwhile, released a new TV ad Thursday that covers a range of issues and promises, “We can restore freedom.”
