Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., hit the campaign trail over the weekend to boost GOP candidates for Senate and governor in Ohio and Pennsylvania, following an earlier stop in Arizona. The events, sponsored by Turning Point Action, offered a preview of a potential DeSantis presidential run in 2024 as he railed against “woke ideology,” NBC News’ Henry Gomez and Allan Smith report.
DeSantis stumped for Senate hopeful J.D. Vance in Ohio and controversial gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania. Ohio GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, who is up for re-election, as well as Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz, did not attend the events (Oz, Smith reported last week, has mainly avoided Mastriano on the campaign trail).
But Oz and Mastriano are expected to appear at a Trump rally in Wilkes-Barre on Sept. 5, which, Gomez and Smith note, was announced during DeSantis’ Pennsylvania speech.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Arizona Senate: Arizona Republican Blake Masters is up with a new spot that criticizes the “Democrats in charge” for failing on the border, the supply chain and crime, arguing that his bid for Senate is motivated by the same frustrations about those issues felt by many Americans.
Georgia Senate: Republican Herschel Walker has declined an invitation to appear at a debate co-sponsored by 3WMAZ, Atlanta station 11Alive, Georgia Public Broadcasting, The Telegraph and Mercer’s Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University. In his refusal, Walker said he didn’t want to do a debate seen by only a handful of people and on a Sunday, although the debate is actually scheduled for Thursday and will be televised statewide and held in front of a live audience.
Nevada Senate: Club for Growth Action launched a new ad over the weekend that slams Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto for supporting a sweeping package that includes more funding for IRS agents. The spot is part of a $2 million buy, per a press release from the group.
Pennsylvania Senate: Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, launched its first negative ad targeting Democrat John Fetterman.
Wisconsin Senate: Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said that Social Security “was set up improperly” and would have been better as an investment in the stock market, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Arizona Governor: It’s an open question whether Arizona’s gubernatorial nominees will debate, with Democratic Sec. State Katie Hobbs’ campaign saying they have concerns about how the Citizens Clean Elections ran its GOP primary debate this cycle, per 3TV/CBS5, and Republican Kari Lake responding by challenging Hobbs to a debate at the time and place of her choosing.
Georgia Governor: Democrat Stacey Abrams once opposed abortion rights, but is now making protecting them central to her gubernatorial run, per the New York Times, which delved into her “evolution” on the issue. Her campaign is out with a new spot with women attacking the state’s laws on abortion that they say leads to “forced pregnancy” and “criminaliz[ing] women.”
Michigan Governor: Republican nominee Tudor Dixon tapped Shane Hernandez, a former state representative, as her running mate.
Indiana-02: Republican precinct committee members picked Rudy Yakym to be their nominee in the special election to replace the late GOP Rep. Jackie Walorski. Yakym, a businessman who once worked as Walorski’s finance director and was endorsed by Walorski’s husband, is also running for a full term.
New York-12: A new, last-minute ad ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primaries accuses Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of wanting to defund the police and includes violent videos of shootings. The group responsible for the ad doesn’t appear to have filed with the FEC yet.
