Senate Democrats begin onslaught against GOP opponents

Senate Democrats’ campaign arm will begin airing TV ads on Wednesday in four battleground states, marking the official start of their fall ad campaign.

The spots will target four GOP candidates: Kari Lake in Arizona, Eric Hovde in Wisconsin, Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania and Mike Rogers in Michigan. They are part of a $79 million ad blitz from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

All the ads focus on specific attacks against the four Republicans.

The ad in Michigan knocks Rogers for taking money from Big Pharma and Wall Street and then buying a Florida mansion. Rogers, a former member of Congress, will face Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin after both won their primaries on Tuesday.

In Arizona, the DSCC’s ad features footage of Lake telling McCain Republicans to “get the hell out.” It also warns she will ban abortion with no exceptions and is endorsed by “white supremacists and Holocaust deniers.” Lake is battling Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego for the open seat.

In Wisconsin, the group’s spot casts Hovde as “a phony” multimillionaire California banker trying to buy a Senate seat in Wisconsin. Hovde, the heavy favorite in next week’s GOP primary, is challenging Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

The DSCC is releasing two ads in Pennsylvania. One hits McCormick for saying he would be “very, very happy” to see Roe v. Wade overturned. A second warns that under McCormick’s leadership Bridgewater Associates became the No. 1 foreign hedge fund in China and helped boost its military. McCormick is looking to unseat Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.

Democrats are facing an exceedingly tough Senate map. Republicans may need to flip only one seat to retake Senate control, and they have a near-guaranteed pickup in West Virginia. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) will have to hold on in states that former President Donald Trump won in 2020. Meanwhile, Democrats will need to reelect all their incumbents and win open seats in Arizona and Michigan.

August will bring an onslaught of campaign ads from party committees and super PACs. Many of the candidates themselves have been on air for weeks.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee’s independent expenditure is also going on air with its first spot of the cycle on Tuesday. The ad attacks Slotkin for voting to provide stimulus checks to prisoners like former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.