Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his New York hush money case is turning into one of the first big tests for Senate candidates trying to deal with the tumult of standing next to the polarizing former president.
Battleground Republican candidates rallied around Trump after a New York jury last week found him guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, with many criticizing the case as “election interference,” “a sham,” ‘rigged’ and ‘forgery’. political persecution.”
But as Republicans rush to embrace Trump, many Democrats want to focus on their own states and other issues rather than making a meal of the guilty verdict, faced with an uncertain political landscape and the knowledge that they need Trump voters will have to support. they also in important races.
At least two Republican candidates launched new ads on Monday to further leverage the ruling in their races.
Republican Tim Sheehy launched a new spot saying his likely opponent, the Democratic senator from Montana. Jon Tester“supported Joe Biden‘s witch hunt every step of the way.” The ad will air on TV, according to a source familiar with the strategy.
In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno launched a digital ad which criticizes Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown for “refusing to condemn Biden’s politically motivated witch hunt.”
It’s no coincidence that Moreno and Sheehy are targeting the verdict to inflame Trump supporters in Ohio and Montana. Both states are among Republicans’ best chances to flip Senate seats this year, after the open seat in West Virginia — Trump won Montana by 16 points and Ohio by 8 points in 2020. The GOP has a net gain of need two seats to take power. the chamber (or one seat if Trump wins the White House, since the vice president casts tie-breaking votes in the Senate).
Tester and Brown had similar, muted reactions to last week’s verdict.
“I am not a lawyer or a judge, but I have said from the beginning that no one is above the law,” Brown said in a statement. “Ultimately, it is up to the legal system to figure this out and for the American people to decide in November.”
“Senator Tester respects the judicial process and believes everyone should be treated fairly in court, and voters will have the opportunity to make their voices heard at the ballot box this November,” a spokesperson told the Montana Free Press.
Trump’s tightrope of the Democrats
Republicans were quick to criticize Democrats’ responses.
“Senate Democrats have a choice: They can spend the next six months defending their party’s efforts to jail Donald Trump, or they can withdraw their support for Joe Biden and call for an end to this unjust political persecution ,” said a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Philip Letsou said in a statement to NBC News. “Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown’s attempts to bury their heads in the sand won’t work.”
Democrats’ reactions to the verdict underscore the difficult balancing act these candidates face: rallying as many Democrats as possible while also winning over some Trump voters as their states have shifted to the right. To do this, they focus on local issues and promote their work on bipartisan policies such as veterans’ health care and the opioid epidemic.
“We have a lot of Senate candidates who would like to make their races about their states, not about partisan antics in Washington, D.C.,” said a Democratic strategist involved in Senate races.
“Every time Trump appears in the news again, it obviously becomes more difficult,” the strategist added. “But this was a phenomenon before or after the ruling.”
Other Democratic Senate candidates also issued brief statements after the verdict, emphasizing support for the broader justice system.
“I respect our legal system and the rule of law. The trial has unfolded and we must always demand accountability from our elected leaders,” Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona wrote on X. Gallego has also raised money for the verdict, sending an email to supporters Thursday evening with the subject line: “Don won’t let a convicted felon win in Arizona.”
Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said in a statement: “The former president had his day in court before a jury of citizens, as we all deserve, and this verdict reflects that.”
But Elissa Slotkin, a top Senate candidate, went a step further and described Trump as a “convicted felon.” criminal, found guilty by a jury of his peers.
Rich Luchette, a Democratic strategist, suggested that taking a more direct approach to Trump could be a winning strategy.
“Don’t be afraid. Voters appreciate candidates who tell it like it is,” Luchette said. “Democrats should feel comfortable talking about Donald Trump’s felony convictions and the importance of protecting our democracy no matter the public. At the same time, we must remain focused on the issues that matter most to working men and women: access to health care, protecting abortion and growing the economy from the bottom up and from the middle.”
But Republican strategist Brad Todd said the verdict was “a missed opportunity” for these Democratic candidates to distance themselves from the national party.
“Ultimately, Tester and Sherrod Brown and Bob Casey are not going to win unless they convert some of the people who vote for Donald Trump,” Todd said. “And if they were smart, they would criticize this prosecution and say that only the voters in November should decide Donald Trump, not a grand jury in Manhattan.”
Embracing Trump
The Republican candidates in the Senate, meanwhile, are largely sticking together. Along with Sheehy and Moreno, Republican candidates in swing states have also rejected the verdict.
Former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, a top Senate candidate in Michigan, said: “It is clear that these charges were politically motivated from the start, and while our justice system fortunately does not place all power in the hands of fanatical partisan prosecutors, this is a rigged trial and this un-American prosecution of President Trump will leave an indelible stain on our nation.”
Republicans have also used the energy surrounding Trump’s verdict to boost their campaign accounts. The NRSC reported its best ever online fundraising day after the verdict was announced last week, saying it raised $360,000.
Only former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who is running for Senate in his deep blue state, did not condemn the verdict, posting at X before it was announced: “Regardless of the outcome, I urge all Americans to condemn the verdict and the legal procedure.”
The dangers of such an approach quickly became clear. Trump’s senior adviser Chris LaCivita responded: “You just ended your campaign.”
Consistent eEmbracing Trump is a marked shift from 2016, when Senate battleground fighters sought to distance themselves from their controversial standard-bearer. In 2024, after eight years of Trump-fueled evolution in the party, Republicans are not shy about aligning themselves with Trump and showing up at his rallies in their states.
Some Democrats were skeptical that embracing Trump would give Republicans a boost, especially after last week’s verdict.
“The outcome of the Senate races will be determined by the poor quality and disqualifying shortcomings of the Republican candidates,” said David Bergstein, communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “The fact that they are now standing next to a convicted criminal certainly won’t help. them.”
With voters citing other issues such as the economy, immigration, democracy and abortion as their top concerns, it is not clear whether Trump’s legal issues will have a major impact further down the ballot.
The Democratic strategist involved in the Senate races doubted the verdict would cause a decisive voter to change his or her Senate vote. The strategist also noted that fundamental tension remains in these Senate races as Republicans look to tie Democrats into the presidential election and Democrats try to keep the focus on their states.
“That nationalization has always been at the heart of Republican arguments and this process has not changed that,” the strategist said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
