Democrats meddle in GOP races

Democrats, faced with a daunting 2014 political environment, are increasingly embracing a sly tactic aimed at turning races in their favor: making mischief in Republican primaries.

In Senate and House races in states from Arizona to North Carolina, Democrats have used TV ads and mailers to either denigrate establishment GOP candidates or promote their more conservative primary opponents. The goal is to get the more conservative — and, in theory, less electable — GOP pol to the general election.


The tactic, which has aided Democrats in the past, hasn’t yielded much success so far this year. But the party has at least three opportunities on Tuesday — in congressional primaries in California and New Jersey. In a season when Democrats are mostly playing defense, strategists say it’s worth trying to meddle with a Republican Party riven by internal conflicts.

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“In every cycle, we all look back and say, ‘Gee, that race sure would have been more winnable if only X candidate had won the primary.’ And this cycle, even more than in the past, the Democrats are committed to making sure that ‘what if’ turns into the inevitable,” said Jefrey Pollock, a Democratic pollster who is involved in a number of races this year.

The offensives in California and New Jersey have come in the form of sneak attacks launched quietly by Democratic groups in the final days before voters head to the polls. In both instances, the Democratic groups are running ads that use language appealing to the conservative voters most likely to vote in a GOP primary.

In south-central New Jersey, for instance, Republican voters have been deluged by commercials and mailers casting Tom MacArthur, a wealthy businessman and former North Jersey mayor who’s trying to beat back a tea party opponent, as a serial tax-raiser.

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“Do you get mad when politicians tax and spend you to death?” says one TV ad, which then cuts to a shot of a snarling canine looking menacingly into the camera. “Then get angry at Tom MacArthur.”

In Palm Springs, California, voters have received mailers assailing Brian Nestande, a state assemblyman trying to surpass a conservative foe, for failing to pay taxes. “Nestande sticks you with the bill but doesn’t pay his own,” says one mailer.

In the Sacramento area, voters have been bombarded by TV ads and mailers accusing Republican Doug Ose, a former congressman facing opposition from two conservative upstarts, of supporting cuts to military veterans’ programs while voting to increase his own pay.

“In Congress, Ose didn’t serve the troops,” says one TV spot. “He just served himself.”

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The MacArthur attack has been orchestrated by Patriot Majority USA, a Democratic group with ties to organized labor, the Nestande one by the California Democratic Party, and the Ose one by House Majority PAC, a Nancy Pelosi-backed super PAC.

Patriot Majority USA has spent more than $150,000 in the hopes of helping bomb-throwing conservative activist Steve Lonegan upend MacArthur; a California Democratic Party spokesman wouldn’t say how much the group was spending against Nestande as it tries to advance former state Sen. Ray Haynes to the general election; and House Majority PAC has poured in more than $120,000 with an eye toward pushing former congressional aide Igor Birman or financial executive Elizabeth Emken over Ose.

House Majority PAC is engaged in a similar effort in Arizona, where the group has spent more than $250,000 on TV commercials attacking state House Speaker Andy Tobin, a Mitt Romney-endorsed candidate who’s embroiled in a competitive GOP primary set for Aug. 26.

In some cases, the Democratic groups are going further than simply bashing the establishment favorite — they’re effectively praising their conservative opponents. In the final days leading up to last month’s Ohio primary, Democrat Michael Wager, who’s trying to unseat GOP Rep. David Joyce, ran TV ads highlighting the conservative credentials of a Joyce primary foe.

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The ads said the candidate, state Rep. Matt Lynch, “is considered one of the most conservative members of the entire Ohio Legislature. Lynch has been endorsed by the Tea Party Patriots. The Tea Party Patriots said Lynch ‘is determined to repeal Obamacare — unlike his opponent David Joyce.’ And Matt Lynch has been endorsed by Ohio Right to Life and the National Association for Gun Rights, too.”

Patriot Majority USA, meanwhile, has sent mailers to Republican voters in New Jersey calling Lonegan, MacArthur’s primary opponent, “so conservative.”

“There’s no question that they’re meddling,” MacArthur said in an interview. “I think it’s very clear what they’re after. They think [Lonegan is] a candidate they can beat in November, and they think I’m a candidate they can’t beat in November.”

The Democratic groups doing the dirty work aren’t eager to promote their role in it, and for good reason. If Republican primary voters were aware that they were viewing advertisements from Democrats, they’d be less likely to be swayed. Patriot Majority USA did not respond to several requests for comment. Matt Thornton, a House Majority PAC spokesman, wasn’t much more talkative.

“There’s really not much to say,” he wrote in an email.

It’s not the first time Democrats have tried to capitalize on the age-old notion that the “enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

In 2012, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill jumped into the Republican primary, airing commercials promoting Rep. Todd Akin, who was seen as her weakest general election rival. The ads called Akin “the most conservative congressman in Missouri,” said he was a “crusader against bigger government,” and declared that he had a “pro-family agenda.”

At the same time, McCaskill ran commercials that undermined two prospectively stronger Republican foes in the primary. Akin would go on to win the nomination and be routed by McCaskill in the general election after making controversial remarks about rape.

And in the 2002 California governor’s race, Democratic incumbent Gray Davis made a splash when he ran ads in the Republican primary calling former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan untrustworthy on key issues. Riordan had long been seen as the GOP front-runner and a serious threat to the governor, but Davis’ damaging ad campaign opened the door for another candidate, conservative businessman Bill Simon, to win the primary. Simon, a political neophyte, went on to lose to Davis.

At the time, recalled top Davis strategist Garry South, the idea of a Democrat meddling in a Republican primary was a novel one.

“We were weak. There was no doubt about it,” he said. But “when we started airing that ad, [Riordan] slid like a greased pig down a pole. … It became the defining moment of that campaign.”

This year’s primary battles are far more intense for Republicans than for Democrats, and GOP leaders and their allies, wary of tea party hopefuls who could flounder in November, have directed millions toward shoring up establishment-friendly candidates against conservative insurgents. So far this year, Democrats have been unsuccessful in pushing one of those insurgents over the top.

Despite Wager’s ads in Ohio, Lynch lost badly to Joyce. In the Republican primary for a North Carolina Senate seat, establishment favorite Thom Tillis easily prevailed over tea party-backed rivals even though a Democratic super PAC aired hard-hitting ads against him.

MacArthur, Nestande and Ose also are expected to prevail Tuesday. The trio have far outraised their conservative opponents.

MacArthur maintains that the Democratic mischief-making isn’t breaking through. “I think people … are seeing through it,” he said. “I’ve spoken to many people in the last few days who are know something is afoot.”

Even if they don’t succeed in preventing mainstream Republicans from winning primaries, Democrats point out that tarnishing an establishment candidate early on can pay off in November.

In a battleground race such as the one for Arizona’s 1st District, where advertising from both parties is expected to be prolific, House Majority PAC ads are labeling Tobin an “insurance company executive” who wants to increase prescription costs for seniors. It’s a line Democrats are likely to replicate in the fall should he win his primary.

“The Democratic opponents wouldn’t be attacking me if they didn’t think I was the best candidate,” Tobin said. “My dad always told me that if you’re not the target, then you’re not going to take any flak. So I guess I’m the target.”