Campaign

RNC launches effort against red-state Dems over shutdown

by Lisa Hagen - 01/22/18 9:08 AM ET

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is targeting five red-state Democratic senators up for reelection in 2018 over the government shutdown.

The effort targets Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who all represent states President Trump carried in the 2016 election. All five joined most other Senate Democrats and a few Republicans in voting against a House bill on Friday that would have funded the government for another month.

The RNC’s six-figure buy included calls to 2.6 million voters in those five battleground states about the government shutdown as well as a digital component with paid targeted Facebook posts.

{mosads}

“It is infuriating, it is petty, and YOU deserve better from your elected official,” a robocall to people in all five states says. “Demand that your Senator do their job — vote to fund the government, support our military, and provide health care for millions of American children.”

The government shut down early Saturday morning. The Senate is poised to vote at noon on a procedural motion that could lead to an end to the shutdown, though it is unclear if the measure will win the 60 votes needed for success.

“Millions of Americans have watched Democrats resist and obstruct President Trump at every move and they are watching Democrats put politics above people by voting for this shutdown,” RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement. “For the Democrats who choose once again to jeopardize government funding, November is going to be a wake-up call.”

Democrats and Republicans are playing a furious blame game over the shutdown.

Over the weekend, the Democratic National Committee launched a digital ad against five Senate Republicans, accusing them of causing the shutdown. Of the five, two of them are up for reelection in 2018: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who is considered the most vulnerable GOP senator up for reelection.

Meanwhile, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP campaign arm, launched a Facebook ad campaign targeting the 10 Senate Democrats up for reelection in states Trump won in 2016.

That attack covers a few Democrats who backed the House bill to keep the government open.