Whichever Republican Emerges Faces A Massive Cash on Hand Deficit For the General
“No matter which scandal-ridden, cash-strapped Republican emerges from the August primary, they’ll face an uphill battle thanks to Rep. Slotkin’s record of fighting for Michiganders on bipartisan issues like ensuring that medicine and PPE are Made in America and lowering the cost of prescription drugs,” said DCCC Spokesperson Courtney Rice.
Eclectic mix of Republicans fight for chance to unseat Slotkin
Detroit News, Beth LeBlanc
Key Points:
- […] Slotkin, a Holly Democrat… has more than $4.8 million in cash on hand for the fall election — an astronomical amount for a Michigan U.S. House contest. […] As a result, the eventual Republican nominee stands a tougher chance of winning in November than originally hoped for because of poor recruiting by the Michigan Republican Party, experts said.
- “Any Republican candidate was going to face an uphill battle in the 8th because they’re facing an incumbent with a ton of earned media, a disciplined, moderate message and a historic fundraising record,” said John Sellek, who worked for Republican former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and owns the Lansing public relations firm Harbor Strategic.
- “To a certain extent it doesn’t matter what happens in August. The GOP was unable to recruit a quality challenger in this race,” said Adrian Hemond, partner and CEO at Grassroots Midwest and a Democratic consultant.
- [Paul] Junge has a fundraising edge over the other GOP candidates, raising $261,877 last quarter and holding about $520,000 on hand. Most of his money came from a $505,000 loan he made to his campaign. At the same point ahead of the 2018 primary, Bishop had raised $2.1 million and had $1.7 million on hand to Slotkin’s $2.9 million raised and $2.2 million available. None of the other Republican candidates raised more than $60,000 last quarter.
- Controversies for candidates: […]During the April 15 “Operation Gridlock” rally, Detmer was photo-bombed by the neo-fascist group The Proud Boys. When individuals criticized the photo, Detmer took to Facebook to explain the group was “protecting our freedoms.” On June 18, during an American Patriots Rally, Detmer referred to protester calls for defunding the police as “this whole race nonsense.” He told The Detroit News he meant that the push to defund the police was “nonsense.” In 2016, Detmer declared bankruptcy after losing his job when his position was terminated.
Read the full article here.
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