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☆ The Obscure G.O.P. Bookkeeper at the Center of the George Santos Mess
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Grace Ashford | Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The degree to which Ms. Marks was aware of Mr. Santos’s numerous biographical deceptions is not clear. In May 2021, Red Strategies USA was born. The placements cost $3,800, though Mr. Hafizi paid Red Strategies $12,000, according to a person with direct knowledge of the arrangement. Red Strategies was not the only company Mr. Hafizi patronized that was tied to Ms. Marks, who was also his treasurer. By then, Ms. Marks and Mr. Santos were just a few weeks from an unlikely upset victory that would alter the course of their careers.

☆ Tim Scott Goes Positive and Hopes His Party Will Come Along
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Maya King | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Scott, the son of a single mother and the grandson of a man forced to drop out of elementary school to pick cotton, has made his compelling personal story a feature of his public speeches and interviews. “Only made in America is my story.”Mr. Scott’s history and positive message, however, can sometimes seem at odds with the mood of many in his party. “The ones who are negative are the ones who are loudest,” said Kathy Crawford, 67, an independent voter and lifelong Charleston resident who said she would support Mr. Scott in the Republican primary if he ran. Voters, she said, “want to bring the country back together, and they want a positive message.”And Mr. Scott’s message could resonate with a key audience in the Republican primary: conservative evangelical Christians. Mr. Scott has spent significant time focusing on evangelical voters in his tour of early primary states, often meeting with small groups of religious leaders in between quasi campaign stops.

MADISON, Wis. — Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly has released his first campaign ad of the general election to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat where the ideological balance of the court is at stake. Protasiewicz has also run ads accusing Kelly of being soft on crime for the work he did as a defense attorney. He's spent $53,000 on the airwaves so far, and has reserved $107,000 worth of additional ad time through April 4 -- Election Day -- per AdImpact, an ad tracking firm. She's reserved an additional $4 million worth of airtime through Election Day. Other outside allies have helped her effort too, and Everytown for Gun Safety just announced a $500,000 ad campaign that includes an ad attacking Kelly on gun rights and abortion.

Michigan Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin's decision to run for Senate gives her party a top recruit as it looks to defend a key seat in that chamber next fall. But the move also leaves the party forced to compete in an open House seat instead of leaning on one of their top incumbents — all in one of the nation's most evenly divided districts. After redistricting created new congressional lines for the 2022 election, Slotkin won her seat over Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett by more than 5%. That's one main reason why the race drew about $37 million in ad spending, more than every House race in the country except one, per the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And despite the virtually even political divide in Michigan's 7th, at least according to 2020 presidential numbers, Slotkin was able to defeat Barrett by that 5-point margin.

☆ Liberal, conservative advance in Wisconsin Supreme Court race with abortion rights at stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Former state Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, a staunch conservative who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump when he ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 2020, took second place, the AP projected. With a Democratic governor, Tony Evers, and a Republican-majority legislature often at loggerheads, the state Supreme Court's 4-3 conservative majority has issued a string of decisions that typically favored Republicans. But a conservative justice is leaving the bench this year, putting the political leaning of the court in question. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit claiming the statute is invalid - a case eventually headed for the state Supreme Court. A new liberal majority could also revisit other statutes, such as laws requiring voter identification, permitting concealed carry of firearms and weakening public sector unions.

In Mississippi, Republican Gov. Andy Beshear flipped the governor’s mansion in 2019, leaving Republicans eyeing his seat as one to flip back into their column. Bel Edwards spent just under $13 million, while two outside super PACs, one Democratic and one Republican, spent a combined $18 million. In 2019, Beshear beat then-Gov. Mississippi governor’s raceIn Mississippi’s governor’s race, GOP Gov.

We’re going to win Georgia,” Biden said in response to questions regarding his outlook on the Georgia Senate runoff contest as he exited Air Force One Tuesday night. Share this -Link copiedWarnock defeats Walker in Georgia Senate runoff, NBC News projects Sen. Raphael Warnock has won his second statewide runoff election in the last two years, defeating Republican Herschel Walker in the increasingly purple state of Georgia to capture a six-year term in the Senate, NBC News projected. Share this -Link copiedThe Senate runoff election is still too close to call, but Warnock leads The Senate runoff election between Warnock and Walker is still too close to call, but Warnock leads, NBC News' Decision Desk said just before 10 p.m. Share this -Link copiedPolls close soon in critical Georgia Senate runoff Polls are closing at 7 p.m. ET in the Senate runoff election in Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is hoping to fend off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker.

The turnout in the Senate runoff was nearly 75% to 80% of the entire turnout for the midterm election in November. Share this -Link copiedPolls close soon in critical Georgia Senate runoff Polls are closing at 7 p.m. ET in the Senate runoff election in Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is hoping to fend off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has a massive ad-spending and fundraising advantage over Republican Herschel Walker in the runoff election. In the 2022 general election, Warnock grew his advantage in Henry County, winning it by just over 31 points.

Share this -Link copiedGroups work to mobilize Latino voters in Georgia Senate runoff From giving away bingo-like Mexican lotería cards to Taco Tuesdays and World Cup watch parties, Latino voting mobilization efforts ramped up in Georgia leading into the Senate runoff election. Share this -Link copiedPolls close soon in critical Georgia Senate runoff Polls are closing at 7 p.m. ET in the Senate runoff election in Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is hoping to fend off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has a massive ad-spending and fundraising advantage over Republican Herschel Walker in the runoff election. In the 2022 general election, Warnock grew his advantage in Henry County, winning it by just over 31 points.

But first: The results from five counties will help tell us if Democrat Raphael Warnock is on track to win tonight’s Senate runoff in Georgia. Warnock got 56.9% of the vote in Cobb when he won the Jan. 2021 runoff, and he got just under that last November (56.8%). And in Gwinnett, Warnock got 60.6% of the vote in the 2021 runoff, compared with 58.9% last month against Walker. In rural Chattooga — one of NBC News’ “County to County” counties — Warnock got just 20.5% when he won the 2021 runoff, and he got less than that in the November general election (19.8%). Data Download: The number of the day is … $7.79 billionThat’s how much money was spent on political television, radio and digital ads this entire cycle (starting the day after the 2021 Georgia Senate runoff through today’s runoff), per AdImpact.

Gonzalez did his own spending and campaigning, but amid an onslaught of Republican spending in the region’s elections, the DCCC ads were welcome, Gonzalez’s campaign said. “We did historic investments when it came to Latino voters and voters of color,” said Maríafernanda Zacarías, DCCC senior adviser for Latino engagement. That Latino spending was just one portion of the big-money ultimately unsuccessful effort to hold the House Democratic majority. Democrats invested in holding their Latino support and “mostly succeeded,” said Angle, who runs the Lone Star Project supporting Texas Democrats. Republican Rep. Mike Garcia defeated Democrat Christy Smith to return to Congress for California’s 27th Congressional District, based in northern Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON — If it’s Monday ... It’s the last day of campaigning before tomorrow’s Georgia Senate runoff. ... NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard covers the closing messages by Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. And just looking at the campaigns, which get the biggest bang per advertising buck, it’s Warnock at $25.2 million, versus Walker at $10.1 million. But now it’s $11.8 million — behind Warnock’s $25 million and the $20.3 million from Georgia Honor, a Democratic Super PAC. Runoff watch: Walker accuser speaks to NBC NewsDays after she first revealed an allegation of domestic abuse against Georgia Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker, a former girlfriend of his sat down with NBC News to detail those allegations.

☆ Georgia Runoff Propels Atlanta TV Station to Ad Cash Crown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( John Mccormick | Cameron Mcwhirter | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ATLANTA—Georgia voters have suffered through an extra dose of political ads because of Tuesday’s U.S. Senate runoff, and their pain has meant extra profit for WSB-TV, the station that has seen more money pass through it in 2022 than any other in the nation. More than $86 million in political advertising flowed into the ABC affiliate so far this year, according to data from the ad tracker AdImpact. It is a windfall generated by a confluence of high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate, including the bonus of the runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker . “Not only did they have multiple competitive races, but then they got a whole extra bite at the apple” with the runoff race, said Ken Goldstein , a polling and political analyst who has done academic research on campaign advertising.

Outgunned financially as Democrats dominate early voting, Herschel Walker’s Georgia Senate campaign Thursday begged donors to pony up more money because of Sen. Raphael Warnock’s growing sense of momentum. We need help,” Walker campaign manager Scott Paradise wrote in the memo sent to donors Thursday, which was obtained by NBC News ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election. “Core Republican voters just can’t get fired up about Walker, and they came out in the general because they liked Kemp or their congressional candidates. The Walker campaign is no longer beaming with the confidence it had heading into Election Day in November. “Some people still can’t get over the Trump connection,” said Ed Muldrow, the former chairman of the Gwinnett County GOP.

As Republicans across the country saw their predictions of commanding victories up and down the ballot fall short on election night, Democrats in Pennsylvania were celebrating signs of a blue wave. Spencer Platt / Getty Images fileMany state Republicans said it’s no surprise that the strategy worked. “I think Republicans are going to be very demoralized here,” one Republican who worked on a Pennsylvania campaign, said in an interview. But while Oz struggled to overcome questions about his residency, Democrats and Republicans both said the election was driven by the Shapiro-Mastriano dynamic. “To have a wave, you not only have to have the initial motion, but you have to have the driver.

Speaking to reporters this week, Brown reaffirmed that he intends to seek a fourth term. Jai Chabria, Vance’s chief campaign strategist, said he expects the “floodgates to open” with candidates eager to take on Brown. Dolan’s pitch to county chairs this week leaned into frustrations that Republicans have vented toward Trump after disappointing midterm results. For Brown, this year’s midterm elections in Ohio have yielded a more unpleasant set of questions than the last. “He is a different beast than Tim Ryan, because Tim Ryan was a Xerox of a Xerox of Sherrod Brown,” Chabria said.

☆ Adam Laxalt concedes in Nevada race that tipped the balance of the Senate
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Adam Laxalt, the former Nevada attorney general who called the 2020 presidential election “rigged,” conceded his loss on Tuesday in a contest that tipped the balance of the Senate to Democrats. The concession comes days after multiple news outlets on Saturday, including NBC News, had declared his opponent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, the winner. The race margin was razor-thin, with the latest tally showing Cortez Masto with 48.8 percent of the vote and Laxalt with 48 percent. In the end, Cortez Masto eked out the win by vastly outperforming Laxalt in mail-in ballots. Laxalt noted Cortez Masto and allies spent a "staggering" amount of money against him and he still came within half a percentage point of victory.

☆ How Catherine Cortez Masto clinched the Nevada seat — and the Senate
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The campaign's internal data moving into the fall showed that a significant number of Nevadans still didn't know Laxalt's stance on abortion, said an adviser to Cortez Masto. Cortez Masto clinched Nevada, and that clinched control of the Senate for Democrats, overcoming historical trends that punish the party in the White House. Gas and inflation should have spelled disaster for Cortez Masto, as it did for Nevada Gov. Of those who did vote, 62% backed Cortez Masto. Laxalt did dominate the state's 15 rural counties, but there just weren't enough votes to overcome Cortez Masto in Clark and Washoe counties.

In Arizona Senate, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly is ahead of Republican Blake Masters by 115,000 votes with 80% in. On Dobbs, the national exit poll showed 27% of voters picking abortion as their No. And remember that our final NBC News poll found Trump as one of the most unpopular political figures we measured, especially compared with President Biden. In each state, those Democratic secretaries of state nominees were running against Republicans who cast doubt on the 2020 election result. Two of those five feature Democrat vs. Democrat contests, thanks to the state’s Top 2 primary, so those will stay in the Democratic column.

Proposition 26, which sought to bring point spreads to Native American casinos, was being rejected by 70.1% to 29.9%, tallies showed Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Proposition 27, the measure that sought to legalize online sports betting, was going down to even greater defeat by 83.3% to 16.7%. Proposition 26 garnered $120.7 million in donor support and $43.8 million in opposition efforts, according to the California secretary of state's contribution records. Meanwhile, Proposition 27 drew $169.5 million in support and $237.8 million in opposition. Proposition 27's backers didn't strongly oppose Proposition 26, whose backers aggressively fought the former measure in hopes of bringing Native American casinos a near-monopoly in sports betting.

☆ Senate Control Up for Grabs With Key Races Too Close to Call
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Siobhan Hughes | Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The Republican path to control of the Senate narrowed early Wednesday with Democrat John Fetterman ’s victory over physician and television personality Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, the first Senate seat flipped by either party. Republicans had poured $85 million into general-election ads for the Pennsylvania contest to try to hold a seat left open by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey . Democrats spent $111 million, according to AdImpact, a political ad tracking firm.

☆ Midterm elections live updates: Pennsylvania races, New Hampshire Senate race too early to call
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Brandy Zadrozny | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +109 min

Share this -Link copiedWisconsin Senate and governor's races too early to call It is too early to call the Senate and gubernatorial races in Wisconsin, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedNew Hampshire Senate race too early to call The Senate race in New Hampshire is too early to call, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedPennsylvania Senate and governor races are too early to call After polls closed at 8 p.m. While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a “hiccup,” it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said.

While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a “hiccup,” it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. According to the poll, 46% of voters said their family’s financial situation is worse than it was two years ago. Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, filed a similar complaint Friday against state election officials. The app and portal had been down for part of the morning and the state's election hotline also briefly experienced issues. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said.

☆ A long-shot Democratic candidate raised more than $15.6 million to defeat Marjorie Taylor Greene. He lost by 31 points.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Democratic opponent, Marcus Flowers, raised $15.6 million for his campaign. "Tomorrow, with your help, we could make history by defeating Marjorie Taylor Greene," Flowers wrote in a fundraising email sent on November 7, the night before the election. But let me make my case: We're building the most extensive Democratic campaign this district has EVER seen — and MTG is terrified." AP Photo/Ben GrayThe sum that Flowers raised is gargantuan for a congressional campaign, far outpacing the amounts raised by the party's most vulnerable members. Compare that to Democratic candidates in more competitive races, who have tended to raise between $3 and $10 million this year.

By the end of Election Day, approximately 21,000 total interviews will be conducted. Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, filed a similar complaint Friday against state election officials. The app and portal had been down for part of the morning and the state's election hotline also briefly experienced issues. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said. Share this -Link copiedSunny weather in most battleground states on Election Day It’s a bright and sunny Election Day in many battleground states!

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