We Did it: Election administrators go to Washington

Jun 21, 2022

Presented by American Edge Project

TOP LINE

IT'S ELECTION DAY — We've got more primaries on tap Tuesday — but before we get to the races, a word about the infrastructure around voting itself…

FIRST IN SCORE — FLYING IN — Election workers from across the country are flying into the nation's capital to beg Washington for two things that have vexed officials since the last election: security and funding. The advocacy group Issue One is kicking off its "Faces of Democracy" campaign by convening a bipartisan group of election officials to meet with members of Congress and the White House this week.

The campaign, which was shared first with Score , will arm election officials with a broad set of asks that many in the field have held for ages: A "significant and regular investment" in election infrastructure, new funding specifically for threat monitoring, more federal protections against threats and intimidation against election workers, more privacy protections — and a "bipartisan update" to the Electoral Count Act.

"Anyone who cares about preserving our freedoms, particularly our leaders in Congress, should pay attention and support these individuals with the tools and resources they need to keep the machinery of our democracy running," Dokhi Fassihian, deputy chief of strategy and program at Issue One, said in a statement.

Some of the names participating in the campaign will sound familiar. The list includes Al Schmidt, the former Republican Philadelphia city commissoner who testified in front of the Jan. 6 committee last week; Amber McReynolds, a President Joe Biden appointee to the United States Post Office's board of governors and a former Denver, Colo., election official; and Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Leigh Chapman, among others.

The push will also include a digital ad featuring election officials pushing for more support from D.C. that will run on the sites of "major news outlets" as well.

PRIMARY PREVIEW — " All the seats up for grabs in Tuesday's primaries," by POLITICO's Zach Montellaro: "Republican voters will effectively pick the next member of Congress for a handful of open, deep-red congressional seats in Tuesday's primaries — including a Senate seat in Alabama that's been the subject of one of the strangest and most dramatic races of 2022. There, the fight to replace retiring GOP Sen. Richard Shelby has come down to Rep. Mo Brooks and Katie Britt, Shelby's former chief of staff — and, as often happens in GOP primaries these days, Donald Trump."

— "A handful of safely Republican House districts in Georgia and Alabama will also see voters choose brand-new nominees. And in Virginia, Republicans in two swing seats will get the chance to shape the broader House landscape, selecting their contenders to go after vulnerable Democratic districts."

Happy first day of summer, readers. Send all your election tips and tidbits to: sbland@politico.com or @ PoliticoScott.

Days until the Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi runoff, New York (Senate and governor), Oklahoma and Utah primaries: 7

Days until the Maryland primaries: 28

Days until the Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington primaries: 42

Days until the general election: 140

Days until the 2022 World Cup: 152

Days until the 2024 election: 868

A message from American Edge Project:

Voters Focused on Inflation – Not Breaking Up Tech

Midterm voters' top priorities for Congress are inflation (88%), national security (86%), and jobs (85%). 84 percent of voters agree "there are other, bigger problems facing the United States, we should not be focused on breaking up U.S. tech companies right now ." Read more from our poll in partnership with Ipsos.

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THE CASH DASH

FEC NOTEBOOK — The second-biggest-spending group in Democratic primaries this year was financed last month by major Republican megadonors. United Democracy Fund, the AIPAC super PAC that's spent $10 million on campaigns so far, got $1 million in May from hedge funder Paul Singer, $1 million from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus and $150,000 from investor Roger Hertog, according to a new FEC filing.

— Altogether, that accounts for more than half of the group's $4.2 million total fundraising in May. The group has been involved in six Democratic House primaries so far, winning five and losing one. United Democracy Project just launched an ad against former Rep. Donna Edwards in MD-04 last week.

— The pro-Ted Cruz outfit Truth and Courage PAC had another big-spending month in May, with $429,000 spent on "media/media production/travel" and tens of thousands more spent on facility rentals in Wisconsin and Georgia, where the group scheduled events. The super PAC has $2.1 million in the bank.

— Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried continues to spread a ton of money around, but don't forget about FTX colleague Ryan Salame, who kicked in $8 million in May to American Dream Federal Action. The super PAC has been spending heavily in Republican primaries, typically backing less-right-wing candidates.

— Trump's leadership PAC Save America sent $2 million to a pair of super PACs that ran ads knocking Republican Mehmet Oz's opponents in the Pennslyvania GOP Senate primary, according to filings from the group. Also on the list: an additional $1 million donation to Get Georgia Right, which went after Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp. (Our own Alex Isenstadt previously reported that the leadership PAC had kicked in $500,000 earlier in the year.) The group reported having over $101 million in cash on hand.

— COMMITTEE UPDATE — The DSCC raised $11.9 million in May and finished the month with $52.1 million in hand. Other committees by May fundraising: DCCC ($11.8 million raised, $117.7 million banked), NRCC ($9 million raised, $98.2 million banked) and NRSC ($8 million raised, $36 million banked).

THE KEYSTONE STATE — Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has a major cash advantage over his Republican opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, for the state's open governorship. Shapiro has nearly $13.5 million in the bank as of June 6, while Mastriano is carrying just under $400,000, per PoliticsPA's Steve Ulrich.

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CAMPAIGN INTEL

THE LOOKAHEAD — "Inside the Democratic strategy sessions planning the post-Roe campaign," by POLITICO's Elena Schneider: "In every poll running in every targeted House district around the country, House Democrats' campaign arm is testing how voters feel about the Supreme Court likely overturning Roe v. Wade. … The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's preparations, previewed by a committee official, are a window into the Democratic Party's broader efforts to capitalize — in the middle of a brutal-looking midterm election climate — on the Supreme Court's likely reversal of Roe v. Wade … The question, though, is how to make abortion a top issue for voters in November while facing a range of challenges, especially gas prices averaging $5 a gallon and inflation ticking up."

WEEKEND TALKER — "Texas Republican Convention calls Biden win illegitimate and rebukes Cornyn over gun talks," by the Texas Tribune's Sewell Chan and Eric Neugeboren: "Meeting at their first in-person convention since 2018, Texas Republicans on Saturday acted on a raft of resolutions and proposed platform changes to move their party even further to the right. They approved measures declaring that President Joe Biden 'was not legitimately elected' and rebuking Sen. John Cornyn for taking part in bipartisan gun talks. They also voted on a platform that declares homosexuality 'an abnormal lifestyle choice' and calls for Texas schoolchildren 'to learn about the humanity of the preborn child.'"

SPECIAL ELECTION SHAKEUP — Al Gross, the independent who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2020 with Democrats' support, withdrew from the special election to replace the late GOP Rep. Don Young. This comes even after he secured a spot in the top four general election. In a brief statement from the campaign and posted by the Anchorage Daily News, Gross said that there "are two outstanding Alaska Native women in this race who would both serve our state well." According to The Alaska Landmine's Jeff Landfield, who first reported the news, this would mean the fifth place finisher from the primary — Republican Tara Sweeney — would move into the general election, along with Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich and Democrat Mary Peltola.

THE LOCAL ANGLE — " Stefanik vs. the chair: Inside the showdown roiling the New York GOP," by POLITICO's Olivia Beavers and Meridith McGraw : "Stefanik is a rising star in conservative circles but her battle against Langworthy may have created a liability for herself as the No. 3 House Republican leader. She's embraced Langworthy's primary opponent Carl Paladino, who's made a mountain of controversial statements — including a viral video from 2021 that showed him calling Adolf Hitler 'the kind of leader we need.'"

THE ADMINISTRATORS — Indiana Secretary of State Holli Sullivan was upset at the state Republican Party convention over the weekend, losing the GOP's nomination to Diego Morales, per the Indianapolis Star's Kaitlin Lange. Morales, a former aide to then-Gov. Mike Pence, was once laid off and once resigned from the secretary of state's office after being put on a work improvement plan twice in the past. Morales has also told the Associated Press that the 2020 election was a "scam."

ENDORSEMENT CORNER — Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) weighed into the Wisconsin Senate race Monday on behalf of Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who's competing in a crowded Democratic primary.

A message from American Edge Project:

AS SEEN ON TV

— Alaskans for Leadership In a Strong Alaska (L.I.S.A), a super PAC that — perhaps unsurprisingly — supports Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), is running a positive spot praising Murkowski . There's some big money behind it: Over the last week and change, the group has reported over $2 million in independent expenditures to the FEC for "media placement" in support of Murkowski.

— The Republican Governors Association is out with a new ad in Kansas looking to tie Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly to Biden. "Last year, Democrats took control and pushed a radical agenda. From Topeka to Washington. From Laura Kelly to Joe Biden," the ad's narrator says , before plugging state Attorney General Derek Schmidt. The group said that ad is backed by a "six figure" investment in the state.

— POLITICO's Marissa Martinez ran through the glut of inflation-focused ads on the airwaves across all sorts of battleground races right now — from both Democrats and Republicans.

POLL POSITION

— An internal poll conducted for former state Sen. Jill Tokuda in Hawaii's open 2nd District found her with a wide lead in the Democratic primary.

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Presidential Big Board

SECOND IN COMMAND — The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Reid Epstein have a look at former Vice President Mike Pence's "peculiar position" as he navigates a potential 2024 presidential run, even as his role in rebuffing Trump's attempts to overturn the election on Jan. 6 is in the spotlight right now. A bit of news at the bottom of the story: "Officials are expected to try again to ask Mr. Pence to testify, a move he will most likely resist."

— " How evangelical Christians are sizing up the 2024 GOP race for president," by POLITICO's Natalie Allison and Meridith McGraw in Nashville: The Faith and Freedom Coalition's conference last week "at the Opryland resort in Nashville is, officially, midterm election-themed. But the gathering was also a soft launch for some of the candidates evangelical voters may consider during the 2024 primaries — with or without Trump running. For now, [Ralph] Reed sees it as the evangelical group's role to remain neutral during the primary, like in 2012 and 2016, and offer potential 2024 candidates an opportunity to make connections with the Christian voters who will play an outsized role in deciding the nominee."

CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY — "So I don't care who goes to New Hampshire or Iowa, I'm for Biden and then I'm for Harris — either together or in that order." — House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), with his two cents on the loud-quiet Democratic 2024 conversation (Wall Street Journal)

A message from American Edge Project:

From our midterm voter poll in partnership with Ipsos:

74 percent of voters agree that "breaking up U.S. tech companies will only hurt America's competitiveness on the global stage, at a time when our adversaries are becoming bolder."

69 percent of voters agree that "breaking up U.S. tech companies threatens our national security by letting China gain a technological upper hand."

Learn more.