Democrats are once again interfering in a GOP primary election, meddling in New Hampshire’s Senate race to boost the candidate they view as easier to beat in the general election, but this time a Republican group is spending on the airwaves to offset the Democrats’ gamble.
According to reports, the Sen. Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC is expected to spend around $3.5 million to help secure a primary win for Republican candidate Don Bolduc, who is largely viewed as the weaker general election candidate to take on Senator Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who is seeking re-election this fall.
While the Democrats are spending big to help Bolduc, Republicans are hoping to offset the Democrats’ strategy by spending millions to run ads against him to help boost his rival GOP candidate, state Senator Chuck Morse, who is viewed by many as a more competitive general election candidate for the Republicans.
“Bolduc lost his first race. He accused President Trump’s team of election rigging and said no person of honor could work for Trump,” reads an ad from the Sen. Mitch McConnell-linked White Mountain PAC.
“Bolduc endorsed Joe Biden’s disastrous withdraw from Afghanistan and said the U. S. Should team up with the Taliban. Don Bolduc even accused Governor Sununu of being a Chinese communist sympathizer and a supporter of terrorism. Don Bolduc’s crazy ideas won’t help us defeat Maggie Hassan,” the ad continued.
A different McConnell-linked group, Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) announced last week that it plans to spend $23 million in the Granite State senate race this fall.
“Maggie Hassan’s weak record of rubber-stamping Joe Biden’s inflationary spending and taxes has hurt Granite Staters, and they know it. This is a top-tier pickup opportunity for us, putting the Senate majority within reach,” SLF President Steven Law recently told Fox News.
Democrats meddling in GOP primaries is not a new strategy this cycle. Democrats have already poured tens of millions into GOP primaries to promote in many cases candidates that Democrats argue are a threat to democracy.
In May, Trump-backed Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano was boosted to victory in the state’s Republican gubernatorial primary with more than $840,000 in ads run by the campaign of his now-opponent, current Democrat state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
In July, the Democratic Governors’ Association spent nearly $2 million running ads boosting Trump-backed Maryland Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox, in his primary against former state lawmaker Kelly Schulz, who was backed by outgoing Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
New Hampshire’s primary election will take place on Tuesday, September 13, 2022.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
