Election Roundup: The race rundown in key States
by Andrew Surabian
Political Director
Kansas
On Monday morning, Tea Party Express Executive Director Taylor Budowich was joined by a large and enthusiastic group of local Tea Party members to announce our endorsement of Senator Pat Roberts for U.S. Senate at a unity event in Wichita, Kansas. Our endorsement of Senator Roberts followed endorsements of the Senator from conservative superstars like Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin.
Senator Roberts is facing a tough challenge from an Obama-liberal masquerading as an independent in Greg Orman. Orman who has donated thousands of dollars to liberals like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, has so far refused to take a clear stand on many important issues as he is clearly afraid that Kansans will reject his true self.
While Orman has held a lead over Sen. Roberts for the past several weeks, the tide has seemingly shifted after a recent debate where Sen. Roberts repeatedly hammered Orman over his support for Harry Reid’s agenda in the U.S. Senate. A poll released after the debate showed Sen. Roberts surging ahead of Orman, leading him by 5 points.
Georgia
Last week we told you about Democrat Michelle Nunn’s campaign to try and discredit David Perdue’s impressive business record by attacking him for supposedly outsourcing American jobs for profit. Of course this couldn’t be further from the truth, as Perdue was responsible for creating thousands of good-paying American jobs. However, it seems as though the attacks may be having an effect on Perdue’s popularity.
Two recently released polls show an extremely tight race, with Nunn rising. A PPP poll shows Perdue only leading Nunn 2 points, 45-43 while a poll from Survey USA shows Perdue ahead by only 1 point, 46-45. Conservatives need to double down in Georgia to ensure that the seat stays in Republican hands.
Louisiana
Rob Maness is on the rise in Louisiana and this past week he demonstrated why so many conservatives are coming to his side, with an excellent debate performance against Democrat incumbent Mary Landrieu. Throughout the debate, Maness attacked Landrieu for her continued support of Obamacare and being a rubber-stamp for the Obama agenda, putting the liberal Democrat on the ropes on several occasions.
Mary Landrieu’s flailing campaign took another hit when she announced last week that she was replacing her campaign manager. Candidates don’t typically fire key staff 1 month before an election unless they are seriously concerned about losing.
South Dakota
South Dakota was previously thought of as a race that would be an easy pick up for Republican candidate, former Governor Mike Rounds. However, over the last week it has become apparent that Democrats in D.C. are going all out to keep the seat in liberal hands. While polls had shown Rounds with a double digit lead for the last several months, that all changed over the last week when polls of the state began showing a much tighter race.
While South Dakota is a reliably Republican state, the race is complicated by the entrance of former Republican turned Independent Larry Pressler who has picked up some support from from both Republicans and Democrats in the state. While Pressler is a former Republican, he is by no means a conservative, having announced his support for Obamacare and recently stating that if elected he would be a “friend of President Obama” in the Senate.
With Pressler seemingly turning the race upside-down, national Democrats have decided to go all out, spending millions of dollars ruthlessly attacking Gov. Rounds to try and keep this Senate seat in liberal hands.
Tea Party Express will be in South Dakota this coming Wednesday to hold a Press Conference with Governor Rounds and local conservative activists.
Read the other articles in this week’s newsletter.
GOTV: Middle of the marathon by Donlyn Turnbull
Grassroots Update: Keeping our eyes on the finish line by Kay Rivoli