Republicans Try to Shape Democratic Races in Their Favor -WSJ Washington Wire

[question everything]

NORTH CAROLINA’S SENATE RACE ERUPTS over dark money meddling. A group linked to Republicans spent over $2 million trying to shape the Democratic primary, boosting a long-shot candidate against frontrunner Cal Cunningham, who has the backing of the national Democratic apparatus. Their TV ads highlight progressive policies like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, which Republicans hope will push Cunningham to the left.

Days of news coverage about the provenance of the ads have undercut their aim: to get Cunningham to engage in an intraparty policy debate that could affect his general election chances. State Democratic leaders, like former Charlotte Mayor and Obama Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, have rallied around Cunningham.

Democrats see the ad buy as evidence that Republicans worry about Sen. Thom Tillis’s ability to beat Cunningham, an Army Reserve captain and lawyer. Cunningham accused national Republicans and Tillis of trying to weaken his candidacy but said he trusted North Carolinians’ “BS meter.” The ad buy also shows that GOP groups have more money to spend in North Carolina than they expected, since Tillis won’t have to face a primary opponent now, having gone all-in on his relationship with President Trump. A Tillis spokesman said his campaign “couldn’t be the least bit concerned with which radical liberal emerges” from the Democratic primary.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-try-to-shape-democratic-races-in-their-favor-11581676200