Missouri GOP Senate hopeful says incumbent puts party ahead of state
“Hawley Dings McCaskill Over Gorsuch Vote in New Web Ad”
Roll Call
By Bridget Bowman
March 30, 2018
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is launching a new digital ad Friday, foreshadowing one of his arguments in his campaign for Senate against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill: her vote against Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch last year.
Only three Senate Democrats voted to confirm Gorsuch, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the seat left open after Justice Antonin Scalia died. In a new ad, Hawley’s campaign accuses McCaskill of putting the Democratic Party base ahead of Missouri voters by her vote against Gorsuch.
The 30-second digital ad, shared first with Roll Call, is timed to hit the web a year from the date McCaskill announced she would not vote for Gorsuch.
[…]The ad includes footage of a discussion about her decision on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with moderator Chuck Todd saying that McCaskill “went with her base, not the red-state Missouri feel.”
[…]The three Democrats who backed Gorsuch — Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — are all, like McCaskill, running for re-election in states Trump won by double digits.
Trump carried Missouri by 19 points, making McCaskill one of the most vulnerable incumbents this year. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race a Toss-up.
This isn’t the first time Hawley has targeted McCaskill over Gorsuch. Asked during a Fox News interview Wednesday which policy positions could hurt McCaskill, he cited her vote against the GOP tax bill and Gorsuch’s confirmation.
