Republicans Gambled by Meddling in Primaries

Steve Benen: “Across much of the spring and summer, Republicans executed a mischievous strategy, intended to help steer Democratic primary voters toward candidates the GOP saw as easy to beat in a general election. For the most part, the scheme was largely a bust, and Republicans racked up more failures than successes.”

“But in a handful of instances, the GOP saw its intended results. In Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race, for example, the National Republican Senatorial Committee invested in advertising to boost Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan ahead of her August primary.”

“Around the same time, in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, Republicans made little effort to hide their support for Abdul El-Sayed, boosting his candidacy ahead of the August primary, seeing the former public health official as a near-certain loser in a general election.”

“Three months later, how’d that work out?”