NRSC Weekly Rundown: Tester Ranks #1 in Lobbyist $$$, Tammy’s Tomah Trouble, Sinema’s Baffling Response and more!

And here’s this week’s edition of the NRSC Weekly Rundown: 

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NRSC’s New Ads: #NDSen, #AZSen

#MTSen: The Associated Press reported that Jon Tester ranked “No. 1 in cash from lobbyists,” despite promising that he was going to give Montana the “greatest representation, not encumbered by high-dollar lobbyists.” While Tester said the AP’s claims were “bull,” it turns out he was the only one full of bull when he promised to not be bought off by lobbyists. The Washington Examiner said it best, Tester “likes to condemn money in politics almost as much as he likes to accept campaign cash from lobbyists.”

#AZSen: Kyrsten Sinema was forced to defend her record of working to reduce penalties for men caught with underage prostitutes. AZ Family aired a tough new fact check which confirmed the truth: Sinema did in fact fight to protect these predators from facing tougher charges. But when asked if she’s had a change of heart, Sinema only made matters worse by issuing a statement so vague reporters complained that “you can’t really tell whether she changed her mind or not.” But given she’s already taken thousands from the founders of the sex trafficking website Backpage.com, Arizonans already know where she stands.

#WISen: Tammy Baldwin’s gross mismanagement of the Tomah VA scandal is once again taking center stage in Wisconsin after Leah Vukmir turned up the heat on Baldwin at a roundtable where veterans shared stories about their struggles with getting the care they deserve. Vukmir slammed Baldwin’s handling of Tomah, saying “To have sat on a report, to have been the only person in this congressional delegation to have known that a doctor was over-prescribing opioids, a veteran died and many others became addicted, to me, it’s unconscionable.” And just yesterday, WISN talk radio host Mark Belling delivered ablistering critique of Baldwin’s mishandling of Tomah in a 30-minute segment on his show, saying Baldwin “runs TV ads. She gets a few Democratic veterans on there again to try to give her cover. She’s willing to hide behind their uniforms, but when all these veterans who needed her help were at Tomah, she sold them out.”

#FLSen: Bill Nelson’s struggling campaign is having a tough time finding Floridians who are willing to help reelect him. In fact, despite running for office for nearly half a century, Nelson needs to outsource volunteers from the liberal bastion of California. But while he’s cozying up to west coast liberals, back in Florida Nelson is now desperately trying to backpedal from his support of socialist and scandal-riddenAndrew Gillum. Just two weeks ago, Nelson proclaimed, “All those things Rick Scott has done in the last eight years, we are going to undo with Andrew Gillum.” Make no mistake, Nelson stands with Gillum’s socialist agenda that will ruin Florida’s economy, raise taxes and hurt families. He said so himself.

#WVSen: Joe Manchin’s fellow Democrats are coming after the Manchin family drug racket, with Minnesota Senator and rumored 2020 candidate Amy Klobuchar releasing an ad this week calling attention to her efforts to reign in Mylan’s EpiPen price gouging. Manchin is walking an increasingly lonely road in his reelection bid, with Republicans angered by his failure to support President Trump’s agenda, and Democrats turned off by his family getting rich by ripping off patients.

#NJSen: In an editorial on My9NJ, Dianne Doctor issued a blistering report on disgraced Senator Bob Menendez’s corruption. Doctor detailed Menendez’s relationship with convicted felon Salomon Melgen and all the “favors” Menendez did, including pressuring officials in the Medicare fraud investigation that eventually led to Melgen’s conviction. The report also reminded viewers of the results of the ethics investigation into Menendez, saying, “His peers in the Senate, both sides of the aisle, eviscerated him in a scathing Senate Ethics Committee report,” and urged voters to “resist another six years of the Senator who does favors for his ‘friends.’”

#MOSen: One of Claire McCaskill’s favorite subjects to grandstand about has long been “dark money.” But this week, Patients for Affordable Drugs began airing tv adson McCaskill’s behalf. That organization receives 99.45% of its funds from a dark money group, Action Now Initiative, founded by billionaire former Enron executiveJohn Arnold. This latest dark money spending for McCaskill joins Majority Forward,Chuck Schumer’s dark money organization, which is spending heavily on McCaskill’s behalf this election cycle. When it comes to dark money and transparency, Claire McCaskill is a hypocrite.

NEWS AND NOTES:

AP: FACT CHECK: Tester did rank No. 1 in cash from lobbyists

NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE: “Jon Tester was No. 1 in Cash from Lobbyists in 2018,” in an advertisement released September 6. THE FACTS: The Republican group got it right — Tester was the top recipient in Congress of money from lobbyists for a time, according to campaign contribution data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Similar claims against Tester have been made by others, including President Donald Trump at a Thursday campaign rally for Rosendale. Trump said Tester has “taken more cash from lobbyists than almost anyone in the entire Senate.” READ

Washington Examiner: NRA endorses Patrick Morrisey over Joe Manchin in West Virginia

The National Rifle Association on Tuesday endorsed West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey over Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who is hoping to keep his seat in November. “As attorney general of West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey has strongly supported the Second Amendment, and we can trust him to defend our constitutional rights in the U.S. Senate,” said Chris Cox, the NRA’s chairman. “Unlike Joe Manchin, Morrisey will stand strong against the Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer anti-gun agenda.” READ

Washington Examiner: Claire McCaskill Refuses To Come Clean About How Her Husband Got His Money

Sen. Claire McCaskill will decide what the public needs to see. That’s the inescapable conclusion one draws from the Missouri Democrat’s decision not to release her rich husband’s tax returns. Her own returns were unremarkable: McCaskill made the normal $174,000 Senate salary along with a separate $86,000 pension most of which she donated to charity. But the omission of her husband’s records is absolutely inexcusable. McCaskill and her husband, businessman Joseph Shepard, have only gotten wealthier since she came to Congress. Roll Call ranked her as the 24th richest member of the legislature pegging her net worth at a cool $26.9 million. READ

Fox News: Indiana’s Democratic Senator Faces Uphill Re-Election Battle In Trump Count

“On every important piece of legislation, he votes 100 percent against Donald Trump and the conservative agenda,” Braun said. Braun leads Donnelly 45 to 43 percent, according to a new Fox News poll, and Donnelly’s willingness to work with the president is a central campaign issue. Now Donnelly, one of 10 Democratic senators seeking re-election in a state Trump won, is now defending his “no” votes on big-ticket items like tax reform and Obamacare repeal. READ

Bloomberg: U.S. Small Business Optimism Just Hit Its Highest Level in History

A measure of optimism among U.S. small-business owners rose to a record and exceeded projections as companies planned the most capital spending since 2007 and hiring intentions hit an all-time high, a National Federation of Independent Business survey showed Tuesday. Small businesses are increasingly optimistic as the economic expansion enters its 10th year and the Trump administration prioritizes industry deregulation and tax cuts. READ

Wall Street Journal: Real Wages Are Rising

Adding it all up, Mr. Hassett’s team came up with an estimate of a real wage increase after taxes over the last year of 1.4%. that would be 3.4% in nominal terms. With capital spending booming at a 10% growth pace, labor productivity should continue to increase and that 1.4% real wage growth would also rise. More investment after tax reform and deregulation means faster economic growth and faster productivity gains that become higher wages. READ

WFB: 60 Percent of Baldwin’s Campaign Contributions Are from Outside Wisconsin

Sixty percent of Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s (D., Wis.) campaign contributions have come from individuals who live outside of Wisconsin, filings show. Baldwin’s campaign, which reports more than $20 million in total receipts, has hauled in contributions from nearly 7,800 Californians totaling $1,753,366 while 1,400 New Yorkers have added $1,420,487 to her coffers this cycle. People in Illinois have given $630,000 while $570,000 more came from backers in Massachusetts. READ

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