Morning Digest: Families of dead Americans don't want Republicans to use them in ads. The GOP isn't stopping.

Relatives are angry that their tragedies are being exploited for political gain in two key Senate races.

(credit: screenshot from ad paid for by the NRSC and authorized by Husted for Senate)

Leading Off

NC-Sen, OH-Sen

Republicans are facing a backlash in two crucial Senate races from family members condemning the GOP for using their loved ones’ tragic deaths to attack Democrats.

North Carolina resident Ronald Hayes told NC Newsline this week that he was deceived by the Senate Leadership Fund, which he said had asked him to discuss the 2024 murder of his 23-year-old son Shemar on camera for what he believed would be an ad on the scourge of gun violence.

Instead, SLF, the top GOP super PAC involved in Senate races, produced a commercial attacking Democrat Roy Cooper, falsely suggesting the former governor had allowed Shemar’s killer to leave prison early.

“Once I saw the commercial, I called [the ad makers] back, and I asked them again, and they stated again that they are independent,” Hayes said. “I told them that I felt that this was deceiving, it was conniving, and it was sneaky how they used me and my family to get out their word.”

The incident came just days after the National Republican Senatorial Committee drew condemnation for airing an ad in Ohio blaming former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s votes for an April collision that claimed the lives of a family of three.

“Sherrod Brown opened our borders to dangerous illegals—the consequences were deadly,” the narrator claims. The commercial then plays audio of a reporter saying that a man named Modou Ngom “was behind the wheel of this semi-truck” when it crashed—resulting in the deaths of Lynnea and Luke Soposki and their one-year-old son—as a photo of the deceased family fills the screen.

In response, relatives of the Soposkis expressed their deep displeasure with the ad.

“Footage of the crash site and a photograph of the three of them are being used, without our consent, in an advertisement from Senator Jon Husted’s campaign,” the family said in a statement posted by Lynnea’s brother, Jesse Mallen. “Our grief is not raw material for a campaign.”

Mallen told the New York Times that the family only made their objections public after receiving no response from the Husted campaign, which approved the spot, according to the ad’s disclaimer.

“What we all want is to be able to grieve in peace and privacy, and for our family to not be used in such a classless way by a politician, especially without being consulted,” Mallen told the paper. “We certainly would not have said yes, but quite frankly, I think they knew that.”

Husted initially declined to comment about the commercial linking Brown to Ngom, whom federal authorities have accused of using fraudulent identities to become an American citizen. The senator, though, finally told reporters on Saturday that he wanted the commercial to stop running.

“Our campaign had nothing to do with it,” Husted said in remarks quoted by the Columbus Dispatch, even though the ad says at the end that it was “authorized by Husted for Senate.”

“As soon as we learned that the family didn’t like the ad, we told the people who put it up to take it down,” he continued. “They’ve suffered enough. They don’t need to suffer any more.”

The commercial, however, is still on the NRSC’s YouTube account, something Mallen highlighted in his interview with the paper. He also said that Husted’s campaign never contacted him or other family members after they went public.

The SLF’s spot targeting Cooper in North Carolina, likewise, remains online, as does an accompanying press release describing how Hayes “shares the tragic story of his son Shemar’s murder.”

“The commercial looks as if I’m trying to sway North Carolinians from voting the way that they want to vote, and that wasn’t my agenda,” Hayes told NC Newsline of what he says is his involuntary role in the contest between Cooper and former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley. “I wanted to let the community know about gun violence and about my son being murdered.”

The Downballot’s ‘Senate flip’ fantasy draft

Election Recaps

MA-Sen (D) (61-36 Harris)

Sen. Ed Markey decisively fended off Rep. Seth Moulton 65-35 in the Democratic primary. The 80-year-old Markey, who should have no trouble defeating attorney John Deaton in the general election, said during the primary that he is seeking his final term in office.

MA-Gov (R) (61-36 Harris)

Former medical technology executive Mike Minogue overwhelmingly beat venture capitalist Brian Shortsleeve 76-24 in the GOP primary for the right to take on Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, a win that came after Minogue self-funded at least $15 million. Polls, however, have found Healey in no danger against either Republican.

MA-01 (D) (56-42 Harris)

Rep. Richard Neal, a 19-term incumbent and the top Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, held off teacher Jeromie Whalen just 54-46 in the primary for the 1st District in the western part of the state.

The Associated Press estimates 93% of the vote has been tabulated, so the final result may be slightly different once the remaining ballots are tabulated. There’s no question, though, that this is the smallest margin of victory of Neal’s long congressional career.

Neal’s showing was especially unimpressive given his prominence and huge financial advantage against Whalen, who struggled to raise money or convince outside groups to spend on his behalf.

And while the 77-year-old congressman is now well-positioned both to secure a 20th term and to become chair of the Ways and Means Committee should his party return to the majority, Whalen’s unexpectedly strong showing could inspire future primary challenges.

MA-06 (D) (59-39 Harris)

Dan Koh, a former Biden administration official who sported endorsements from both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, defeated state Rep. Tram Nguyen 41-30 in the six-person Democratic primary. Koh, whose side decisively outspent Nguyen and the rest of the field, is now on a glide path to succeed Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton in the 6th District, a constituency in the northeast corner of the state.

MA-08 (D) (62-36 Harris)

Rep. Stephen Lynch fended off attorney Patrick Roath 55-45 in the Democratic primary for the 8th District, which includes part of Boston and communities to the south.

Lynch, who has spent his quarter-century in Congress as one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, prevailed despite being outraised during the campaign. But Lynch, like Neal, came closer to losing renomination than ever before, and the 71-year-old incumbent could face another tough primary the next time he’s on the ballot.

Senate

NE-Sen, NE-Gov

Nebraska’s two newest political parties nominated candidates for the November ballot in key contests ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, with Democrats and Republicans both charging that the efforts are designed to undermine them.

In the race for Senate, where independent Dan Osborn is seeking to oust Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts with the help of Democrats, both the America First Party and the Nebraska Working People Party put forth nominees. The former tapped Chuck Conboy, while the latter selected Robin Richards, the party’s chair.

Osborn had hoped for a one-on-one matchup with Ricketts and was greatly aided in his quest when Democrat Cindy Burbank dropped her bid in July. (Democrats declined to name a replacement, and a lawsuit seeking to force them to do so was recently rejected.) One other name will still appear on the ballot—Mike Marvin of the Legal Marijuana Now Party—but he quit the race last month.

It’s not clear how Conboy and Richards might affect the headline battle between Osborn and Ricketts, but both major parties sought to block recognition of the new entities in separate challenges.

The national Working Families Party, in concert with state Democrats, argued that the name of the Working People Party was too similar to their own. Republicans, meanwhile, said that the name of the America First Party would cause “confusion.”

However, the same judge, ruling in both cases, said that Democrats had failed to file their objections in a timely manner, while Republicans had failed to demonstrate voters would be “confused” under relevant state law. The state Supreme Court unanimously upheld both decisions.

In the governor’s race, meanwhile, only the America First Party named a candidate, choosing former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom. Lindstrom served in office as a Republican and sought the GOP nod for the open 2nd Congressional District earlier this year but quit before the primary.

Soon after, he dropped his party affiliation and later kicked off a campaign for governor as an independent. However, last month, Lindstrom failed to make the ballot after election officials said that many of the signatures he’d submitted were fraudulent, prompting him to seek the embrace of one of the new third parties.

Initially, Lindstrom suggested he might partner with the Working People Party but ultimately went in the opposite direction. He’ll now face Republican Gov. Jim Pillen and former state Sen. Lynne Walz, the Democratic nominee, as well as a Legal Marijuana Now candidate, Rick Beard.

SC-Sen

Still smarting over his defeat in last week’s special GOP primary, Rep. Ralph Norman told reporters on Monday that he’d advise ambivalent voters to cast a ballot for him in the general election even though he won’t be on the ballot—and can’t be.

In a press gaggle on Capitol Hill after members returned to Congress following a five-week summer break, one reporter asked Norman, “What would you say to an undecided voter in South Carolina ahead of November?”

The congressman, who lost to Sen. Darline Graham 52-48 in a runoff, responded tersely, “Vote for Ralph Norman.”

While Norman did not explicitly mention a write-in campaign, South Carolina would forbid such an attempt thanks to a so-called sore-loser law. According to the relevant statute, “a person who was defeated as a candidate for nomination to an office in a party primary or party convention must not have his name placed on the ballot for the ensuing general or special election.”

Graham faces Democrat Annie Andrews in the general election.

TX-Sen

Republican Ken Paxton is getting his first major infusion of outside support, but neither of the two major groups who’ve been playing chicken with one another is involved.

Rather, according to Politico, a pro-Paxton super PAC called Lone Star Liberty is spending $15 million on spots that seek to build up the attorney general and tear down his Democratic rival, state Rep. James Talarico.

The two biggest players, however, have remained silent. Neither the Senate Leadership Fund, which is tied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, nor MAGA Inc., Donald Trump’s deep-pocketed super PAC, has yet to engage. In July, the New York Times reported that the two erstwhile allies are “not so secretly hoping that the other one swoops in” to save the embattled Paxton.

Compared to resources that SLF or MAGA Inc. can deploy, Lone Star Liberty’s spending is just a drop in the bucket. Semafor reported on Monday that Republicans “say they need tens of millions more in a state where it costs more than $5 million a week to run a statewide ad campaign.”

Talarico, meanwhile, has dominated the airwaves thanks to his superior fundraising. He also leads in the polls: According to an aggregate compiled by FiftyPlusOne, Talarico is averaging a 47-44 lead over Paxton.

House

NC-11

The House voted 413-2 to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards for allegedly sexually harassing female aides, with only Edwards and fellow Republican Rep. Ralph Norman voting against the measure. As a consequence, Edwards was obligated to stand in the well of the House as Speaker Mike Johnson read the censure resolution aloud.

The congressman, who ended his reelection campaign for North Carolina’s 11th District last month shortly after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured, is only the 29th representative in history to receive this punishment. He’s also the first member of the majority party to be censured since 2010, when the late Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York was formally admonished for ethics violations.

Poll Pile

• MI-Sen: Michigan State University:

  • Abdul El-Sayed (D): 50, Mike Rogers (R): 45.

• SC-Sen: Impact Research:

  • Annie Andrews (D): 42, Darline Graham (R-inc): 39, Kasie Whitener (L): 6.

  • This survey was conducted for an unnamed pro-Andrews group from Aug. 14-22. Last week, the Andrews campaign released its own survey, also conducted by Impact Research, that found the race tied at 41 apiece. That poll was in the field from Aug. 18-24.

• NM-Sen: Research & Polling for the Albuquerque Journal:

  • Ben Ray Lujan (D-inc): 53, Larry Marker (R): 38.

• MI-Gov: MSU:

  • Jocelyn Benson (D): 52, John James (R): 43.

• CA-07: Data for Progress for pro-Mai Vang groups:

  • Vang (D): 32, Doris Matsui (D-inc): 28.

  • The poll was conducted for the Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, and Leaders We Deserve.

• FL-13: Hart Research Associates for House Majority PAC:

  • Leela Gray (D): 44, Anna Paulina Luna (R-inc): 43, Tony D’Arrigo (I): 7.

  • Gray (D): 51, Luna (R-inc): 46.