Kelly Schulz, former secretary for the Maryland Department of Commerce, speaks at a news conference on April 24, 2020, in Annapolis, Md. A recent Banner/WYPR/Goucher poll of that jam-packed race found three candidates all in the mid-teens: state Comptroller Peter Franchot, author Wes Moore, and former U.S. Democrats view this governor race as one of their best pickup opportunities in the nation, with the popular Hogan off the ballot in a state that President Joe Biden won by over 30 points.īut the Democratic primary remains similarly undecided. While Schulz is trying to continue the two-term Hogan’s legacy, whoever wins the GOP nomination is likely to be an underdog in the fall. Mayer said he expected the Schulz campaign to talk a lot about the DGA’s ad campaign in the closing weeks of the race. … At the end of the day, they’re actually not fooling people.” That they’re rubes, and a bunch of smarty pants in D.C. “Because at the heart of what they’re saying is that Maryland Republicans are idiots. “We see this as not just an attack on Kelly, but an attack on all Maryland Republicans,” said Doug Mayer, a longtime Hogan aide who is advising the Schulz campaign. (One recent press release subject line from the DGA: “Debate-Dodging Kelly Schulz Is Mad the DGA Has Sent 8 Press Releases Mentioning Her - Here’s #9.”) The ad buy represents a significant escalation, however. The Democratic committee has antagonized Schulz throughout the primary, with the campaign and committee trading barbs through the media. “Given Cox’s frontrunner status and radical MAGA stances, we are starting the general election early and wasting no time to hold him accountable,” DGA spokesperson Sam Newton said in a statement. “Dan is MAGA all the way, and I say that very strongly,” Trump told the crowd in a video posted by Cox’s campaign, “unlike his opponent named Kelly Schulz, who along with Larry Hogan is bad news.”Įven though Cox is tied in the recent poll of the primary, the DGA insists that it is just getting a jumpstart on attacking Cox ahead of November. Trump has not rallied for Cox in the state, but he did call in to an event the candidate hosted late last month. The committee reserved at least $1.2 million worth of airtime, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact - more than what Cox and Schulz have spent on advertising combined. Dan Cox, a Republican, speaks against a measure to expand abortion access in Maryland on April 9, 2022, in Annapolis, Md.Īnd the DGA ad could have a major impact. A 44 percent plurality of voters said they were undecided or didn’t know who they’d support in the primary. A recent poll from The Baltimore Banner/WYPR/Goucher College had the two within the margin of error: Cox at 25 percent, Schulz at 22 percent. The race between Schulz and Cox, which also includes two other lesser-known Republicans, remains close. “The DGA would much rather spend $1 million now than $5 million in the general election” if she was the nominee. “It is not unexpected,” Schulz said of the DGA buy in an interview, citing Democratic meddling in races elsewhere. Hogan endorsed Schulz, and much of his political network is working in some fashion to boost her campaign. Trump’s early endorsement of Cox was quickly followed by Hogan going all-in for Schulz, a former state lawmaker who served in Hogan’s cabinet until earlier this year. And in Colorado, efforts to derail Republican candidates running for governor and Senate both fell flat.īut Maryland may have the thorniest primary of them all - an all-out proxy war between Trump and Hogan, a moderate blue-state Republican who has called on the GOP to chart a new course away from the former president. Doug Mastriano in the final days of the Republican primary there - but Mastriano was the GOP frontrunner even before that. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee for that state’s open governor race, boosted state Sen. Pritzker successfully picked their opponent in Illinois, though they spent tens of millions of dollars to do so. Results have been mixed so far: The DGA and Democratic Gov. In a handful of blue states - and especially in governor races - Democratic groups and campaigns have run ads boosting the more extreme Republican candidate in a primary, in hopes that they win the nomination and will be easier to beat in the general election in November. It is the latest iteration of a now increasingly common playbook for Democrats.
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