Republicans are focusing in on the issue of crime, seeing it as a way to drive their own voters to the poll and attract swing voters in key midterm states.
The issue has been featured prominently in Republican attack ads against Wisconsin Democratic Senate candidate Mandela Barnes and Pennsylvania Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman, who are considered among the Democratic Party's more progressive-leaning candidates.
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are also considered toss-up Senate races both sides see as key to controlling the upper chamber.
As our Alex Bolton notes, in Wisconsin, Republicans are pointing to the rising crime rate in Milwaukee, with the Senate Republicans' campaign arm and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) claiming Barnes is "dangerously liberal on crime." The party is also trying to tie the Wisconsin lieutenant governor to Chesa Boudin, the former San Francisco district attorney who was recalled last year amid frustration over how crime was being handled in the city.
Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, Republicans are spotlighting crime data around Philadelphia while targeting Fetterman for his stances on prison population reduction and sanctuary cities. The onslaught of attacks has forced Fetterman's campaign to scrub from his website his previous support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The strategy appears to be paying off. The Pennsylvania Senate race is tightening while Johnson held the lead in several recent polls. And now Republicans are launching similar attacks in North Carolina and Nevada.
Flashback: Close to a year ago around this time, crime was an especially salient issue, including in cities like Chicago and San Francisco. Around Black Friday and into the holiday season last year, local news reports constantly noted how stores were being ransacked and robbed.
Several liberal cities — San Francisco and Los Angeles — saw serious calls for their prosecutors to step down, though only Boudin ended up getting recalled. But the fact that two recall votes took place in blue cities demonstrates how crime has already been seen as a major issue even before the midterm ramped up.
And as one Senate Republican strategist noted to Alex, crime is also an issue that Democrats and Republicans alike still care about.
"There are few issues that unite the concerns of Republicans, independents and Democrats in this environment quite like crime, especially in Pennsylvania," the strategist told Alex.
What they're saying: Amid attacks from some Republicans over his tattoos — a few have alleged they promote crime or drug use — Fetterman told MSNBC anchor Joy Reid last night that the tattoos were referring to the dates of when several people in Braddock, Pa. had died. "It's absurd, and it's the Oz rule. You know, when he's on TV, he's lying," he added.
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