GOP strategist says Democrats 'played their hand fairly smartly' despite Senate losses

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published November 9, 2020

Democrats, barring a surprise sweep of the upcoming Georgia runoffs, most likely failed to achieve their goal of flipping the Senate after last week's general election. As things stand, the party, which had its sights set on knocking off seemingly vulnerable Republican incumbents like Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Thom Tillis (N.C.), has so far picked up just one seat.

Collins cruised to victory over her challenger Sara Gideon, and Tillis looks poised to win a close race in the Tar Heel State over Democrat Cal Cunningham, while long-shot, but hopeful candidates like Steve Bullock in Montana, Theresa Greenfield in Iowa, and Jaime Harrison in South Carolina, were defeated fairly comfortably. The party has expressed disappointment, but Steven Law, the head of Senate Leadership Fund, a major GOP super PAC, and a close ally of Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) isn't sure Democrats should be too hard on themselves. "I felt like they played their hand fairly smartly," Law told HuffPost.

He said Democrats possibly wasted money boosting Cunningham — who became embroiled in a sex scandal in the final weeks of the campaign — and may have been too reliant on swaying voters by continuously targeting a few key issues like the GOP's stance on health care policy. But even on the latter subject, Law said, "our data suggests the Democratic attacks were particularly effective there," admitting Republicans will have to be more active legislatively when it comes to policy on health care matters like pre-existing conditions.