7/28/2019 MEMO on special election win

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MEMORANDUM

TO: Interested PartiesFR: Guy Cecil, DSCC Executive DirectorDA: Tuesday, June 25, 2013RE: What Happened In Massachusetts

The lesson from Scott Browns accidental win in 2010 was that Democrats must never take arace for granted. Months before Senator John Kerry resigned to become Secretary of State, theDSCC began preparing for a likely special election in Massachusetts. Its unclear whetherRepublicans in Washington intended to compete in this race and truly let an opportunity

slip away, or they were just blowing smoke the whole time. Either way, Democrats cametogether at the local and national level, and executed a campaign plan to ensure victory.

How We Did It

We recruited Ed Markey into the race, worked with him to build a campaign team with the bestSenate talent from Massachusetts and around the country, and secured commitments early onfrom top Democratic leaders that they would actively support the Democratic nominee. TheDSCC has supported candidates in seven primaries over the last three years and won every singlerace.

The failure of national Republicans to get Scott Brown to run was obviously a tremendous lossfor them, but we continued to take nothing for granted. Working with veterans from ElizabethWarrens campaign, we invested $1 million in the Massachusetts state party for voter targeting,persuasion, GOTV and other purposes. Weeks before the NRSC leaked to DC reporters thatthey had sent staff to Massachusetts, DSCC staff had been on the ground and heavily involved inthe race. We also coordinated efforts with other allies, including full cooperation with theDemocratic National Committee.

The DSCC invested another $700,000 on television to define the Republican before any outsideRepublican groups could define the race on their own terms.

How Republicans Fumbled

As you know, Karl Rove and the Republicans never came. The RNC said in their infamousautopsy report that they would use the Massachusetts race to prove that Republicans had learnedthe lessons of 2012, but Gabriel Gomez struggled badly out of the gate. The first several weeksof the general election were dominated with stories about the $280,000 tax break Gomezreceived on his home and his poor handling of womens issues, an area that continues to plagueall Republican Senate candidates.

7/28/2019 MEMO on special election win

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The NRSC was bullish in its rhetoric, but didnt walk the walk. From initial reports, it appearsthey spent at least $1 million in Massachusetts, but this was money wasted without a moresignificant investment to shift the race. Mitch McConnell ham-handedly endorsed Gomez, whichresulted in bad headlines, but almost zero outside financial support. In fact, McConnells attempt

to raise money for Gomez was an abject failure, embarrassing for the Senate Republican Leader.

In the defense of Karl Rove and outside Republican groups, Gomez failed to impress. Like otherRepublican Senate hopefuls in less Democratic states, Gomez pandered to the conservativefringe of the electorate on Social Security and choice when he needed to talk to the middle.

What It Means For The Senate Map

Now the battle to keep the Democratic majority shifts toNew Jersey where Republicans haventwon a Senate race in four decades. The NRSC has embraced Tea Party favorite Steve Loneganas their candidate. Not even Republican Governor Chris Christie has endorsed Lonegan, who has

garnered national attention for race baiting Latinos.

The circumstances in Massachusetts and New Jersey are indicative of a larger failure for

the Republican Party and the NRSC: the complete inability to expand the map and

compete in blue or purple states. This is a particularly bad sign for the NRSC as they seek toexpand the 2014 map into any state beyond those won by Mitt Romney (where even there theycontinue to struggle with candidate recruitment and divisive primaries).

Not only are Republicans facing the prospect of divisive primaries in nearly all of the red states,their failure to compete even in states where Romney was competitive, such as Colorado,Virginia, and New Hampshire, has dramatically shrunk the Senate map.

The last several cycles have taught us that conventional wisdom at the beginning of the cycle isoften wrong. We still have a long road to travel, but winning in Massachusetts was an importantfirst step in our efforts to preserve the Democratic majority.