by Joseph P. Tartaro Executive Editor
Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is upping the ante in his push for stricter gun control, asking the city’s top donors to cut off contributions to four Democratic senators who voted against universal background checks in April, including the so-called compromise legislation created by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (RPA).
Bloomberg was expected to send personal letters to hundreds of the biggest Democratic donors in New York asking them to stop sending campaign money to the four senators— Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska, and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota—who helped block the background- check bill, according to a New York Times report.
Baucus is retiring and Heitkamp does not face re-election until 2018, but for Pryor and Begich, the letter comes as they are gearing up for tough reelection fights in Republican-friendly states.
According to The Times, New York is critical to the party’s fundraising, with donors contributing $30.4 million to sitting Democratic senators and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign in 2012.
The four senators targeted by Bloomberg have raised more than $2.2 million from New York, The Times reports.
Bloomberg already has come after Pryor, spending $350,000 on a television campaign in Arkansas that expressed “disappointment” with the senator for opposing the bill expanding background checks.
Bloomberg said he is not limiting his efforts to the Democrats, explaining, “The first thing I’ve got to do is get it through the Senate… and then you go and sit down with (Rep. John) Boehner and (Rep. Eric) Cantor and the leadership on the Republican side in the House and say, ‘Look, if you want your members to get re-elected, they should vote with the public.’ Pryor is also getting help. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has launched a radio campaign in Arkansas supporting the senator and his vote against background checks.
The NSSF ad is airing in radio stations throughout Arkansas thanking Pryor and Republican Sen. John Boozman for voting to protect the Second Amendment rights of Arkansans as well as protect the jobs of those in the state who work in the firearms industry.
The National Rifle Association is also running similar ads in Arkansas thanking the state’s two senators.
Senator Mark Begich of Alaska
Democrat Pryor is hitting back at Bloomberg. In a new ad of his own, Pryor portrays his vote as standing up for his state’s interests.
“The mayor of New York City is running ads against me because I oppose President Obama’s gun control legislation,” he says in the ad. “Nothing in the Obama plan would have prevented tragedies like Newtown, Aurora, Tucson or even Jonesboro. I’m committed to finding real solutions to violence while protecting our Second Amendment rights.” Most recently, Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns launched a 100- day cross-country bus tour as the next step in its push for stricter gun control measures. Started June 14 to mark the six-month anniversary of the Newtown, CT, massacre, the bus will transport “gun violence survivors, their families and friends and law enforcement officials to 25 states.
The Bloomberg-funded group has purchased airtime to hammer lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who voted against legislation to expand background checks. A $400,000 June ad buy pummeled Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) for her vote against the gun control bill. They have also run ads against Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
Meanwhile, Newsmax reports, the Democratic Party is courting pro-gun candidates in key Senate races at the same time the party is backing tougher gun control legislation, a contradiction that Republicans are trying to turn to their advantage.
“Washington Democrats preach gun control, but are recruiting adamantly pro-gun candidates like (former Montana Gov. Brian) Schweitzer and (former South Dakota Rep. Stephanie) Herseth-Sandlin. Can’t be both,” Brad Dayspring, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, posted on Twitter.
But according to The Hill, the Democrats justify their efforts as smart politics, saying the races in Montana, South Dakota, and elsewhere could help put Democrats in the Senate who would be sympathetic to sensible gun control efforts while still drawing support from gun advocates back home.
Both Schweitzer and Herseth- Sandlin have “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association and polls show them as the leading potential Democratic candidates in the 2014 Senate races. The party believes both are likely to support reasonable gun control efforts, especially the expanded background checks for commercials sales that went down to defeat earlier this session.
Schweitzer went on record with the National Journal as being in favor of background checks, but it was unclear if he would have supported the bipartisan Senate bill authored by Manchin and Toomey.
Schweitzer also told the Journal that he supports the right to have guns, noting that he has “more (guns) than I need and less than I want.” Bloomberg’s political Daddy Warbucks campaign is worrying Democrats, but he doesn’t seem to be getting the message.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s aides met in May with staffers of Bloomberg to warn them: Targeting vulnerable Democrats like Arkansas’s Mark Pryor on gun control could backfire on the party, several sources told Politico.
It didn’t work.
The Bloomberg gang is ratcheting up the pressure. They are moving as many as 60 field organizers into about a dozen states where senators— Democrats and Republicans— voted against bill, with the goal of building infrastructure and countering gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association.
It’s all got Democrats nervous about keeping their hold on the Senate, if they are under attack from not only Republicans but pro-gun control forces as well.
