In one of his latest fundraising appeals, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has asked his donors to give to the campaigns of three endangered Democrats, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Kay Hagen of North Carolina and Mark Udall of Colorado instead of giving that money to his campaign.
Blumenthal can afford to be generous, even though he started the year with only about $242,000 in his campaign account. He doesn’t run for re-election until 2016.
In his fundraising appeal, Blumenthal says the Senate is in danger of falling into Republican hands if Landrieu, Hagan and Udall lose their tough races.
“There are so many critical questions on the table – from unemployment benefits, to gun violence prevention, to climate change, to women’s health – but Republicans in the House keep refusing to work together to solve any problems “ the fundraising appeal says. “Now it’s up to us to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen in the Senate.”
The appeals said Landrieu, Hagan and Udall “have all been leaders on these and many other tough issues. Now they are all facing tight races to keep their seats this November.”
Fellow Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska are also in hot water this year when it comes to re-election. Their losses could tilt the Senate, too.
But, unlike Landrieu, Hagan and Udall, who are receiving heat for their votes to move a gun-control bill forward in the Senate, Pryor and Begich voted “no.”
The bill, which would expand FBI checks of gun buyers, failed to get the 60 votes needed to move ahead.