Welcome to the Democratic Governors Association’s Friday newsletter, the Weekender.
Let’s get started.
Connecticut: 11 weeks out from Election Day, Bob Stefanowski’s campaign is in shambles, with the Connecticut Mirror reporting that in just three weeks, Stefanowski’s campaign manager, senior advisor, and TV consultant have all left his campaign. In a statement, Stefanowski’s senior advisor cited “strategic differences” as her reason for leaving — but “neither candidate nor consultant cared to articulate those differences.” Meanwhile, the CT Independent Party rejected Stefanowski’s attempt to get their endorsement, with one report saying: “The loss is a blow to Stefanowski, who was cross-endorsed by the Independent Party during his first run in 2018.” Beyond showing signs of a campaign in complete disarray, Stefanowski’s recent campaign shakeup further highlights just how extreme by bringing on the same team that “crafted advertising for the presidential campaigns of Donald J. Trump in 2016 and 2020.”Michigan: After Tudor Dixon had to rely on Betsy DeVos, special interests, and last-minute endorsements to drag her across the finish line, the Michigan GOP is still a chaotic mess of extremists. This week, former GOP frontrunner for governor James Craig announced he won’t support Dixon, saying her plan to ban abortion without exceptions for rape, incest, or the health of the mother is “ludicrous.” To make matters worse for Dixon, Ralph Rebandt said he will run against Dixon’s pick for lieutenant governor, suggesting he would give a voice to the 60% of Michigan Republicans who didn’t vote for Dixon in the primary. Meanwhile, in a new interview with FOX 2 Detroit, Dixon once again doubled down on her plan to ban abortion without exceptions for rape, incest, or the health of the mother, this time saying that forcing a teenage victim of rape to give birth is “healing.”
Ron DeSantis Takes Flight From Abortion Ban Questions After Opening the Door for More Extreme Restrictions: “We Welcome Future Endeavors”Ron DeSantis just said this week his goal is to push for even more extreme restrictions on reproductive freedoms in Florida. In a press conference, DeSantis said, “we look forward, and we welcome future endeavors” to restrict and ban abortion in Florida. However, when pressed for specifics on if he supports a complete abortion ban, DeSantis ended the press conference and took flight out of the room.DeSantis also bragged he has done “more than any governor in the modern history of the state” to restrict abortion rights by signing into law one of the nation’s most extreme bans on abortion, with no exceptions for survivors of rape, incest, or human trafficking. Now, he wants to take away even more rights for Florida women.
The comments from DeSantis come after he took his dangerous, anti-freedom crusade to a new level early last month and suspended an elected state attorney from office after he said he would not undermine Floridians’ right to privacy by prosecuting women and doctors who seek or assist in reproductive health care services.
WATCH: Hobbs Campaign Launches Digital Ad Highlighting Kari Lake Saying Women “Aren’t Equal to Men”This week, Katie Hobbs’ campaign for Arizona governor launched a new digital ad exposing Kari Lake’s dangerous comments that women “aren’t equal to men” and “don’t want to be equal to them.” Watch the video here.Lake has repeatedly said that she doesn’t see men and women as equals, a view that’s reflected in her anti-women agenda of banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest.
The ad is the first in a series highlighting Lake’s seemingly never-ending list of extreme positions.
“Education is why I became governor, and it’s why I believe higher education should be accessible, affordable, and therefore attainable to all those who choose to pursue it. These steps today will help ensure millions of kids across our state and our country have a shot at education changing their lives, too, just like the scrawny kid who grew up in Plymouth, Wisconsin, and ended up one day becoming governor.”
In response to criticism of him comparing COVID public health measures to Nazi Germany: “Oh, I’m sure I probably could have chose different words, but no regrets.”Who said it? Send your answer to press@dga.net, and we’ll reveal the answer in the next Weekender!
If you guessed GOP nominee for Arizona governor Kari Lake last week, you were correct! At a campaign event with Ron DeSantis, she said that he has “BDE” or “Big DeSantis Energy,” which she said is the “same type of BDE that Donald Trump has.”
