Senate Democrats’ campaign chief says he won’t meddle in GOP primaries

The Senate Democrats’ 2024 election chief said he will not intervene in Republican primaries to make sure perceived “weak” candidates win, which Democrats did in 2022 races across the country.

But Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said tumultuous GOP primaries will advance extreme candidates on their own.

“The folks who win Republican primaries tend to be the extreme candidates. And that will be an opportunity for us,” said Peters, who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), in an interview with Politico.

Senate Democrats face a tough election map in 2024, with multiple vulnerable incumbents in traditionally Republican states having their terms up next year. That includes Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

But in those states, along with others like Nevada and Arizona, Republicans are already lining up for contentious primary contests, with many Trump-aligned candidates expected to challenge more moderate GOP figures for the party’s nod.

In Arizona, failed governor candidate Kari Lake, who is still seeking to overturn the 2022 election results, is moving toward launching a 2024 Senate campaign. Jim Marchant, a Trump backer, is seeking the Republican nomination in Nevada. And Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), a hard-line conservative, is pursuing the GOP nomination in West Virginia against the state’s more moderate Gov. Jim Justice. 

In West Virginia, Manchin has yet to say whether he will run for reelection. The same goes for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). Democrats were bolstered by Tester saying he would seek another term.

Despite Peters saying more extreme Republicans winning the primaries would help Democratic candidates in general elections, he said he was not willing to have the DSCC dip into GOP primaries to tip the scales for more right-wing candidates.

But Peters said when the Republican primaries are “contentious,” they can produce “a weak candidate” by themselves.