A senior Republican campaign official is warning that Democratic attack ads centered on Jeffrey Epstein could depress Republican turnout next Tuesday, Politico Playbook reported Monday.
“It’s problematic,” the official told Playbook. “It’s designed at making frustrated Republican voters who are a little soft right now more frustrated and more soft. It’s like openly scratching at a sore that we already sort of have in a certain way, which is smart on their part.”
A Republican pollster put it more bluntly, calling the strategy “Republican base suppression.”
The ads aren’t necessarily meant to flip Trump voters but to keep them home, according to Playbook, which could open a path for Democrats in deep-red states eight days before the midterms.
The Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC has spent more than $20 million on Epstein-focused ads targeting Republican Senate candidates in Alaska, Maine, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Georgia, according to Politico. Democrats have spent $53 million on ads mentioning Epstein in competitive races, compared with $3 million from Republicans, according to an AdImpact analysis reported by the Washington Post.
The ads aim at Republican voters frustrated over the Epstein files. Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act last November, and the Justice Department released more than 3 million pages on Jan. 30. Then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the release put the department “in compliance” with the law, while withholding documents it said depicted violence or were privileged.
In Mississippi, Democratic Senate nominee Scott Colom is airing a spot featuring a lifelong Republican voter who says he broke with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith over her vote to block the release of the Epstein files.
Republicans are fighting back, with Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson running a direct-to-camera ad in which she says, “This week, I had to explain to my boys, ‘No, mom does not protect pedophiles,’” HuffPost reported.
Republicans entered the cycle with a 53-47 Senate majority, meaning Democrats need a net gain of four seats to flip the chamber. Election Day is Nov. 3.
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