Tipsheet

NRSC Steve Daines Will Not Be Getting Involved in Primary for This Key Senate Race

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  July 14, 2023 2:15 PM

Ohio will be one of the top Senate races to watch in 2024, but Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT) of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) isn't getting involved, at least not yet. Daines explained in an interview with CBS News' Major Garrett that he is not getting involved in the primary where Sherrod Brown, a vulnerable Democratic incumbent, is up for reelection. State Sen. Matt Dolan and businessman Bernie Moreno have already declared, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose is expected to announce soon, any one of whom Daines believes can flip that seat. 

Daines listed Ohio as an example of states where there doesn't appear to be a need to get involved to select a candidate. 

The chairman assured Garrett that the voters "always will at the end of the day... decide" which candidate prevails. He went on to list Ohio as example where "when you have three candidates that any one could win the general election, um, we don't stay up late worrying about that, but if we have a situation where a candidate may not be able to appeal across a broader spectrum, that's where we'll be more intentional to try to get candidates that can."

Daines was including LaRose as one of the three candidates, sharing "we assume" LaRose "probably gets in that race." LaRose's candidacy is something Garrett agreed was "a safe assumption."

Daines then confirmed for Garrett that "yeah, we are" when asked "so, you'll stay out of Ohio?"

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Daines was discussing his role as the NRSC chairman with races he was going to or not going to get involved in, and how he was taking an approach for the Republican Party to be as successful as possible. Republicans were disappointed with last year's Senate races, as Democrats actually gained a seat when now Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) replaced retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). 

While 2024 looks to be more favorable this time around to Republicans, the party can't afford to take anything for granted. Daines spoke with Townhall last November, not long after he was selected for the role, during which he acknowledged how Independents did not break for Republicans in the 2022 cycle. "We've got to understand why that happened," Daines told Townhall. The chairman also spoke to how he looks forward to "taking a look at what happened in great detail, and really develop what I call 'a lessons learned'" kind of plan. 

Daines likewise spoke to "look what happened certainly in 2022" in that CBS News interview when discussing how "what I found was that Republicans across the country were sick and tired of losing, including myself." His approach, as covered by POLITICO, involves making use of candidates who can win both the primary and general elections.

The chairman spoke to the idea of appealing to Independents as well, in that "at the end of the day, elections and politics is about addition, not subtraction and division, and finding candidates that can appeal to a broader spectrum of the Republican voters, as well as appeal to Independent voters," which he offered "will be key to success in '24," hence why they're "being a lot more thoughtful and deliberate about finding candidates that can have a broader appeal.