Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman faced questions in last week’s Democratic Senate primary debate about a 2013 incident, when Fetterman chased a Black jogger with a shotgun after he believed he heard gunshots. And some Democrats are concerned Republicans could use the incident to depress Black turnout should Fetterman win the nomination, NBC News’ Marc Caputo reports.
“He’s not shooting straight on this, no pun intended. Just fess up. Apologize,” Michael Nutter, Philadelphia’s last Black mayor, told Caputo.
Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, a Democratic organizer in Philadelphia, estimated that turnout in the city could drop by 40,000 or 50,000 votes. “That would be enough to lose the election for us,” he said.
Fetterman will face off again with his fellow Democrats in a debate at 7 p.m. ET tonight.Meanwhile, the Republican candidates for Senate will face off in a debate tonight hosted by ABC27 at 8 p.m. ET. All of the top candidates, including Mehmet Oz, David McCormick, Carla Sands, Jeff Bartos and Kathy Barnette, are expected to attend. And the Hill digs intoOz’s political evolution as he faces voters skeptical of his conservative bona fides.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail…
AR-SEN: A new ad from a super PAC opposing Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., hits the senator from the right on immigration. The primary race between Boozman and former football player Jake Bequette has featured intense ads, underscoring how Republicans are trying to navigate appealing to a base that’s angry Trump is no longer in office, per the Associated Press.
NH-SEN: Politico reports that Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan’s recent visit to the southern border, along with her opposition to the Biden administration’s decision to repeal Title 42, sparked criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.
OH-SEN: Trump dismissed JD Vance’s past criticism of him ahead of the May 3 primary, NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard reported from Trump’s Delaware, Ohio rally on Saturday. Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., is also campaigning with Vance today. Meanwhile, Trump’s endorsement has “escalated the tension and nastiness that from the start have served as the race’s hallmarks,” writes NBC News’ Henry J. Gomez.
UT-SEN: Utah Democrats decided to not put up their own Senate candidate against Republican Sen. Mike Lee, instead voting to endorse independent Evan McMullin.
IL-GOV: Republican gubernatorial hopeful Richard Irvin is up with a new ad attacking the Democratic Governors Association for meddling in the primary with anti-Irvin ads.
NE-GOV: Republican gubernatorial hopeful Charles Herbster is suing state Sen. Julie Slamafor defamation after the Republican lawmaker accused him of groping her in 2019.
GA-14: After Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s nearly four-hour testimony on Friday, both sides are expected to submit briefs by Thursday before a judge decides whether to recommend she be removed from the ballot over her connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
TX-28: In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who faces a progressive challenger in a May 24 primary runoff, said that the Biden administration is “listening to the immigration activists” on immigration policy with their decision to lift Title 42 next month. “But my question is, who’s listening to the men and women in green and in blue?” he added.