Republican Senate Hopefuls Want Voters to Think They’re Running Against Biden

The GOP messaging strategy at the RNC aligns with recent polling that shows Biden trailing down-ballot Democrats.

Kari Lake (2024 RNC) AP-24198854076493
Tying Ruben Gallego to Joe Biden has been a theme of Lake’s frequent ads saturating the Phoenix airwaves. Nam Y. Huh/AP

Senate Republicans are casting a wide net in November, and their candidates appear to believe they have found the two words that can drag their opponents down: Joe Biden.

On the second night of the Republican National Convention, Senate GOP hopefuls in tough races made a point to link their Democratic opponents to the president, whose poll numbers have been slipping behind down-ballot Democrats across the country.

“Americans are waking up to the truth about the disastrous Democrat policies pushed by Joe Biden and his favorite congressman, my opponent, Ruben Gallego,” Kari Lake, Republican Senate hopeful in Arizona, said. “These guys, they are full of bad ideas … Gallego and the Democrats have handed over control of my state, Arizona’s border, to the drug cartels. And because of them, criminals and deadly drugs are pouring in, and our children are dying.”