Rick Scott’s Disastrous Trip to New Hampshire: Scott Under Fire for Anti-Choice Record

Rick Scott hasn’t officially stepped foot in New Hampshire yet and his trip to the Granite State is already a disaster. This morning, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launched a digital billboard in downtown Manchester highlighting how the NH GOP Senate candidates would stand in lockstep with Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott’s push for a nationwide abortion ban if they retake the Senate. And yesterday, local TV stations forced the National Republican Senatorial Committee —- which Scott is the chair of — to take down its new attack ad that falsely claimed that then-Governor Hassan increased gas prices 23 percent. The truth is that the price of gas actually decreased while Senator Hassan was governor.

Read more here: Punchbowl News: DCSS greets Scott in New Hampshire with Billboard slamming Republicans for opposing abortion rights.

• First in Punchbowl News: NRSC Chair Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is visiting New Hampshire today for a fundraising dinner — and the DSCC is greeting the appearance with a billboard slamming Republicans for opposing abortion rights.

• The billboard, which is going up in downtown Manchester, features Scott and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell along with the three main contenders to take on Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) in November: New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse, retired Gen. Don Bolduc and [former] state Rep. Kevin Smith.

• Hassan has been notably outspoken on the need to protect abortion rights since the draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade leaked earlier this month. Democrats see the debate over abortion rights as a winning issue in New Hampshire.”

Washington Post: On our radar: As Rick Scott heads to N.H., Democrats highlight abortion issue.

• Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who has become a favorite punching bag for President Biden and other Democrats of late, is scheduled to be in New Hampshire, traditionally the first presidential primary state, on Friday night to deliver a speech at a fundraising dinner for the Sullivan County Republican Committee.

• But Democrats are highlighting another issue — abortion — in conjunction with Scott’s visit. A new billboard in Manchester reads, “Republicans want to criminalize abortion. We won’t let them.” It features the faces of Scott, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the three top GOP contenders to take on Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) in the fall.

• The billboard is sponsored by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Scott leads the organization’s counterpart, the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

• The Democratic National Committee also weighed in Scott’s visit, with spokesman Ammar Moussa saying in a statement that “the New Hampshire GOP is rolling out the red carpet for Senator Rick Scott as he pushes an extreme and devastating agenda.”

Union Leader: “National GOP committee pulls NH ad critical of Hassan”

• An ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee slamming Sen. Maggie Hassan's record on the gas tax was pulled from local cable stations Thursday, over a misstatement about the impact Hassan's policy had on prices.

• [...] But the ad misstated the impact of the gas tax increase -- while the tax increased, the overall price of gas went down, not up, in 2014.

• The NRSC ad claimed that prices went up 23%, citing a short New Hampshire Public Radio story that did not make that claim. [...]

• Gas prices in New Hampshire fell in 2014, even after the gas tax took effect, from more than $3.60 in the spring of 2014, down to $2.71 per gallon in mid-December that year.

• The National Republican Senatorial Committee is set to replace that ad with a different one.