The new class of Republican Senate candidates is lining up against aid to Ukraine, highlighting how the tide is slowly turning against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his allies in the upper chamber .
Several Republican Senate candidates, led by those holding some of the seats most likely to flip, have said in recent days that they would have voted against the $95 billion package signed by President Biden last month, which included aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The package was a major victory for McConnell, who helped force it through Congress and sees supporting Ukraine against Russia as one of his final battles as a lawmaker.
He won majority support for the bill in his caucus, as 30 Senate Republicans sided with him, including some who voted against the aid in February.
But McConnell’s defectors come from the new classes of Republican senators. Eleven of the 17 first-term Senate Republicans voted against aid to Ukraine.
“We’ve certainly seen a shift in the last six years, in part because you see… a generational shift in the country that’s being reflected,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), one of six GOP members in the Senate. in his first term to vote in favor of the relief bill.
At least four GOP candidates, Tim Sheehy in Montana, Bernie Moreno in Ohio, Kari Lake in Arizona and Rep. Jim Banks in Indiana, have said or indicated that they would have voted against aid to Ukraine.
“No,” Sheehy said when asked about his stance on aid to Ukraine in a local television interview. Sheehy is expected to face Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) this fall in a race that could decide the Senate majority.
“We grouped together all these aid packages from completely different geopolitical issues, like we do everything in Congress now, and put it all together and voted on a single bill. The issues that Taiwan faces, the issues that Ukraine faces, the issues that support Israel – they are all different,” Sheehy said.
“We need to support our allies, without a doubt,” Sheehy continued. “I’m not against supporting our allies. But each of these scenarios, the American people deserve a real discussion about them, and they should be able to choose, frankly, between them. Because what Ukraine faces and what Israel faces in sending billions of dollars to Gaza, which will end up in the hands of Hamas and Hezbollah, and in supporting Taiwan are very distinct and separate geopolitical issues that should be voted on separately.”
A spokesperson for Moreno, who is running against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), told The Hill that while Moreno supported aid to Tel Aviv in the package, he “would have opposed the broader bill.”
Sheehy and Moreno are supported by former President Trump, who has been skeptical of aid to Ukraine.
As for Lake, another Trump ally, she criticized the package during a recent interview for prioritizing support for Ukraine over the U.S./Mexico border. It’s a position she shares with several conservatives who voted against it.
“You’re representing the people of America, and it’s time to start caring about the people of this country, instead of worrying so much about the border in Ukraine and the people of Ukraine,” she said. counted Newsmax. “Americans are suffering and we demand that you start representing us.”
The Senate majority will pass through Montana and Ohio this fall, as those seats, along with West Virginia, represent the GOP’s best chances of regaining seats from Democrats. In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice is a heavy favorite.
Republicans only need to win two seats to win the Senate majority, or one if they also win back the White House.
Banks, who is the favorite to win his Indiana seat, which is already in Republican Party hands, voted against the Ukraine portion of the bill but gave the green light to aid projects for Israel and the Indo-Pacific. . The legislation was presented in the Chamber for different votes before being brought together in the Senate.
Growing opposition to Ukraine will only make it more difficult for aid supporters to win votes in a future Senate, should some of the Republicans win.
“I think it gets heavier with each iteration,” Cramer said. “It won’t get any easier.”
Some candidates refused to say how they would have voted one way or the other.
“I am very pleased that Congress approved assistance to Israel in its war against Hamas. I would have preferred aid to Ukraine to be tied to border security – the two should not have been separated and should not have included $10 billion in non-military aid to Ukraine,” said Dave McCormick, the Republican Senate candidate from Pennsylvania. , to The Hill. in a statement. “Ultimately, it remains important to stand up to Putin, but it should have been done differently and more effectively.”
McCormick will face Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) this fall.
The campaigns of former Rep. Mike Rogers (D-Mich.) and Eric Hovde of Wisconsin declined to comment.
Justice (R) and Sam Brown of Nevada did not respond to a request for comment, but Brown’s pointed to the Las Vegas Review Journal that he was against tying aid to Israel to other legislative items.
Most of the GOP leadership team voted in favor of the final supplemental bill, including National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who is leading the effort to end the four-year hiatus. years of the Republican Party in the minority.
On the other hand, at least two Republican candidates supported the supplement. Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) praised the package and called on members just before the vote to “send a strong, unified message that will help secure peace through strength.”
Hogan hopes to give the Republican Party a chance to win a seat in Maryland, which hasn’t elected a Republican senator in decades.
Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), a leading candidate to replace outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), also I voted for all four individual bills that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) cobbled together.
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