The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●AZ-08: A new poll from GOP pollsters OH Predictive Insights for ABC15 Arizona finds Republican Debbie Lesko with a comfortable 53-43 lead on Democrat Hiral Tipirneni ahead of the April 24 special election for Arizona's vacant 8th Congressional District, but outside GOP groups keep dumping in more money.
Campaign ActionThe NRCC is the latest to pour it on. The committee's independent expenditure arm just dropped another $250,000 on ads attacking Tipirneni, bringing their total outlay to $383,000. None of their ads appear to have surfaced online, but the NRCC proper is teaming with Lesko to air what's known as a "hybrid" ad (more on how those work here), and we do have a copy of that. The spot slams "Democrats in Washington" for various sins (like "forced taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens") without mentioning Tipirneni by name, then concludes with a very wooden Lesko staring into the camera and saying she'll "block socialized healthcare."
In addition, the Congressional Leadership Fund has spent a bit over $100,000 here, while the RNC, which doesn't usually get involved in House races, has also shelled out some $400,000. In total, Republican groups have spent just shy of $900,000 on this race—a small fraction of $10 million-plus they lit on fire in the Pennsylvania 18th District special election, but still a considerable sum for a dark red seat that, even in this volatile environment, should be safe for them.
Tipirneni, meanwhile, hit a stumble of her own this week. ABC15 Arizona (the same station that sponsored the poll above) reported that Tipirneni, a former emergency room physician, stopped practicing medicine in 2007 a few months after settling a malpractice lawsuit. Tipirneni says the suit was unconnected to her decision to change careers; rather, she says the deaths her mother and nephew from cancer inspired her to become what she calls a "cancer research advocate."