Four Democratic candidates for the Senate are refusing to say whether they back Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to remain in her post going forward.
Former Sen. Russ Feingold, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, Iowa State Sen. Patty Judge and former North Carolina State Rep. Deborah Ross all declined to say whether they think Wasserman Schultz should continue to lead the DNC when confronted by questions from America Rising within the past two weeks.
Most notable of the group are Feingold and Hassan, both of whom are challenging incumbent GOP senators in competitive races.
Feingold, a former three-term senator from Wisconsin, is challenging Sen. Ron Johnson and looking to avenge his 2010 loss to the incumbent senator. Hassan is taking on Sen. Kelly Ayotte for her seat, which she also won in 2010 as part of the Tea Party wave.
According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Feingold leads Johnson by nearly 6 percentage points (48.7-43), while Ayotte holds a 3-point advantage (44.3-41.3 percent) over the sitting New Hampshire governor. Both Judge and Ross have much steeper climbs against Sens. Chuck Grassley and Richard Burr, respectively.
Wasserman Schultz has been under pressure from her left and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign in recent weeks. Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, recently argued that a new chairman is needed to “unify the party” with less than two months until the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, which Sanders plans to compete at.
Democratic senators recently held discussions about the future of the Florida congresswoman as party chairwoman. Wasserman Schultz has tried to give deference to Sanders’ camp by giving them five of the 15 slots on the platform committee, allowing his side more say on the issue.
