Terri Lynn Land was not supposed to be a formidable candidate.
She’s a Republican running for the Senate in Michigan, a state that hasn’t elected a GOP senator since Bill Clinton’s first term. One D.C. outlet flatly declared her “not a top-tier candidate,” while Republican pollster Frank Luntz dubbed one of her TV spots “the worst ad of the political process.”
In short, Michigan Republicans could be forgiven for being pessimistic about her chances against Democratic nominee Rep. Gary Peters. But they could take hope from an unlikely source: Democratic spending. Peters’ supporters appear to be taking Land’s candidacy very seriously, reserving air time that indicates they are bunkering down for a race that could tighten over coming weeks.
In September alone, Michigan voters will be treated to (at least) $4.9 million of TV ads paid for by groups supportive of Democrats. Environmentalist and hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, a liberal mega-donor, is spending $2.6 million alone over three weeks this month.
And the usual Democratic stalwarts are ponying up, too. Traditional supporters such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as well as the Senate Majority PAC and the League of Conservation Voters are all showing up with six-figure buys. “They’ve tried to push the narrative that Terri Lynn Land is a dead man walking and that Gary Peters has it in the bag,” said one Michigan Republican operative. “But $5 million in September doesn’t support that claim.”
On top of that, Vice President Joe Biden headed to Detroit on Labor Day, sharing the stage with Peters. Republicans took his trip as another indicator that powerful Democrats worry tides could be moving in Land’s direction.
“We’ve got millions and millions in spending against us,” said Peters at the event, according to the Detroit Free Press. “That is why this election is so important. Our democracy is on the line.”
He and his campaign also have millions and millions for them, of course.
Add to this the increasingly frantic timbre of Peters’ fundraising emails (Excerpts: “I’m not going to sugarcoat this … our race is tight” and “People have different definitions of a ‘tight race’ or a ‘dead heat.’ But I think we can all agree that this race is one of them,” and Michigan could be more interesting than expected.
Still, conventional wisdom still seems to hold that the Senate seat is Peters’ to lose.
“They have enough money that they can afford to go buy themselves some insurance here and there,” said Michigan Democratic consultant Mark Grebner, speculating on why national Democrats would invest so much in a race they presumably had in the bag.
“Everybody kind of half-expected that she wasn’t really as bad a candidate as we said she was,” he added, “and she’s turning out to be as bad as we said.”
So that’s not to suggest the race is over. But some Republicans have found national Democrats’ efforts heartening.
“It’s trending toward Terri when it matters,” said Michigan Republican Party communications director Darren Littell.
