ST. LOUIS (AP) - Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas is asking Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri to remove his name and praise for her from a new campaign ad.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Roberts wants McCaskill to remove from the ad his quote from August 2017 describing her as a senator he seeks out to get things done on a bipartisan basis.
McCaskill is in a tight re-election race with Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley, whose campaign paints her as a Democratic obstructionist. McCaskill says she is known for working across party lines.
Late Tuesday, Hawley’s campaign sent out a news release quoting Roberts’ demand that McCaskill remove “my name and quote from her ad.” In the statement from Hawley, Roberts does not dispute the quote.
Roberts said McCaskill turned more partisan after President Donald Trump was elected. Roberts’ spokeswoman Stacey Daniels on Wednesday cited as examples McCaskill’s announced plan to vote against Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and her vote against the Republican-backed tax reform package in November.
The McCaskill campaign did not immediately respond to a question from The Associated Press about whether it would alter the ad.
In the ad, McCaskill notes she has supported Trump on some issues and nominations, and that the president has signed bills she co-sponsored.
Republicans point out that she also has opposed Trump on big votes like the tax cuts, repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and the Supreme Court nominations of Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
McCaskill’s ad describes her as “always willing to work with anyone” and quotes Roberts saying that “if you want to pick somebody to work in a bipartisan manner … to get things done - you pick Claire McCaskill.”
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This story has been corrected to show that Hawley is attorney general, not secretary of state.
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