Fundraising emails are part of modern politics, and a Democrat fundraising off the fight over abortion policy in her state is commonplace.
But when the state is Florida and the U.S. senator shaking down local voters for cash is from New Hampshire — that’s news.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) isn’t up for reelection for another four years, and Florida’s abortion policies have zero effect on the Granite State residents she was elected to serve. But that hasn’t stopped her from hitting up Sunshine Staters for campaign cash.
Earlier this month, Florida’s Supreme Court ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment removing limits on legal abortion could appear on the November ballot. In an email blast targeting Florida voters, Hassan called the court’s decision “a monumental step in our fight and was our final hurdle to put limiting government interference with abortion on the ballot in November.”
“We’re fired up about this news, but so are anti-abortion extremists – and they’ll certainly have a record fundraising day because of it. We need to match them dollar-for-dollar, so we’re asking you to split between Yes on 4 and Maggie Hassan to help reach our emergency fundraising goal of $30,000.”
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel was the first to report on Hassan’s Sunshine State campaign cash ask.
Abortion rights have been a reliable rallying cry for Democrats looking to raise campaign funds, especially following the United States Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs ruling that returned the abortion issue to the states.
Following the decision, Hassan was one of the Senate’s most adamant pro-abortion members. In a campaign ad released that summer, Hassan warned New Hampshire voters about “politicians like (Sen. Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who’ve made it clear that their objective is to ban abortion nationwide.”
The abortion rights issue played a central role that year in her other Democrats’ successful reelection campaigns despite the low approval rating of the party’s standard-bearer, President Joe Biden.
But none of this explains why Hassan was raising money in Florida, and using a Florida state court ruling to do it. Hassan declined to respond to questions about her Florida fundraising.
It’s not the first time Hassan has refused to answer questions about her fundraising activity. More than a year after pledging to return campaign donations from convicted felon Sam Bankman-Fried, Hassan refuses to answer questions about how much of his stolen campaign cash she’s holding on to.
Hassan and the New Hampshire Democratic Party were among the top 10 recipients in 2022 of Bankman-Fried’s generosity when it came to doling out other peoples’ money. Between the two, Hassan received the biggest boost, netting more than $40,000.
The only comment regarding Hassan’s haul of Bankman-Fried’s donations was provided last February to the Union Leader.
“Contributions made towards Sen. Hassan’s 2022 campaign have already been spent; as additional funds are raised, the campaign will set aside the amount of those contributions to be returned to victims,” a spokesman said, indicating Hassan is relying on her other campaign donors to pay back the stolen cash she received.
Is Hassan asking Floridians to front the Sam Bankman-Fried cash and keep her flush?
The senator’s office is a “no comment” on that.
