Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, alongside his wife Catherine and two sons, speaks to supporters at a campaign party, Aug. 2, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz.
John Bazemore/AP Photo

The Republican Senate nominees on the ballot this fall aren’t the first to tap the women in their lives to speak directly to voters in television ads — it’s a tried-and-true strategy for softening a candidate’s rough edges. In 2020, the wives of Democrats Doug Jones and Jon Ossoff (Ga.) starred in Senate campaign ads. Republican Dan Sullivan (Alaska) sat next to his wife as she spoke to the camera, while his colleague Steve Daines (R-Mont.) brought his two daughters on screen to vouch for their dad. Manny Sethi, a first-time candidate who lost the Tennessee Republican primary that year, ran separate television ads featuring both his wife and mother.

But so far this year, Democratic candidates haven’t tried the tactic.

James Dickey, the former chair of the Texas Republican Party, said it should come as no shock that Republicans are trying to refine their positions on abortion as Democrats have attempted to make the issue a major component of their campaigns.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you see some candidates who can be more nuanced and should be more nuanced in their positions, given the people they’re going to represent,” Dickey said. Articulating an abortion message that resonates with the majority of voters, he added, would “take the wind out of the sails” of Democrats.

In an interview, Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, downplayed any concerns about how GOP candidates will perform with women voters in major battlegrounds. But Scott noted the party should be on guard with how it discusses the matter.

“I think it’s important that, you know, we’re compassionate about the issue. It’s a tough issue for women,” Scott said. “And we have to understand that we want to have reasonable restrictions, reasonable exceptions. And we ought to talk about where the Democrats are.” Scott noted that Democratic senators and candidates have refused to articulate support for any legal restrictions on the procedure, a line of attack being used by their Republican opponents.

Mark Graul, a Wisconsin-based Republican strategist, characterized the general election pivot and effort to appeal to female voters as an age-old conundrum for the GOP.

“Republicans for a long time now have had a gender gap. Solving that gender gap isn’t a new challenge,” Graul said, explaining that messaging “that shows a softer side” is always a good decision early in a general election — before the barrage of attack ads sets in this fall.

But like Dickey, Wadhams and other GOP strategists, Graul emphasized how crucial it is for Republicans to move past the back-and-forth on abortion and to remain focused on the issues they started the cycle hammering Democrats on: the economy and quality of life under Democratic rule.

“Suburban women want to have control over their kids’ education. Suburban women want to know their families are going to be safe,” Graul said. “Suburban women are concerned about how much it costs to go to the grocery store and fill up at the pump.”

John Couvillon, a Louisiana-based pollster, said he believes Republicans may have “underestimated the nuanced opinion many people have about abortion,” citing recent polling he conducted in a conservative part of Louisiana that found the vast majority of voters there favor abortion restrictions that still allow for reasonable exceptions.

But Couvillon says the abortion issue isn’t yet proving it will amount to a landslide victory for Democrats. In states where he can measure partisan primary turnout this summer, with the exception of a few places like Kansas, Vermont and Alaska, Democrats still aren’t experiencing a spike, like they did in 2018. Recent voter registration trends also don’t show a statistically significant surge for Democrats, Couvillon said — meaning Republicans could still perform well this fall, despite a summer setback.

“Whatever problems they have with women,” Couvillon said of Republicans, “I’m not yet showing data that it’s widespread enough that you’d have this massive Democratic revival.”

Burgess Everett contributed to this story.