On Thursday, we discussed the Democrats' plan to try to flip the Alaska Senate seat by fobbing off a potemkin candidate with the same name as the incumbent Republican as the real deal, to try to siphon off inattentive Republican voters.
Another scam has broken out in some battleground states — an "astroturf" (fake grass roots) gun rights group sending out mailers attacking Republicans' support for gun rights.
Mailers for a group called "Stand your Ground" started popping up in mailboxes in states with crucial U.S. Senate races:
A mysterious new political group called “Stand Your Ground” is distributing mailers in competitive races for Congress that appear designed to undercut Republican candidates by turning voters in their pro-gun base away from them. https://t.co/PAoTiDPJP3
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 29, 2026
The mailers — bulk-mailed from Illinois — make some pretty un-Republican claims about Republican Senate candidates views on gun rights.
NEW: A dark money group called "Stand Your Ground" is funding mailers that appear designed to undercut GOP candidates with pro-gun voters in key House races In FL-14, it’s boosting the libertarian candidate. In SC-1, it’s hitting GOP nominee as anti-gun. https://t.co/oWu8UwVGYn
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 29, 2026
And — unexpectedly, among the famously close-knit gun rights movement where everyone knows everyone else, or at least knows all the groups - nobody's heard of them:
The group has circulated advertisements attacking Republican candidates over their positions on firearms regulation, apparently seeking to weaken their standing among voters who regard gun ownership as a fundamental constitutional right. The campaign has intensified scrutiny of political organisations attempting to influence tightly contested elections through issue-based messaging.
And claims the mailers make are, er, counterintuitive:
In South Carolina’s First Congressional District, the group targeted Republican candidate Jenny Costa Honeycutt with mailers accusing her of supporting restrictions on gun ownership. The advertisements claimed she had challenged Second Amendment rights and imposed additional restrictions on responsible firearm owners.
However, her campaign platform presents a contrasting position. Costa Honeycutt has pledged to defend the constitutional right to bear arms, while the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund has endorsed her candidacy.
In Minnesota, the mailer claims that Michele Tafoya - running a neck and neck race with DFL Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan — is a stealth gun controller
Democrats are very, very, very worried about the MN US Senate race and @peggyflanagan losing. These landed today: Four I.E. hit pieces to a conservative household, trying to move votes over to the Libertarian candidate.... https://t.co/sFlRX7LhXX
— Sean Nienow (@SNienow) October 28, 2026
The claim is squishy in the extreme — while Tafoya has run to the center of many party activists, and made some statements supporting the idea of red flag laws in the wake of a few shootings long before she was a candidate, she's been pretty decisive on the issue on the campaign trail, telling the state Republican Convention "No Red Flag Laws". Her position in general is modulated for a race in a purple state that will likely be decided by voters who are a lot less "From my cold dead hands" than, say, me:
"You know, I've talked to some people at defense companies, people that specialize in hardening schools, and it doesn't necessarily mean you need an armed guard at every door. There are materials you can put on glass windows. There are a lot of precautions that you can take. And listen, I sent my two kids to school every day and I thought about that all the time. Every parent does. So it is a concern. I think there are ways to harden schools. Don't make them militant, but also make them safe and secure for our kids."
It's one of a series of similarly inflammatory mailers on other topics, includimg abortion, that have been appearing in swing state mailboxes:
Don’t forget their sister groups “Our Heritage Matters” and “American Forge Coalition” All three of these arrived in the same mailbox today 👇 https://t.co/uwfibyjmfD
— John Rouleau (@John_Rouleau) October 30, 2026
Similar stories with the other candidates — out of context remarks being blown up into mythical "anti gun" positions intended to sway low-information single-issue voters.
It may be wishful thinking, but if Minnesota Democrats are down to trying to fool the gullible on this issue, they must be nervous.
