Republican Sen. Dean Heller might be surprised to learn that the committee tasked with helping him win re-election believes he is a Democrat. At least, that’s how he’s listed on the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s online map detailing this year’s Senate match-ups.
The NRSC’s election map, intended to inform visitors about the different races across the country, is riddled with small errors, from name misspellings to improper party designations, some of them carrying factual consequences.
The map isn’t likely to create any dire consequences for the GOP’s efforts to gain control of the Senate. At worst, it could perhaps make them look sloppy in the eyes of any potential donors checking out the site.
Here are just a few of them:
⢠California: race is listed as being between two Democrats, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Republican opponent Elizabeth Emken given a blue label for a Democrats. Feinstein’s first name is misspelled as “Diane.”
⢠Mississippi: Republican Sen. Roger Wicker’s Democratic opponent Albert Gore is also listed in red, seemingly minting a race with two Republicans.
⢠New Mexico: The candidates’ party labels are reversed: Democratic nominee Martin Heinrich is listed in Republican red, and Republican nominee Heather Wilson gets Democratic blue.
⢠Nevada: Another party flip-flop: Republican Sen. Dean Heller is in Democratic blue, and Democratic challenger Rep. Shelley Berkley in Republican red. Berkley’s name is misspelled “Berkeley.”
⢠Indiana: Richard Mourdock defeated Sen. Dick Lugar in the Republican primary, but Mourdock is listed as the incumbent. His name is misspelled as “Mourdoch.”
⢠Vermont: Sen. Bernie Sanders’s first name is misspelled “Berni.”
⢠Connecticut: Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman is given a blue label for a Democrat. Lieberman does caucuses with the Democrats. But Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who also caucuses as a Democrat, is given a green label specifically for independents.
⢠Colorado: There is no Senate race in this year, but Democratic Sen. Mark Udall is listed as an independent, with a green label.
The NRSC isn’t likely to mistake Republicans for Democrats when it comes to the business of actually getting candidates elected: funding advertising, registering voters, etc. But for a group that bills itself as “the only political committee solely dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate,” it helps to know the particulars of the races.
