NRA, law enforcement: Approve Sessions, or else

The National Rifle Association and the National Sheriff’s Association are working together to put senators on notice. The message: If you vote against Sen. Jeff Session’s confirmation as attorney general, we’re coming for you in 2018.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard, representatives from the two organizations said senators who vote against Sessions will be targeted in their 2018 voter’s guide.

For many Democratic senators in more conservative areas of the country, that’s a major threat because of the weight NRA and law enforcement support carries for elected officials.

As POLITICO noted Wednesday:

Some of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2018 — including Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) — have expressed skepticism about Sessions but have not committed to voting for or against him yet. All three senators have enjoyed relatively favorable (for Democrats) treatment in the past from the NRA, which spent more than $50 million during the 2016 election, mostly supporting Trump and Republican Senate candidates.

The NRA endorsed Donnelly for reelection to his old House seat in 2010, and he and Tester had A and A- ratings, respectively, from the NRA during their 2012 Senate runs. The NRA barely spent any money on independent-expenditure ads opposing them or Heitkamp that year, according to Federal Election Commission records.

NRA representatives have offered all-out support for Sessions because of the Alabama lawmaker’s positive record defending the 2^nd Amendment.

“The NRA is proud to fight for the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions. He knows that criminals are the problem not law abiding gun owners and he will work tirelessly to protect our Second Amendment rights,” top NRA lobbyist Chris Cox told Bedard.

The Sheriff’s Association’s support for Sessions, meanwhile, hangs on the hope that his law and order background means he will lead the Justice Department from a pro-cop perspective that disappeared during the previous administration.

“We believe law enforcement deserves an AG that will support the nation’s citizens, all citizens, equally. As well, one that will support not just the words,and concepts of, ‘the rule of law,’ but the men and women committed to enforcing those words and the nation,” Sheriff’s Association director Johnathon Thompson said.

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