GOP leaders, stung by losses, plan to wade into Senate races

By BRIAN SLODYSKO
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans’ campaign operation is taking steps to avoid a repeat of their party’s disastrous showing in last year’s midterms. The National Republican Senatorial Committee says it intends to wade into party primaries in key states, providing resources to its preferred candidates in a bid to produce nominees who are more palatable to general election voters. That’s a reversal from last year, when the committee chairman at the time, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, refused to intervene in primaries. But achieving the committee’s goals may be easier said than done. Similar efforts have backfired in recent years, with the party’s restive base rejecting such attempts.