On Friday evening, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s campaign sent the following email an hour after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was announced.
“BREAKING: the future of the Supreme Court is on the line,” the email’s subject line read according to several news outlets.
“Our Conservative values and Constitutional rights are now on the line,” the campaign email stated. “The next Supreme Court nominee will shape major decisions for decades to come.”
A similar text also went out.
This was not received well by Democrats.
Ernst, in a statement to the Des Moines Register, said, “This email never should have gone out. Though I never saw it, it was sent out under my name and I take responsibility for it. Tonight, my prayers are with the family of Justice Ginsburg.”
However, Greenfield sent her own fundraising email on Saturday, less than 24-hours after Ginsburg’s death.
“I’m sad for Justice Ginsburg’s family, for everyone who looked up for her, and for our country. Quite frankly, I’m also furious. I’m furious that decades after Justice Ginsburg first fought for equality, we’re still having those same fights today,” her email reads.
“So much is at stake. So yes, I’m furious and I’m sad, but I’m also getting back to work. Justice Ginsburg dedicated her life to making the world a more equitable place – she never backed down from a fight. It’s on us to carry her fights forward. Let’s fight for Justice Ginsburg,” the email concludes and has a link where people can click to get involved with the race.
The link takes supporters to her campaign website and they see a fundraising pop-up upon their first visit. The next visit shows the “join the team” email capture widget in the center of the website with fundraising buttons at the top.
Greenfield’s email doesn’t include the same partisan language, but it still uses Ginsburg’s death to motivate people to action and it was sent less than 24-hours after Ginsburg’s death was announced.
House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff, D-Calif, also sent his own fundraising email on behalf of Greenfield and other Democratic Senate candidates.
Democrats did something similar in 2016, the Democratic National Committee sent a fundraising email hours after news of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.