With scandal-plagued Congressman Frank Guinta emerging victorious in yesterday’s final Congressional primary, the NRCC has yet again failed to secure the stronger candidate for the general election. This pattern has held in virtually every contested Republican primary across the country, leaving the NRCC defending flawed, scandal-ridden, or extremist candidates across the country.
“The NRCC used to talk a good game of expanding their caucus in November, but looking at their crop of primary failures, it is hard not to laugh at the prospect,” said Matt Thornton, Communications Director for the DCCC. “Frank Guinta surviving his primary challenge caps off the slow clap that has been this NRCC primary effort.”
Looking at open or challenger races, it is hard to point to many the NRCC should consider a success.
Let’s take a look back at the NRCC’s record of failure:
FAIL: Paul Babeu (AZ01) This Republican primary was a clown show of scandal-ridden candidates, but somehow the NRCC managed to get stuck with the worst of the bunch. From accusations of overseeing child abuse to misuse of public funds, flawed doesn’t even begin to describe Babeu. Voters in this district have just begun to see just how damaged he is. MORE
FAIL: Justin Fareed (CA24) – Surely the NRCC was not hoping for the twenty-something trust-funder whose greatest accomplishment, according to his most recent laughable ad, was scoring a touchdown in a high school football game. Running to the right to win and getting behind Trump in the primary may have gotten him to this point, but that move has placed him completely out of touch with this district. MORE
FAIL: Trey Hollingsworth (IN09) – Let’s go out on a limb here and guess that the NRCC wasn’t actually trying to insult Hoosiers by importing a rich guy from Tennessee to buy their seat in Congress. But here they are. MORE and MORE
FAIL: Jack Bergman (MI01) – Jack Bergman was so unpopular with the NRCC that they put both of his primary challengers on their candidate support program, conspicuously leaving Bergman out in the cold. Now they are stuck with the guy from Louisiana who loves that state so much, he plans to retire there. And he wants to privatize Social Security in one of the oldest districts in the country. MORE
FAIL: Jason Lewis (MN02) – This primary was a mess from the beginning with the retiring incumbent, John Kline, lamenting the terrible crop of choices to replace him. Once the convention and primary dust settled, the NRCC was left with a brash conservative talk show host who seems to have no filter on what comes out of his mouth. Fortunately for Minnesotans, his shocking comments about women and slavery are on tape for all to hear. MORE
FAIL: Frank Guinta (NH01) – From being lambasted by every newspaper in the state to rebuffing calls from prominent Republicans to resign after his FEC scandal, there is no love lost for Frank Guinta in New Hampshire. As the publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader put it, “Frank Guinta is a damned liar,” and voters will be reminded of that repeatedly. MORE
FAIL: Danny Tarkanian (NV03) – Establishment Republicans rallied around Michael Roberson in a failed attempt to prevent scandal-ridden Danny Tarkanian from losing yet another general election. But Tark did what he does best – winning Republican primaries by being the more conservative choice and the biggest Trump fan around. And now he is going to continue doing what he does best – losing general elections. MORE
FAIL: Claudia Tenney (NY22) – This is yet another example of the NRCC supporting anyone but the person who ended up winning. They placed both of her primary challengers on their Young Guns list. Then they had to pretend all was well when she was quietly added to the list after her win. Once again, the NRCC is stuck with a wildly conservative candidate in a moderate district that supported Richard Hanna – one of the most moderate Republicans in Congress – for years. MORE