Key Highlight: “Of the seven, Young, Poliquin, Denham and Valadao are among Democrats’ biggest targets this election cycle. And Democrats see the vote-switching as a prime way to counter those Republicans’ claims of independence from their leadership and paint them as hiding their actions from the public.”
Dems vow retribution on House LGBT vote
By Cristina Marcos
May 21, 2016
Democrats are vowing to target House Republicans in tough reelection races who allegedly switched their votes to ensure a measure to prevent discrimination against the LGBT community wouldn’t pass.
Four of the seven Republicans accused of changing their votes after arm-twisting from GOP leaders are considered particularly vulnerable in the general election this fall.
A list circulated by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) office pointed to Reps. Jeff Denham (Calif.), Darrell Issa (Calif.), David Valadao (Calif.), Mimi Walters (Calif.), Greg Walden (Ore.), Bruce Poliquin (Maine) and David Young (Iowa) as the Republicans who switched sides.
According to a Democratic leadership aide, they were able to identify which Republicans changed votes using a computer on the floor that prints updates of vote results as they occur. Democrats were able to compare the printouts to see who switched positions.
Of the seven, Young, Poliquin, Denham and Valadao are among Democrats’ biggest targets this election cycle. And Democrats see the vote-switching as a prime way to counter those Republicans’ claims of independence from their leadership and paint them as hiding their actions from the public.
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Most of the seven Republicans haven’t responded to inquiries about whether they changed their votes. But those who did aren’t denying the accusation, either.
Young’s spokeswoman, for instance, told Des Moines CBS affiliate KCCI that “The congressman’s recorded vote today was both consistent with his position and previous recorded votes on this issue.”
An official for House Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), told The Hill that the vote is expected to become a major issue in a competitive race like Young’s. Nonpartisan political prognosticators like the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate Young’s district as a “toss up.”
Young’s expected general election opponent, Democrat Jim Mowrer, seized on Young’s vote as local news headlines piled up about Young’s role in the House floor chaos.
“This type of extreme partisanship is something we should expect from someone who has never held a job outside of Congress,” Mowrer said in a statement. “This is why we need new representation in Congress and why I believe so strongly in putting service to Iowans ahead of politics.”
Poliquin denied in a statement that he had been pressured by GOP leaders to change his vote. He maintained that he supports the language in the defense authorization that offers religious exemptions.
“I am outraged that political opponents or members of the press would claim or insinuate that I cast a vote due to pressure or party politics. No one controls my vote,” Poliquin said in a statement, adding that “I abhor discrimination in any form and at any place.”
Poliquin’s expected Democratic opponent, Emily Cain, noted that the freshman lawmaker voted last year in support of a similar amendment to a Transportation Department spending bill that prohibited the use of funds by federal contractors to discriminate against the LGBT community.
“Congressman Poliquin apparently has no moral compass on the issue of discrimination,” Cain said in a statement on Friday. “But what’s truly disappointing is that Congressman Poliquin didn’t come clean with voters, but instead reversed himself in secret as part of a backroom deal with Republican leadership.”
Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball also rate Poliquin’s race as a “toss up.”
Local news headlines about Poliquin’s vote were largely unflattering. “Poliquin takes flak for switching to vote against LGBT-rights provision,” blared a headline in the Bangor Daily News. “Poliquin among 7 House Republicans to switch votes, defeating gay rights protection,” read another in the Portland Press Herald.
Denham and Valadao, meanwhile, are considered vulnerable but not to the same degree as Poliquin and Young. The Cook Political Report rates Denham and Valadao’s races as “Lean Republican,” while Sabato considers them “Likely Republican.”
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