With the acrimony in the Republican presidential primary reaching an all-time high, the remaining candidates have walked away from their respective pledges to support the eventual nominee. The writing is on the wall: the Republican Party is falling apart, and with it, John Mica’s re-election chances. Remember that Mica originally endorsed Jeb Bush for president, and has refused to comment on who he was supporting after Bush dropped out of the race. The damage to their brand has already been done.
“The Republican presidential nomination process has turned into a dumpster fire that is engulfing Mica’s campaign,” said Jermaine House of the DCCC. “Try as he might, there is no way to distance his campaign from the albatross that is the Republican Party brand.”
While much is still unknown, two things are clear: the Republican party has zero chance of uniting after this primary, and both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz cause great harm to House Republicans. At the hands of Trump, all Republicans can expect to suffer amongst women, Latinos, millennials, independents and other key voting blocs. And ultra-conservative Cruz, according to NRCC polling, is even worse for down-ballot Republicans’ reelection prospects than Trump.