Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory

The Republican Party has never been known for their unity. The presence of Donald Trump has not helped that problem. Because President Trump and his supporters are a major threat to the status quo in Washington, some Republicans and most Democrats would like to see him and his supporters go away. Some ‘establishment’ Republicans are working hard to see that Trump supporters do not get elected in the mid-terms–even if it means electing Democrats.

On Saturday, The Gateway Pundit reported the following:

The Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC aligned with Mitch McConnell, is pulling money from New Hampshire’s Senate race – this is despite the fact polling shows the race close.

Beginning on October 25th, $5.6 million in spending will be slashed from the state.

Yahoo reported:

A Republican super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) confirmed on Friday that it would be withdrawing spending from New Hampshire’s Senate race even as recent polling shows a tight contest.

A spokesperson for the Senate Leadership Fund confirmed to The Hill that it would be slashing $5.6 million from the state beginning on Oct. 25.

“As the cycle comes to a close, we are shifting resources to where they can be most effective to achieve our ultimate goal: winning the majority,” Senate Leadership Fund President Steven Law said in a statement.

On Thursday, The Federalist reported:

Seven affiliates of the Alaska Republican Party have now formally slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his interference in the Alaskan Senate contest against the party-endorsed candidate.

On Wednesday, the Republican Women of Kenai became the latest Alaska Republican group to lambast the Kentucky senator and demanded his own state party censure him. In March last year, the Alaska Republican Party censured Sen. Lisa Murkowski and pledged to support a primary opponent. The party endorsed Kelly Tshibaka four months later. Because Alaska will use ranked-choice voting in its general election in lieu of traditional party primaries, the two Republicans are still embattled in competition.

…Last week, former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Tshibaka, railed against McConnell for spending millions on Murkowski in Alaska while pulling out of Arizona, where the SLF canceled $18 million in planned support for Republican venture capitalist Blake Masters.

The establishment in both parties is not going to go quietly. We might as well get used to that. However, the Republicans seems to have more populist candidates than the Democrats, so the split is more obvious in the Republican Party. Think before you vote–do you want more of the same or do you want representatives who actually represent you. If you want representatives who actually represent you, your answer is not with establishment candidates in either party.

Alaska’s Senate Race

On Tuesday, Alaska and Wyoming had primary elections.

In Wyoming, Fox News posted the following totals:

It seems clear that the people of Wyoming did not feel that Liz Cheney was representing them adequately. Harriet Hageman was endorsed by President Trump and obviously did very well.

In Alaska the results are more complicated.

Fox News provides the numbers:

These are the results of the primary, but both Lisa Murkowski and Kelly Tshibaka will advance to the general election for Senate along with two other candidates yet to be determined.

President Trump has an impressive record in endorsing candidates. I wouldn’t count Kelly Tshibaka out in the general election.

Fox News reports:

Of the seven Republican senators who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol riot, only Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is running in 2022. 

She faces a host of primary challengers, and Trump has long worked to deny her a spot on the ballot. However, changes to Alaska’s voting method could help Murkowski stay in the race. Alaska eliminated party primaries following a 2020 referendum, and implemented a ranked-choice system where the top four vote-getters in a non-partisan primary will advance to the general election. 

The new voting system also means it could be days or weeks before final results are known in some races.

It should be noted that Lisa Murkowski and her staff worked very hard to get that new voting system put in place–it is probably the only chance she had of staying in the Senate race. This is one election to watch closely in November.