There was other breathless prose in Breitbart supporting Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley for its GOP primary, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (he faces term limits as governor), Republican Rep. Evan Jenkins in West Virginia, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, "Wisconsin conservative outsider Kevin Nicholson," and Virginia's "anti-establishment Corey Stewart." The only Republican incumbent not targeted in a primary by Bannon was Texas' Sen. Ted Cruz, whom the Mercers supported for president before losing to Trump.
"It's not just Tennessee and Wyoming where McConnell and establishment Republicans are down on their luck," Breitbart writes. "Weak incumbent Republicans face tough primaries in both Arizona and Nevada, where the vehemently anti-Trump Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Dean Heller (R-NV) face conservative pro-Trump challengers next year. Danny Tarkanian, a businessman and son of the legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, is running against Heller while former state senator Dr. Kelli Ward is running hard against Flake in Arizona. Both Tarkanian and Ward are polling ahead of the incumbent senators nearly a year from the election, something causing great alarm for the GOP establishment in Washington."
Breitbart said this is "all part of an effort to wrest control of the Republican Party away from failed leaders and hand it to fresh blood." And it suggested that House Speaker Paul Ryan and incumbents not aligned with the House Freedom Caucus are also being targeted.
"That doesn't even mention House or gubernatorial races," Breitbart boasted. "On the House side of things, conservatives have their eyes on taking down many failed incumbent establishment Republicans and are also even looking at many open races. That picture, movement leaders say, is expected to come together more clearly in the days and weeks ahead."
Despite their propagandistic posturing, the threat posed by Bannon and his allies and funders is very serious. Primary elections in non-presidential years are historically low-turnout contests. That means smaller, more ideological groups can have outsized impacts, as the Tea Party did in 2010. It does not matter that nationally, poll after poll has found support for Trump's policies hovers in the mid-30s, percentage-wise, or that the Democrats, nationally, won 2.9 million more presidential votes in 2016.
If Bannon is successful, Republicans like Ted Cruz may find themselves as part of a new extremist firmament seeking to bend Congress to its whims.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
