Some interesting results in the GOP primary. Vocal Trump supporter Corey Stewart has won the nomination for Senate from Virginia. And after getting a last-minute endorsement from the President, Katie Arrington has knocked off Mark Sanford in SC-01.
However, GOP establishment types might not like those results, especially in Virginia. Kaine was always going to be a favorite, but facing off against someone who was just a little two late in realizing he shouldn't praise Paul Nehlen will help him even more. SC-01 is pretty red, so it might not matter who wins there, but it's not a gimme, and could be a district to target in the even that the so-called "blue wave" appears realistic. Arrington outflanked Sanford from the right.
Just reading up on Virginia,and Stewart's win could be a huge windfall for Dem hopes to retake the House.Virginia currently has 7 Pub House seats,and there is a deep concern that Pub voters will stay home in record numbers rather than show for a white supremacist.
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Republicans hold 7 of the commonwealth’s 11 seats. Stewart’s win is believed to endanger at least three of them – Barbara Comstock in northern Virginia, Dave Brat in and around Richmond and Denver Riggleman in a large district in southwest Virginia that includes Charlottesville. Two others who might be affected are Rob Wittman, who represents Fredericksburg down through the Northern Neck, and Scott Taylor from Virginia Beach.
Stewart, who was congratulated on his victory by President Trump, is considered toxic among swing voters and certain to energize Democrats. He made
a defense of the Confederate flag a
centerpiece of his 2017 campaign for governor, and his victory in the Senate primary was cheered by groups like the Virginia Flaggers,
a group that pays to erect massive Confederate flags close to major highways in the commonwealth.
“HUGE Victory tonight for Corey Stewart and Virginia’s heritage and culture. The citizens of the Commonwealth sent a strong message … leave our monuments and memorials alone!” the group
said on its Facebook page."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/virginia...rey-stewart-drag-house-members-180558438.html
The reality is that not many of the citizens of the Commonwealth sent the message the "Flaggers" alluded to.When Stewart ran for Governor last year,he totalled about 157,000 votes in his Primary loss to Gillespie.Last night he only managed 136,000 in winning the Senate Primary.His nomination really hurts people like Brat and especially Comstock, who had done a pretty good job of separating herself from Trump.
But Stewart is a publicity hound,running an incendiary campaign.After last night's win he joked that Kaine should go to jail.He probably won't be able to resist a visit from Trump,and that would just serve to put a bigger target on Comstock's back.As one Va GOP strategist (former GOP Executive Director Shaun Kenney) put it,"“No one is getting off the couch for a white nationalist”.
