The GOP candidate recruitment and control this time around is leaps and bounds better than it was in 2022 for sure. The only noticeable errors they have this time is Kari Lake in AZ and Joe Kent in WA-03. But the overall candidate quality tier is much higher.
Residency issues in WI, PA, NV, and MI
NV is so transient that carpetbagging doesn't carry much of an electoral penalty there. And at least McCormick, Hovde and Rogers all grew up in their states. It's not like any of them are Dr. Oz. Even Slotkin herself faced pretty much the same residency questions when she first ran for Congress.
If the bar is Dr. Oz who lost to (checks notes) John Fetterman of all people by 5% in a Biden midterm, then sure. They’ve cleared that absurdly low bar.
He literally said he was comparing candidate quality now to 2022, so yes the 2022 candidates are the bar…
That being said I don’t actually agree, I don’t see Rs having much of a chance in a bunch of states they theoretically should compete in (PA, WI, MI…). Ds have their own problems but have generally done a much sounder job at fielding candidates who can at least run even with the national partisan baseline, if not well beyond it.
