GOP Prepares for Intraparty Civil War (user search)

I fail to see this. The GOP has it s biggest majorities ever.

I'm not sure why that precludes "civil war" in the form of a slew of high profile primary challenges. Yes, the GOP has big majorities, and yet Strange got a primary challenger. There'll most likely be many other primary challenges next year. That's what this story is talking about. What part do you disagree with?

Strange wasn't an elected incumbent; he was an interim appointee who was appointed under somewhat unsavory conditions. This situation almost always invites primary challenges, even in times when the state of the major party is harmonious.

Sen. John Seymour (R-CA) was appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson; he was primaried in 1992 as an "unimaginative" pick. He survived the primary, but lost to Dianne Feinstein, as California's demographics were changing rapidly.

In 1971, Sen. David Gambrell (D-GA) was appointed to the seat held by the late Richard Russell. Gambrell had eleven (11) primary opponents in 1972, including Sam Nunn (the winner of the primary and general election) and S. Ernest Vandiver (Russell's nephew by marriage), who was the initial leading challenger to Gambrell.

Sen. Donald Stewart (D-AL) defeated appointed Sen. Maryon Allen in a Democratic Primary in 1978 for the full term. Stewart then lost a primary in 1980 to Jim Folsom, who lost the general election to Republican Jeremiah Denton.

Ohio Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) was appointed in 1973 to fill the vacancy caused by Nixon's appointment of Sen. William Saxbe (R-OH) as Attorney General. Metzenbaum lost the 1974 Democratic primary to John Glenn; he was later elected in his own right to the Senate in 1976. (Those two had an extremely frosty relationship until Metzenbaum came to Glenn's aid during his 1984 Presidential campaign; they were friends thereafter.)

Sen. Paul Hatfield (D-MT), was appointed in 1978 by Gov. Tom Judge (D-MT) to fill the unexpired term of Democratic Senator Lee Metcalf, who died in office. Hatfield sought a full term, but was defeated in the Democratic primay by Rep. Max Baucus (D-MT) who won the seat in November.

That Roy Moore would challenge the "incumbent" Sen. Luther Strange is hardly unusual. Strange isn't really an incumbent; he's an unelected incumbent who hasn't really run up a record. He was primaried under the premise that the voters ought to decide who represents them in the Senate. I would suggest that any candidate that is appointed to a Senate seat who doesn't have overwhelming credentials and will face the voters not long after the appointment can EXPECT a primary; the chances are at least 50-50. There have been other interim appointments over the years where Governors deliberately chose interim appointments with the promise that they would not seek the full term in the Senate. Moore's primary challenge is in the vein of the others I cited; it's by no means a sign of any "civil war". It's a NORMAL event in the NORMALITY of partisan politics.

I think this is a harbinger of a "civil war" not because of this race specifically (for the reasons detailed in your very informative post), but because it may be the first shot in a larger campaign against incumbent Republicans from the anti-establishment segment of the party.

	Welcome, Guest. Please login or register. Did you miss your activation email? June 02, 2024, 08:57:03 AM

News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more