There’s the old tale wherein the losing candidate is lamenting his recent defeat to one of his campaign workers.
“The people have spoken,” he says, shaking his head.
Then adds, “and can you believe what the SOBs said?”
There may be no need for profanity here, but I remain shocked at some of last Tuesdays results.
I spent months poking fun at any chance Republican Congressman Mooney had at defeating fellow GOP Representative David McKinley.
After Mooney ran his Donald Trump endorsement to a lopsided win Tuesday night, I look the part of the fool. But there are others with good track records who flubbed Tuesday.
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Former (and future) Delegate Jim Butler told our friend Tom Roten the past Tuesday was a “vote for the status quo.”
That may be true if the “status quo” represents a total right wing agenda.
An example is Butler himself. Two years ago, Butler grew too big for his House seat and decided to unseat Senate President Mitch Carmichael, who was not conservative enough for Butler and the conservative true believers.
But Butler didn’t count on the electoral power of Amy Grady, who breezes to victory.
With no logical higher level vacancy to bestow his obvious talents on, Butler ran for the House again. This time he was pitted against his 2020 recruited for the House and beat fellow Republican Johnny Wamsley.
I can’t imagine Wamsley as a wild-eyed liberal. He’s as solid as Butler. But he is not Butler and that’s the rub.
Butler is articulate, charismatic to the right people … and did I add all-knowing and pompous.
Butler thinks he would have beaten Carmichael if Grady hadn’t run in 2020. No he wouldn’t have. Butler couldn’t defeat Carmichael in that old district if they ran 50 times.
But now we get to see (again) what status quo means. If Butler is for it, it must be status quo.
Remember that, you wild-eyed radicals.
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How silly.
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Republican leadership will regret the hard-working, dedicated, fundraiser supreme defeat of Delegate Joshua Higginbotham, who also tried to move from the lower House to the Senate. Voters in Higginbotham’s district apparently resisted his “radical” left agenda of anti-abortion, pro-life, pro-gun. So much for the status quo.
Higgingotham lost to former Democrat-now-Republican legislator Mark Hunt. Hunt’s political comeback will be complete if he defeats Democrat Senator Mark Lindsay in November.
Delegate Higginbotham ended the campaign with the pride of knowing he had come clean with his constituents. It took great courage to do that.
As noted, I consider Higginbotham a hard working public servant who deserves our support.
Most importantly, he’s a great friend.
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Now … Overall, how did I do? Actually pretty well under the embarrassing circumstances. Certainly astute readers and listeners will remember only the big goof-ups.
Of the 117 races, I got 98 right. Not a bad percentage for sure.
Next time, we’ll start ordering the carpet on the legislative floor. More predictions are coming.
Ron Gregory is a regular political columnist and reporter for LOOTPRESS.com. Contact him at 304-533-5185; ronjgregory@gmail.com; or PO Box 20297, Charleston, WV 25362. Confidentiality is guaranteed.