How many GOP losers does it take to screw up an election?
Zachary Faria
Video Embed
The Republican Party’s biggest losers from the 2022 midterm elections think they should be given another opportunity to lose. The only question is how many GOP voters decide they love losing enough to support them again.
Doug Mastriano, fresh off of losing his race for governor of Pennsylvania by 15 percentage points, is preparing to run for the Senate. Mastriano’s terrible candidacy harmed the GOP down-ballot in Pennsylvania, and he helped Josh Shapiro (a Democrat) secure the largest margin of victory for a nonincumbent candidate in the governor’s race since 1946.
TRUMP, MASTRIANO LEADING IN 2024 PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN PRIMARY POLLS
Kari Lake is also intent on making the jump from governor’s race loser to Senate race loser. Lake lost in Arizona to a terrible Democratic candidate in Katie Hobbs. On the same ballot that Lake lost to Hobbs, GOP Treasurer Kimberly Yee won by 11 points against her Democratic opponent, receiving over 119,000 more votes in her race than Lake did for governor. This is not exactly a surprise, given that Lake told some GOP voters that she did not want their support.
The loser parade is not limited to the Senate, either. Joe Kent is running for the House of Representatives again in Washington after losing a seat that a generic Republican should win by double digits. J.R. Majewski is doing the same in Ohio, running for a seat he lost by 13 points in a favorable GOP environment. The district was redrawn to be more favorable to Republicans, and former President Donald Trump even carried the district in 2020. Politico rated it as “Leans Democratic,” and Majewski thinks losing by 13 points is an accomplishment.
The GOP’s chances in 2024 hinge on how many retread losers the party decides to reject in favor of candidates who can actually win. We have already seen the results from candidates such as Mastriano and Lake. They are losers who were already rejected by the voters of their states. Kent and Majewski are losers who were already rejected by their districts. What exactly is the plan here, other than hoping that voters will suddenly decide to change their minds?
There are plenty of people to blame for this trend, including the candidates themselves, but the ultimate blame for a repeat of 2022 is going to lie with GOP voters. If the voters of the party want to nominate repeat losers and then throw a fit when those losers are rejected again, that is their prerogative. Hopefully, it is worth empowering Democrats again and again.