OPINION:
Coorey Stewart won the Republican nomination for United States Senate in Virginia last week and will be squaring off against Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine in November. Giving Kaine a run for his money or even defeating the Democrat could be a huge moral and symbolic victory for the party and the Trump Administration. But, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel has not yet committed to giving financial support to Stewart’s candidacy.
Stewart has defined himself over the past several years as an opponent of illegal immigration and a staunch defender of Confederate monuments. He has been linked with unsavory figures from the fringe right including receiving an endorsement for Governor (a primary race he lost last year to Ed Gillespie) from Jason Kessler who later organized the Chancellorsville “Tiki Torch” march and Paul Nehlen the Wisconsin political figure who was once embraced by Steve Bannon but has been disavowed by Breitbart after unapologetically expressing anti-Semitic views.
Stewart has recently disavowed these men and expressed that he “absolutely denounce and do(es)n’t want the support of any of these racists or bigots or anti-Semites,” but that may not be enough for McDaniel. I asked he if she’d commit the party to supporting Stewart in the mid-term elections and the Chairwoman demurred:
O’Connor: You’ve got another Democrat that used to talk a little like a Republican right here in Virginia, Tim Kaine. Now the last poll, which was taken before the primary, showed him beating Corey Stewart, who ended up winning the nomination, by 11 points. But here’s the interesting thing about that…Kaine only registered 44 points. That’s an incumbent Democrat who this state knows very well, who used to be the governor of the state, and he can’t break 45 let alone 50 in Virginia. How are you looking at this race? What kind of support are you going to give Corey Stewart because that would be a fantastic narrative that Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, couldn’t win reelection.
McDaniel: So there’s going to be some races that we’re going to be watching and seeing how those candidates start holding up on the polls. You know, the map is so big, we also have to hold Nevada, Arizona and Tennessee plus the five states you mentioned and also states where President Trump won like Wisconsin, Ohio, Montana, Michigan and Pennsylvania. So the map is huge on the Senate side. There are some outliers we’ll be looking at if they get close we’ll invest. New Jersey, you’ve got Bob Hugin against Menendez and you also have Minnesota with Housley against Tina Smith. So, we’re going to be monitoring this and I think as we get closer to November we’ll determine where we need to invest and where those opportunities are to expand on.
O’Connor: Be specific on Virginia, since that’s very important to our audience right now. What’s the threshold you’re looking for? How do you want to see Corey Stewart perform here …
McDaniel: I’ll have to look. I mean, we’re in Virginia for Barbara Comstock right now. I have to see some real momentum and see a closing of those numbers. I mean, Rick Scott who’s already polling ahead Kevin Cramer, that’s where the investment is going to be. I wish I had all the dollars in the world to invest in every race.. and we also just spent a lot in Virginia in that governor’s race so I’m not taking anything off the table but we’ve got to take a look at the races that are the most viable.
Kaine is currently polling at just 44% against Stewart in a poll conducted in May. That’s eleven points higher than Stewart, but the poll was taken well before last week’s primary where Stewart became the nominee. Still, for Kaine to poll at below 45% before their opponent is even determined is a danger sign for any incumbent.
The last time an “unbeatable” incumbent Democrat was running for re-election in Virginia it was Democrat Mark Warner and he came very close to losing to Gillespie.
Listen to my entire interview with McDaniel here from WMAL in Washington DC.
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