McConnell warns GOP to not take midterms for granted by nominating ‘unacceptable’ candidates

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Republican voters on Tuesday to not take victory for granted in the upcoming midterm elections.

Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said that although the political environment heavily favored the GOP this cycle, it was still possible to “screw this up” by nominating flawed candidates.

“We’ve had some experience with that in the past,” Mr. McConnell said at an event hosted by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. “In the Senate, if you look at where we have to compete in order to get into a majority, there are places that are competitive in the general election.”

Mr. McConnell said Republicans had made the mistake of nominating bad candidates in 2010 and 2012. In both of those cycles, Republicans lost out on opportunities to retake the Senate majority by nominating candidates that were far outside the political mainstream or proved incapable of staying on message.

One such candidate, Republican Todd Akin, lost the 2012 Senate race in Missouri by roughly 15% points after claiming victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant. Mr. Akin lost that election to then-Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, even as Republicans carried Missouri at the presidential level by nearly 10 percentage points.

“You can’t nominate somebody who’s just sort of unacceptable to a broader group of people and win,” Mr. McConnell said.

With the Senate currently split 50-50 between the two parties, Republicans need only to achieve a net gain of one seat out of 34 contests in November to regain the majority. Although most states have yet to hold Senate primaries, more than a few controversial contenders have emerged in must-win races.

In Missouri, most notably, former Gov. Eric Greitens has polled close to the top in the GOP primary race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Roy Blunt. Mr. Greitens was forced from office in 2018 over allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance impropriety.

Recent polls show Mr. Greitens fading slightly behind a cadre of other top-tier Republicans.

Mr. McConnell said he is confident that GOP voters would ultimately nominate candidates capable of winning the general election.  

“So far I’m optimistic that in the places that are going to determine who the next majority leader is, we’re going to have fully electable nominees,” Mr. McConnell said.