The Tennessee Republican party just made a move that is bound to anger some in the Trump orbit. They used a technicality in their rules and made a very astounding move against several fellow Republicans. It just shows how insider these parties are… Let’s get into the details of what happened.
Mychael Schnell from the Hill reports,
The Tennessee Republican Party has removed three candidates, including one endorsed by former President Trump, from the primary ballot for one of the state’s House races.
The Tennessee Republican Party voted on Tuesday to dismiss Trump-backed Morgan Ortagus, who previously served as a spokesperson at the State Department, as well as Baxter Lee and Robby Starbuck, from the primary ballot for the state’s 5th Congressional District, state GOP Chairman Scott Golden confirmed to The Hill.
The state Republican Party’s bylaws require, among other conditions, that candidates have voted in three of the last four GOP statewide primaries in the county of residence, and are actively involved in Tennessee or county Republican parties.
Ortagus, who received a preemptive endorsement from Trump, said she was “deeply disappointed” by the party’s decision. Her campaign is evaluating its options.
Statement: “I’m a bonafide Republican by their standards, and frankly, by any metric. I’m further disappointed that the party insiders at the Tennessee Republican Party do not seem to share my commitment to President Trump’s America First policies,” Ortagus said in a statement.
“As I have said all along, I believe that voters in Middle Tennessee should pick their representative – not establishment party insiders. Our team is evaluating the options before us,” she added.
Do you think it was right of the GOP to do that to the three candidates? Getting removed from the primary ballot is a death knell to your campaign and makes it really hard to run. Most people will pick Republicans if they are Republican without knowing the candidate. It’s a drastic move by party insiders to keep populist candidates out of the race. If your state party did something like this, would you be angry at them?
