Much of the focus of the midterm election is on the House and whether Democrats will gain control. They face a much tougher challenge in the Senate. They currently trail 51-49 counting two independents that caucus with them. Their only real chance to pick up seats is in Nevada and Arizona. They must defend ten seats in states Trump won.
If Republicans can gain seats, it makes it much easier to for them to pass legislation (the repeal of Obamacare fell one vote short). However, they often sabotage themselves by choosing candidates that cannot win a general election. Remember the lady that wasn’t a witch? Or the guy who said abortion isn’t needed in the event of a rape because a woman’s body “shuts down”. We all remember Roy Moore. The GOP stands a fairly good chance to win in West Virginia and Indiana. Both hold primaries tomorrow. West Virginia has a three-man race between Rep. Evan Jenkins, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Don Blankenship, a former coal executive. Blankenship fits in well with past problem candidates. He spent a year in prison for mine safety violations from an accident which claimed twenty-nine lives. He refers to Mitch McConnell as “Cocaine Mitch” (this stems from accusations against a company his in-laws are associated with). Incumbent Joe Manchin will breathe a huge sigh of relief if Blankenship gets the nod. Three men are vying to go up against Joe Donnelly in Indiana. They are Reps. Todd Rikita and Luke Messer along with businessman Mike Braun. None of them are in the same category as Blankenship. It has been one of the nastiest campaigns anywhere in the country. The risk is that the party fails to come together. The passage of President Trump’s legislative agenda for the next two years might well depend on the result of tomorrow’s primaries. We should pay attention to the results.
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