Voters in a primary election in Washington state forced out a Republican congressman who pushed to impeach erstwhile President Trump amid a riot that occurred in the Capitol on January 6. This made it more difficult for the GOP to keep control of a House district in that state.
According to an internal poll conducted by the campaign of Democratic candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, she is leading her Republican opponent Joe Kent by two percentage points.
Tougher Time in the Midterms?
Per the survey, Perez is ahead of him in favorability ratings by more than 10 points. Her camp suggested in a memo that this shows there is significant room to win over voters who are undecided.
Even though this poll is not an independent poll, it continues to follow other disclaimer signs that indicate Republicans will have a more significant challenge than anticipated on a national level in November.
This comes as forecasts have started to shift to display Democrats have a better chance of winning the midterm elections. A request for comment from the Kent campaign has not yet been met with a response.
This comes after the winning primary bid of James Kent, who was backed by President Trump, against incumbent Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA).
👀#WA03: Trump and Thiel-endorsed Republican Joe Kent trailing Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, according to a new internal poll from her campaign.
Kent defeated impeachment supporting GOP Rep. Herrera Beutler in the Republican primary. pic.twitter.com/OH6fsOCd9g
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) September 2, 2022
Kent was part of the campaign by the former president to unseat Republican congressmembers who supported a second attempt to impeach him. The primary was held a month ago. Kent won against Herrera Beutler.
Trump’s Play Might Backfire?
The race was previously rated as “likely Republican.” After Kent became the Republican nominee for the district, the rating was changed to “leans Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
After the departure of former Representative Brian Baird (D-WA), Herrera Beutler won her first election to the House of Representatives in 2010, bringing the district into the control of the Republican Party.
In the presidential election of 2020, Trump won the district with approximately 51% of the vote, representing a victory margin of five points.
Trump carried the district by 5 points in 2020.
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) September 2, 2022
Despite the fact that Republican primary voters in 2022 did not choose her as their candidate, Herrera Beutler overcame Trump in the general election in 2020. She squarely won the district by a margin of almost 13 points.
GOP analysts are concerned that independent voters who lean Republican and were formerly likely to cast ballots for Herrera Beutler in the general race may not back Kent.
He is running on a hard-right platform that includes his embrace of Trump’s unfounded claims of a stolen election in 2020.
It is yet to be seen how many more of Trump’s chosen candidates can prevail in their respective general election races, despite the fact Trump’s efforts have succeeded in driving away some of the Republican primary voters who supported impeaching him.
This article appeared in The Political Globe and has been published here with permission.
