The battle among Republicans for Northern Kentucky's 4th District House seat has been intense. Challenger Ed Gallrein and incumbent Thomas Massie each claim they're more supportive of President Trump than the other, and should get the nomination.
A University of Kentucky political science professor says it makes sense because it's a primary. Stephen Voss says the candidates can't rely on partisan posturing to distinguish themselves.
“At the end of the day, the choice voters face in the 4th District is, if they’re conservative, do we want the ideologically pure conservative who can be difficult at times, or do we want somebody who focuses more on sticking with the team?” he says.
Voss says it's odd to see Massie associating himself closely with the president because the two haven't always gotten along.
“That’s not to say Massie is somehow misleading people when he ties himself to Trump because even a maverick Republican, even someone who occasionally breaks party ranks, is an extremely loyal voter these days,” he says. “If you go back 30, 40 years ago, independent members of Congress were common. These days even breaking with your president or your party a handful of times sets you apart.”
President Donald Trump has very low approval numbers in numerous polls lately, but Voss says that shouldn’t hurt politicians who associate with him.
“Tying your cart to Donald Trump’s horse could be a real mistake for a Republican politician and I think we will see a lot of Republicans pay the price of hitching their cart to Donald Trump in the general election to come,” he says. “But in the 4th District, no, for the most part Donald Trump is the figurehead of the party and Republicans are, for the most part, loyal to him.”
Voss says Trump is very unpopular with swing voters, independents, and moderates, and associations with him won’t help candidates with those voters in the November general election.
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