.
5/20/14, "Boehner Ally Crushes Tea Partier in Idaho House Primary," Breitbart News, Matthew Boyle
"Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), an ally of Speaker John Boehner, cruised
to re-election on Tuesday in what originally was a contested primary
against conservative attorney Bryan Smith. Simpson and his big business
allies spent big bucks to stomp out Smith, too.
With 23 precincts reporting, the Associated Press called it for Simpson. Simpson bested Smith 63 percent to 37 percent.
Smith originally had the backing of the conservative Club For Growth,
which spent $450,000 on his race but then backed down about a month
ago. He raised about $780,000 on his own, too.
Simpson, on the other hand, raised $1.9 million of his money then has
had the help of $2 million of outside business-backed groups to help
him out. The at least $2 million—perhaps
an amount approaching $3 million once all expenditures are in—came from
groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the labor union-backed GOP
establishment groups that former Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) created.
LaTourette has promised he will “crush” the Tea Party and this
race—fighting for Simpson’s re-election—is one race where he spent big.
In an interview last summer,
Smith told Breitbart News he was running against Simpson to try shake
up “business as usual” of the political establishment in Washington.
“They recognize that Congressman Simpson is very at home in
Washington, D.C., and not as comfortable in his district,” Smith said
then.
Though he didn’t win on Tuesday, Smith gave Simpson and the establishment enough of a scare to make them spend big—and force Simpson’s hand into making a few mistakes
on the way to election day. Simpson publicly backed a return of
earmarks on the campaign trail, something that GOP establishment
figures—like Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)—have signaled they may like to do
in the near future."
.
==========================
NPR report on Idaho so-called "Tea Party" candidate also notes Club for Growth stopped spending on the candidate, doesn't cite financial backing of any "Tea Party" groups. The "Tea Party candidate" didn't even have the endorsement of two term elected Idaho "Tea Party" congressman Raul Labrador: "A spokesman for Labrador on Sunday reiterated
that the congressman has not endorsed Smith, and asserted that he has
remained neutral in the race."
.
5/17/2014, "High On Tea Party Hit List, Idaho Congressman Looks To Hold On," NPR.org, Liz Halloran
"Mike Simpson has been atop the Tea Party hit list for much of this election year.
And
Tuesday's primary contest between the Idaho Republican congressman and
Tea Party challenger Bryan Smith had been billed as a big one in a
string of GOP primary mashups that would signal the sway of the Tea
Party faction— or the ability of traditional conservatives like Simpson
to fight back in a deep red state.
"It's been a real-deal
campaign here in Idaho," says Skip Smyser, the conservative founder of
Boise-based government relations firm Lobby Idaho.
In the campaign's waning days, however, internal polls suggest that Simpson, who according to most recent finance reports has raised $1.9 million to Smith's $781,425, appears on track to beat back his Tea Party challenger after a campaign swamped with outside money.
While
Simpson has a solid 80-plus rating from the American Conservative
Union, he ran afoul of the Tea Party by voting for the 2008 Wall Street
bailout. It doesn't help that he's a close ally of a face of the GOP
establishment, House Speaker John Boehner.
In his deep-red
eastern Idaho district, the only real danger for Simpson is in the
primary. And there he has shown some weakness: In 2010, he won 58
percent in the GOP primary, a relatively low percentage for an
incumbent. (In 2012, Simpson bounced back by winning 70 percent against a
Tea Party challenger.)
All of that made him an early target of
the D.C.-based Club for Growth, a small-government and
free-market-oriented group which moved aggressively to help bankroll
Smith, a lawyer and debt collector.
Outside Money, Divided Party...
"Mike
Simpson is a very energized candidate right now and is working his tail
off," says Patrick Sullivan, a Republican lobbyist and campaign
consultant based in Idaho, where in 2010 Tea Party activists took
control of the state Republican Party.
"Establishment
Republicans — I call them traditional Republicans — are starting to
reactivate, to take the GOP back," Sullivan, a Simpson backer, says.
"The Club for Growth may have come storming into town, but I think
people are really tired of D.C. money coming in."
The D.C.
money is flowing on both sides — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is among
outside groups that have invested heavily in Simpson's campaign.
Adding
intrigue to the race is the deep divide in Idaho's Republican Party, a
rift that has developed since Tea Party activists took control of its
apparatus. They have been warring with mainstream conservatives over Tea
Party opposition to the establishment of the state's health insurance exchange, and over aspects of a party platform
adopted in 2012 that calls for repeal of the Constitution's provision
for the direct election of U.S. senators, the end of the Federal
Reserve, and "sovereignty" for the state.
"We're a conservative
state, and the Tea Party that used to be talking about cutting taxes
has now has moved into an anarchist movement," says Sullivan.
Trade and business groups, including the U.S. Chamber, have poured money into Simpson's reelection bid. OpenSecrets.org reports that the chamber invested about $600,000 in the incumbent's effort. It
also reported that Club for Growth Action, the group's super PAC, spent
nearly $480,000 attacking Simpson.
Recent reports suggest, however, that the club has stopped spending
in Idaho, and moved its resources to Nebraska, where earlier this week a
Senate candidate it supported, Ben Sasse, won a GOP primary.
"We
did move considerable resources into the Nebraska Senate race in the
last two weeks," says Barney Keller of the Club for Growth. "We're in a
constant state of assessing and re-assessing our races, moving resources
in and out — depends on the day or week."
Idaho's biggest
business lobby has also been involved in the race, on behalf of Simpson,
and specifically to push back on the Club's efforts.
"Clearly
the business community has stepped up and been involved," says Alex
LaBeau, president of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry. "We
are working together to make sure the Club for Growth won't be
successful in the state of Idaho.
"They have overestimated
their ability to send an incorrect message to voters in the state of
Idaho," says LaBeau, asserting that state party organizations have
"become more about sticking to an ideology than doing what their job
should be, electing candidates."
Outside groups supporting
Simpson, including the GOP superPAC Defending Main Street, have aired
critical ads about the influence of Tea Party-affiliated outside groups,
as well as Smith's work as a personal injury lawyer and debt collector.
The Club for Growth has run ads attempting to link Simpson to Pelosi,
and hammering him for his bailout vote.
Pushback To 'Wild Right' [Romney nixes 'Partier']
The
state's other congressman, two-term Tea Party Republican Raul Labrador —
who last year was one of a dozen GOP House members who refused to
support Boehner for speaker — has backed Smith [Not so---NPR says at the end of this article that Labrador did not endorse Smith] and endorsed Republican
Gov. "Butch" Otter's Tea Party challenger.
In a district with one of the heaviest concentrations of Mormons in
the nation, Mitt Romney, the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee, has
campaigned for Simpson, saying he wants to prevent voters from veering "wild right."
"It's
all a matter of turnout," says Smyser, the conservative Boise lobbyist.
"You can count on the Tea Party Republicans voting in a higher number
than the Main Street or business Republicans.
"If we get 28 percent of registered voters out, I think you'll see Simpson and Otter win big," he says.
How
Simpson fares against this year's Tea Party challenge won't be the only
thing Idaho Republicans will be watching Tuesday: The local GOP
precinct committee races are also being decided.
The winners of
those parochial contests will represent their area party members at the
state Republican Party's June convention, and will determine the
direction of the party.
"There is a battle going on at the
precinct level that we haven't seen in my memory," says Smyser, a
fifth-generation Idaho resident. "It is a battle for the soul of the
party."
Update on Sunday, May 18 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
After
this story was published, a spokesman for Labrador on Sunday reiterated
that the congressman has not endorsed Smith, and asserted that he has
remained neutral in the race."
===========================
3/21/14, "Romney's Job In Idaho: Prevent GOP Voters From Veering 'Wild Right'," NPR.org, by Emilie Ritter Saunders
.
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