Posts Tagged ‘Congressional district’

Republican Party (United States)

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From Newsmax and the National Journal:

From the looks of these two articles, it seems the Republican party establishment is weeding out it’s Tea Party support by using the tool of redistricting to eliminate congressional seats won by Tea Party candidates in the 2010 Congressional elections. Case in point is Representative Jeffery Landry from the state of Louisiana. During the redistricting process the Republican leadership effectively eliminated his congressional seat by breaking up his district and parceling it off to more “mainstream” Republican districts. In Ohio, the redistricting process forces Republicans to cut two whole congressional districts. Representatives Jean Schimdt and Bill Johnson, both Tea Party Republicans, are most likely going to have the same things happen to them. Even in states gaining seats in the House may have to modify districts which will result in diminished districts or even complete elimination of districts that were won by Tea Party candidates in states like Texas and Indiana.

What does this mean? It means that the G.O.P. establishment is no friend of the Tea Party. It also means that the Tea Party is either going to have to begin fielding candidates  independent of the Republican Party or become more involved within the Republican Party and find away to take control of the party apparatus itself. The only problem with controlling the party apparatus is that the Tea Party may lose its own identity and it’s decentralized structure which made it a unique force in the 2010 election.

Simply put, it seems the Tea Party is not welcome in Washington D.C. and the elimination or reduction of the seats won by the Tea Party, that helped the Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives is akin to biting the hand that feeds you. The possibility of political repercussions remains to be seen.

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