McCain's Primary Endorsement Record In SC And AL
Last week, we wrote about Sen. John McCain's gutsy but risky penchant for playing in party primaries. McCain opponents seized upon results in last Tuesday's South Carolina primary contests to claim that McCain-backed candidates did poorly.
True -- Rick Quinn (son of Richard Quinn) came in third in his bid to become the GOP's state treasurer nominee and Tom Herbkersman's SC House bid failed by about 10 points.
But McCain's overall primary record in South Carolina is quite healthy: of the 15 primary candidates given contributions by Straight Talk America, eleven won outright. In Alabama, 10 or 12 McCain-endorsed GOP primary candidates won.
Some of the primary contests were breezes, but others were stiff.
McCain endorsee Jim Carns, running for Jefferson City Commission, faced a 16-year incumbent named Gary White and won. Other McCain endorsees were incumbents who took on spirited challengers, like AL House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard.
In SC, incumbent/McCain endorsee Bill Cotty, a member of the SC House, survived a challenge from Shari Few, an opponent of teaching evolution as fact.
Interestingly, several McCain/STA endorsees faced opponents endorsed by the South Carolina Club For Growth; the challengers accused the incumbents of being RINOs. But Reps. Adam Taylor and Gene Pinson all escaped. Each received $1K from STA.
Both McCain and the Club endorsed victorious Rep.. Jeff Duncan .
Voters in SC's 8th house district chose Don Bowen, the Club-backed challenger to McCain-backed Becky Martin, the incumbent. As of this writing, McCain-backed incumbent Ralph Davenport defeated challenger Steve Parker for the SC-37 House seat in Spartanburg Co. The final result is subject to a state-order recount.
Bottom line: McCain plays aggressively in primaries; he loses in some but wins in more. [MARC AMBINDER]