Bridging The Republican Divide
It's early, but stories about party discord in state GOP circles following the recent gubernatorial primaries in West Virginia and Kentucky are standing out.
Businessman Bill Maloney defeated former Secretary of State Betty Ireland in West Virginia's recent GOP primary. The Charleston Daily Mail reports today on a "unity breakfast" hosted this morning by state GOP chair Mike Stuart, for Maloney and other GOP gubernatorial candidates. However Ireland did not attend; a spokesman said she was out of town.
When asked by Hotline On Call specifically which candidates showed up at the event, Stuart would only say "we had multiple of our candidates show up." Stuart, who argued Republicans are unified, said there will be multiple events with different candidates.
"This isn't really one unity event as much as it is one of many unity events," he added, flagging a larger public unity event that is slated for June 18.
Still, the optics of not having the GOP runner-up at the event are not good for Maloney.
"We've encouraged Betty's supporters to move on and support any candidate they like," Ireland spokeswoman Suzette Raines told the Daily Mail.
"I would expect that Betty Ireland would vote for Bill Maloney," Stuart said, when asked about Raines' comment.
Meanwhile, in Kentucky, at a Saturday unity event featuring state Senate President David Williams and the two Republicans he defeated, businessman Phil Moffett and Jefferson Co. Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw, Moffett didn't speak even though a party spokesperson said on Friday that he would, according to the CNHI News Service.
Moffett also said he hasn't endorsed Williams, and according to CNHI, he resisted the word endorse when asked by a reporter. But he nonetheless appeared on stage with the party's nominee and also expressed a preference for Williams over the Democratic incumbent, saying "I'd much rather have David Williams in office than Steve Beshear."
In both cases the insider/outsider contrast is also clear: In West Virginia, Maloney, running as an outsider, defeated Ireland, the GOP establishment candidate, in a race that turned nasty toward the end. In Kentucky, Williams was the establishment choice, but survived a closer-than-expected contest against Moffett, who tried to appeal to Tea Party candidates.
Both GOP nominees are early underdogs in the general election.
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