The primary runoff election day is tomorrow, June 21. The main race in the Southwest corner of the state is for the Republican nomination for Congress in the 2nd District to face Sanford Bishop in November.
Jeremy Hunt and Chris West were the top two in a crowded field of six in the May primary. I support Chris West.
Many have made a decision and even cast an early vote. Some may still be undecided. If you want to read my reasons to vote for Chris West, you can read my primary review and endorsement of Chris here.
Last Thursday Jeremy Hunt and Chris West both appeared at the Bibb County GOP meeting. Prior to the meeting, Jeremy Hunt was quietly served in the parking lot with a lawsuit filed by former candidate, Wayne Johnson.
No one knew about the lawsuit at the time until Jeremy Hunt told the audience about being served. Hunt charged Chris West for his involvement, but West was as much in the dark as the rest of the audience.
Wayne Johnson stood up and took responsibility for the lawsuit. He acknowledges that some will say it is merely sour grapes for not making the primary, but he insists that this is about the integrity of the election process.
In summary, the suit charges Fox News, Brian Kilmeade of Fox News, Jeremy Hunt and the Jeremy Hunt campaign for colluding to provide Hunt free air time on national Fox News television for the purpose of promoting his campaign and raising money. The complaint identified at least 15 appearances.
Johnson first addressed this issue in February with a letter to Fox News demanding equal time. Fox immediately called him and asked him to appear one time.
Fox also contacted Chris West and scheduled him to be on one show but later cancelled. When West called to reschedule, Fox ignored and would not return his calls.
While courts will determine the matter of law in this case, even the most casual observer would see that the lopsided coverage by Fox News is unfair. There is no way to justify the repeated appearances on Fox News, promoting his candidacy and asking for money after other candidates in the same race requested equal time and were rebuffed by Fox.
The complaint points out that there were concerns when President Gerald Ford appeared in a United Way Commercial (with no reference to his Presidential campaign). Networks were even concerned about showing movies with Ronald Reagan during his Presidency.
The complaint states that Hunt signed a lease for an apartment in Columbus after he announced his candidacy and that he still maintains a residence in Connecticut. Hunt is also a rising third year student at Yale Law School.
One question that I have which has not been mentioned is how Hunt manages to pay his personal bills. I know that I had to dig into savings to pay personal bills when I ran.
Jeremy apparently has two residences now, one in Columbus and one in Connecticut plus he is paying for Yale Law School and has a wife and child to support. I am not alleging anything nefarious taking place.
I do think that it is a reasonable question to ask in the primary, especially with hundreds of thousands supporting a campaign from sources in Washington, DC. Be assured, that if it is not answered now, Democrats will provide their own answers to the voters in November.
Let me restate that this lawsuit comes from a former candidate. Chris West had no knowledge of or involvement in Wayne Johnson deciding to file this lawsuit.
Jeremy Hunt says that the lawsuit will be “dismissed as quickly as Wayne Johnson was dismissed by the voters of the 2nd District.” Hunt called the suit a dirty trick similar to those, “often played by the radical left against true conservative candidates.”
I do not believe that the lawsuit will change the minds of any voters. Those supporting Jeremy will stand with Jeremy calling this a dirty trick. Those supporting Chris will continue to stand with Chris based on his conservative values, lifetime investment in the district and will note that he is not involved in this lawsuit.
Undecideds will swing one way or the other based on the issues of importance to them and the opinions of trusted friends. Ultimately we will know tomorrow.
Primary runoff elections, especially in the middle of summer, have notoriously low turnout. Make your statement with your vote.
Ultimately, the voters in the 2nd District will decide tomorrow whether or not the issues raised in this lawsuit are of importance in determining who should be the nominee. I believe that Chris West is the candidate the carry the Republican banner in November and ask 2nd District Republicans to vote for Chris.
Here is a link to the news story on WTVM TV in Columbus.
If you want to read the case for yourself, here is a link to download.
After tomorrow’s results, the primary phase of this campaign will be over. The Republicans will have a nominee. I will be standing strong with our nominee. I encourage all Republicans to make the decision now, no matter how the vote goes, to stand with our nominee to win the 2nd District in November.
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