Davis: GOP Needs Candidates "Who Can Win Races"
Former Congressman Rodney Davis says Republicans need to nominate better candidates in statewide primaries.
Just two weeks following his departure from Congress, former Rep. Rodney Davis is weighing in on the future of the GOP.
Davis was elected in 2012 (Disclosure: I was Communications Director on that campaign) and was defeated in the June primary after he was gerrymandered out of his district.
Davis said he watched the revolt of some conservative members of the House, including Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Oakland), who defeated Davis in the primary, and saw it as an embarrassment to the House. But, he said, new Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be empowered by surviving with such a strong majority of his party.
“It was embarrassing to be held hostage by a small group of people who were asking for demands that were, many of which were, already in the rules package,” he said. “Kevin McCarthy, I would argue, is a stronger speaker for having gone through what he did.”
Davis said Donald Trump may have improved his standing within the GOP by helping negotiate the final deal that made McCarthy speaker. But, he says Trump has hurt Republicans in suburban areas across the country, including suburban Chicago.
“Donald Trump pushed away suburban Republican support that had been Republican for decades,” he said. “There’s no better place to show that movement than DuPage County.”
Davis pointed out GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey lost DuPage County by around 50,000 votes last year, just 8 years after Bruce Rauner won the county by around 70,000 votes.
“We gotta elect candidates in the primary who can win,” Davis said. “Darren Bailey was a terrible candidate for governor. If [Republican] voters don’t think that has an impact on the rest of the ticket, then they’re not living in reality. At some point, you have to have Republican candidates who can win races.”
“Republicans can still win in the suburban Chicago areas with the right candidates. We’ve seen that time and time again,” he said. “We have to realize downstate is going to vote for any Republican (statewide) candidate. We, as Republicans, have to identify candidates that can get support in the areas where most of our population is.”
Davis will be a guest on our weekly Livestream and Podcast Wednesday at noon. You can watch online here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheIllinoize