N.Y. Republican Drops Re-Election Bid After Bucking His Party on Guns
Source: New York Times
Representative Chris Jacobs announced on Friday that he would not seek re-election for his seat in Western New York.Credit...Libby March for The New York Times
In the wake of deadly mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, Representative Chris Jacobs of New York, a soft-spoken congressman serving his first full term in the House, stunned fellow Republicans by embracing a federal assault weapons ban and limits on high-capacity magazines. Speaking from his suburban Buffalo district a week ago, about 10 miles from the grocery store where 10 Black residents were slaughtered, Mr. Jacobs framed his risky break from bedrock Republican orthodoxy as bigger than politics: I cant in good conscience sit back and say I didnt try to do something, he said.
It took only seven days for political forces to catch up with him. On Friday, facing intense backlash from party leaders, a potential primary from the state party chairman and a forceful dressing down from Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Jacobs announced that he would abandon his re-election campaign. The episode, which played out as President Biden pleaded with lawmakers in Washington to pass a raft of new laws to address gun violence, may be a portent for proponents of gun control, who had welcomed Mr. Jacobss evolution on the issue as a sign that the nations latest mass tragedies might break a decades-old logjam in Washington.
It also serves as a crisp encapsulation of just how little deviation on gun policy Republican Party officials and activists are willing to tolerate from their lawmakers, despite broad support for gun safety measures by Americans. Just last week, Mr. Jacobs, who is the scion of one of Buffalos richest families and was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in 2020, had been an easy favorite to win re-election, even after a court-appointed mapmaker redrew his Western New York district to include some of the states reddest rural counties, areas he does not currently represent. But by Friday, after local gun rights groups had posted his office phone number on the internet and local party leaders had started pulling their support one by one, political analysts predicted he may well lose a primary challenge based solely on his embrace of firearm restrictions.
Just last week, Mr. Jacobs, who is the scion of one of Buffalos richest families and was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in 2020, had been an easy favorite to win re-election, even after a court-appointed mapmaker redrew his Western New York district to include some of the states reddest rural counties, areas he does not currently represent. But by Friday, after local gun rights groups had posted his office phone number on the internet and local party leaders had started pulling their support one by one, political analysts predicted he may well lose a primary challenge based solely on his embrace of firearm restrictions.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/nyregion/chris-jacobs-congress-guns.html
choie
(4,111 posts)n/t
BumRushDaShow
(129,088 posts)thesquanderer
(11,989 posts)Celerity
(43,408 posts)https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/07/us/elections/electoral-college-biden-objectors.html
HUAJIAO
(2,387 posts)wnylib
(21,486 posts)in a very red district.
thesquanderer
(11,989 posts)which is why we have Manchin. It's not great, but it's better than the alternative.
wnylib
(21,486 posts)even a Dino winning in the red districts here.
Maybe it's because NY is a blue state and that antagonizes Republicans even more, but red areas in western NY are rabidly red. There are White supremacist militias in the rural areas outside of Buffalo.
RobertDevereaux
(1,857 posts)and a forceful dressing down from Donald Trump Jr.
PLEASE!
JustAnotherGen
(31,828 posts)That's my mom's and brother's critter.
durablend
(7,460 posts)When that was mentioned earlier here I said his political career was DOA.
Historic NY
(37,451 posts)the mf"er better stay out of NY politics
oldsoftie
(12,555 posts)Novara
(5,843 posts)... which is how the GOP is dying.
It isn't dying fast enough IMO.
skypilot
(8,854 posts)It is morphing into something worse than it has ever been.
OrangeJoe
(337 posts)While you and most readers of this site might see this as an indication that the Republican party is dying I'd say it's more of an indication of just how hard it's going to be to get any Republicans on board for gun control, especially on the House side.
Look for a weak bill that raises the age to 21 to buy an assault weapon, maybe requires the registration of bump stocks (forget about a ban on them), and a bit more background checking. Even at that they will give House R's the option of voting "nay" so that when the bill passes and they can tell their constituents that Congress addressed the issue and then in the next breath tell their rabid supporters that they voted against it. When the next shooting happens they will point out that "we tried gun control and it doesn't work" and then start ranting about arming school teachers and everyone else to "really solve the problem".
Vote them out or be ready for more deaths and B.S.
littlemissmartypants
(22,692 posts)IronLionZion
(45,451 posts)I'm sure the NRA has terrorized anyone who might even consider it.
Martin Eden
(12,870 posts)Death for victims of gun violence
Death by carcinogens in our environment
Death for people caught in the maelstrom of climate change
Death for poor women resorting to back alley abortions
Death for our democracy through voter suppression and overturning election results
wolfie001
(2,251 posts)Last edited Sun Jun 5, 2022, 01:02 PM - Edit history (1)
....like a mealy mouthed, spineless weasel. Pure definition of the modern republican.
Roc2020
(1,616 posts)anymore. and if there are any they won't be elected. America is dying.
Rhiannon12866
(205,467 posts)Both former Republican presidents, along with former President Carter, were instrumental in helping President Clinton pass the Assault Weapons Ban in 1994.