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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party itself were chastised on Saturday by a state party boss who accused them of not putting enough support behind Trump-backed GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who lost a close race to incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in this month’s runoff.
“Tuesday was a tough day in Georgia. Herschel was massively outspent, maybe 3 to 1 in a four week period of time and still held his own,” Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer noted in an email the day after the election.
Politico, which obtained the email, noted further:
He went on to refer to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s comments about candidate quality as “unhelpful” — to the degree it was viewed as a dig at Walker, who McConnell endorsed — and bemoaned the limited financial support from the NRSC for the Georgia runoff.
“We used our RNC transfer dollars for the ground game and were forced to raise money from entirely within the state for our critically important mail program. Two weeks out, we were $2.5 million short when I sent what was for me an embarrassing email begging the other state parties for help,” he added, according to the Georgia Star.
He did, however, credit RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel with helping to plug the fundraising gap.
“Ronna spent most of Thanksgiving week haranguing United States Senators and her major donors asking them to help us, and she came through in a big way,” he wrote. “She alone filled $1.9 million of the shortfall. THANK YOU.”
Last month after Republicans failed to do better in the midterms, a revealing new survey said that most Republican voters are done with McConnell.
According to polling and political research firm Rasmussen Reports, “Republican congressional leaders remain unpopular, even with their own party’s voters, who overwhelmingly want to get rid of” the 80-year-old Kentucky senator, adding:
A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and Paul Bedard’s “Washington Secrets” finds that just 28% of Likely U.S. voters have a favorable impression of McConnell, including five percent (5%) who have a Very Favorable opinion of him. That’s down from 31% who viewed the Kentucky Republican favorably in August. LINK TO Pelosi Slightly More Popular Now Sixty-four percent (64%) now view McConnell unfavorably, including 35% who have a Very Unfavorable impression of him.
Only 21% of Likely Voters believe Senate Republicans keep McConnell as leader, while 61% think they should choose a new leader. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Republican voters want to get rid of McConnell as Senate GOP leader, a sentiment shared by 58% of Democrats and 63% of voters not affiliated with either major party. Among self-identified conservative voters, two-thirds (66%) want Senate Republicans to choose a new leader.
GOP likely voters favor House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) only slightly more, the polling firm noted, as he appears in line to become Speaker, replacing fellow Californian and Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
“Thirty-seven percent (37%) of voters view McCarthy favorably, including 11% who have a Very Favorable impression of him. Forty-six percent (46%) view McCarthy unfavorably, including 26% whose opinion is Very Unfavorable. Another 17% are not sure,” the firm noted.
More likely voters, by a 16-point margin, believe that House GOP members ought to choose a new leader rather than keep McCarthy (47-31 percent). But unlike McConnell, the firm noted, more Republicans are actually against dumping McCarthy; 46 percent of Republican voters said that House Republicans ought to stick with McCarthy versus 38 percent who think they should choose a new leader.
Not surprisingly, a majority of Democratic likely voters, 56 percent, want rid of McCarthy as the GOP leader, as well as 46 percent of voters who are not affiliated with either major political party. Among voters who describe themselves as conservative 42 percent say they would like to see McCarthy remain as House GOP leader compared to 39 percent who want House Republicans to pick a new leader, Rasmussen Reports said.
“Women voters have more negative views of GOP congressional leaders than do men. Only 24% of women voters have a favorable opinion of McConnell, compared to 33% of men,” the firm added. “Similarly, 41% of men but just 33% of women voters have a favorable view of McCarthy. Men are more in favor of keeping McCarthy as leader of House Republicans, but men and women voters are equally agreed (61%) that Senate Republicans should choose a new leader.”
The disdain for McConnell is multi-ethnic, though he has fallen out of favor more with white voters.
“McConnell is viewed unfavorably by 68% of whites, 58% of black voters and 52% of other minorities. McCarthy is viewed unfavorably by 48% of both white and black voters, and 36% of other minorities. Majorities of every racial category – 61% of whites, 55% of black voters and 64% of other minorities – think Senate Republicans should choose a new leader. Fifty percent (50%) of black voters think House Republicans should choose a new leader, as do 47% of whites and 43% of other minorities,” the polling firm reported.
