Arguably, you might have been able to call the 2016 GOP Senate Primary races last month with the exception of Sly/Jensen. The House primary races? That’s a horse of a different color, as results seems to have come out all over the place.
While they largely leaned towards the familiar, they weren’t afraid to try something new if the candidate showed that they were willing to go out after it.
District 3 – Dennert & Kaiser over Kolden.
District 11 – Karr & Willadsen over Landry.
District 14 – Holmes and Zikmund over Zimbeck
District 16 – Jensen and Anderson over Shorma
District 19 – Schoenfish and Peterson over Osborn
District 23 – Lake and Gosch over Werner & Hoffman
District 25 – Hunt and Pischke over Ecklund
District 28B – Marty over Wagner
District 30 – Frye-Mueller & Goodwin over Oakes, Mounce and Lasseter
District 31 – Johns & Turbiville over Weyrich
District 32 – Conzet and McPherson over Ericks
District 33 – David Johnson and Howard over Buckingham
If anyone has any thoughts on a universal explanation as to why the house races went as they did aside from the efforts the candidates put into it, I’m open to discussion. I don’t think there’s any unifying theme other than going out and doing the hard work.
“All politics is local.” Someone smart said that once, and I imagine that’s what’s going on here.
Originated with the media in the 1930s, but most commonly associated with former House Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-MA). See:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/all_politics_is_local
I’m not sure what to say either…regarding the hard work. I visited some 2,500 homes the month prior to the election. Attack ads, with inaccurate information, didn’t help my cause. I made some mistakes but I have no regrets.
In the end it’s all about knocking on as many doors as possible, making one-on-one contacts, and being likable.