Portman could face primary challenger

toledoblade.com ^ | 1/19/15 | Tom Troy

[cotton1706]

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) enjoys an unbroken record of election success, has a campaign war chest that is one of the Senate’s deepest, and claims the endorsement of just about every Republican party officer and elected official in the state.

But he’ll still face a Democratic opponent in the general election, and possibly a primary opponent.

Two weeks ago Mr. Portman released a list of endorsements with about 250 names including elected Republicans, county chairmen, and state central committee members.

snip

Matt Borges, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, said that even though Republican voters will decide in the 2016 primary who will carry the party’s nomination into the general election, the party committee is fully behind Mr. Portman.

“We’ll be ready to defend him should that primary come along. If it does, we’ll flex the muscle of the Ohio Republican machine, and I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of that,” Mr. Borges said.

The pugilistic tone struck by Mr. Borges and the show of force from Mr. Portman struck some as a warning to rivals from the conservative side, as well as from Democrats.

Mr. Borges said he does not expect a repeat of other Republican Senate incumbents who were knocked out in primaries by conservative candidates who didn’t have the ability to win the general election. He attributes that to Mr. Portman stepping up as vice chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“What we did see in 2014 was the NRSC really got its act together and made sure the strongest candidates emerged. Senator Portman was a big part of putting that organization together in 2014,” Mr. Borges said.

[cotton1706]

They're getting geared up to "crush" again, to protect their incumbents and their pathetic voting records:

Portman (OH) - 2016 - 63% (Average) - 56% (CReview) - 55% (Heritage) - 71% (CFG) - 64% (ACU) - 67% (FreedomWorks)

And their "strongest candidates" did worse and worse in their primaries as time went on:

Cornyn (TX) - 60%

McConnell (KY) - 60%

Cochran (MS) - 50%

Alexander (TN) - 49%

Roberts (KS) - 48%

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Some social and religious conservatives have predicted Mr. Portman will face a political backlash for declaring support for same-sex marriage in 2013. Mr. Portman said at the time he was inspired by his son Will’s disclosure that he is homosexual.

It would be a shame if Pootman last his primary.

[rrrod]

Note to Ohio..pick a solid no name candidate. Then hit the streets. Remeber what a disaster SC was? Too many candidates and Graham easily won. Ohio, I think, has closed primaries....could be a pick up for conservatives.

[Whenifhow]

Ohio Ping

[gdani]

Love him or hate him, Portman’s not going anywhere.

[Viennacon]

Well I hate him. He supports anti Christian persecution. He can go to hell

[Zuben Elgenubi]

I live in SW Ohio which is pretty conservative, outside of Hamilton County which is quite liberal.

Portman is the only Republican that the liberals like or tolerate.