He was reelected Mayor a couple times and did win a primary in 2013 special election, otherwise you got it. Even Ray Charles could see there’s something about him voters outside of Bogota don’t like about him.
His supporters don't exactly help their candidate either, a lot of them scream "RINO!!" at anyone who runs for the same office as Lonegan, no matter how conservative that person is (e.g. Bret Schundler was suddenly GOP establishment scum when he dared run for Governor when Lonegan wanted the job) and they push Democrat style identity politics. Like Tammy Duckworth, ANY opposition to Lonegan will be spun as "how DARE you attack a DISABLED man!!" Basically they use "he's legally blind" card the way she uses the "I have no legs" card as a shield against criticism.
I can't even fault him for being vehemently against Trump in the primary and being a die-hard Ted Cruz supporter. Many FReepers, including myself, were in the same bandwagon. However, I doubt any of us would make speeches calling Trump "Hillary Clinton with a penis"
On a related note, the AlwaysTrump freepers frequently accuse the NeverTrump crowd from the primary of being across the board leftists/RINOs/establishment hacks (in reality, a lot of rank and file Republicans across the spectrum didn't buy into Trumpism). I wonder if John Cox and Steve Lonegan are thus "GOP establishment RINOs" in their eyes? Hmmm.