If I was an Oligarch and I needed to control government offices, I would buy both a D and an R, and run them against each other. I mean why risk some party label preference among the electorate?
If I own the D and the R, matters not to me which one wins. They are my actors. My D will read scripts about climate change while my R will read scripts about deregulation. Whatever actions they take will always benefit my interests. And if they get cocky and insubordinate, I’ll cut their campaign funds to zero and buy another to run against them.
But even better, I can buy an electronic election system that will put anyone I want into the office I need to control.
And that is exactly the way I watched it play out at the state level.
Then I retired and immediately left that state forever.