is that many GOP voters found him “too extreme” and wound up not voting
And therein lies the rub folks. There are voters who do find some candidates extreme. As if that candidate is going to start going through their district like a Berzerker on meth. But at the same time, those very same voters will bitch and moan that something needs to be done.
They just want it done at afternoon tea, rather the back alley at midnight.
Me, I’ll take the person that will flip over the tea table and who’s licking their chops to be in the back alley at midnight.
What happens in WA, is they move votes from safe districts to Red districts. They simply register voters in one place for the Congressionals, then move them back to Seattle King Cty for City and local elections. It is not illegal, and is simply done electronically.