I agree. West’s race is a tossup. I’d bet on him. Obama failed to do much better than Kerry did in the district (1 point better). West lost by only 10 despite little attention.
But 1 black Republican is now guaranteed.
There’s also State Sen Bill Hardiman who faces a crowded primary for a safe seat in Michigan.
District 3 may be decided. With nearly all precincts reporting, Jeff Duncan has a 51% to 49% lead.
From Michigan (where I’m about 35 miles away from the district)
Incumbent Congressman Ehlers has just endorsed a fellow Rino in Michigan... The Devos family is backing 29 yr old State Rep. Justin Amash, as has former Sen. Spence Abraham. (And the news today is that Ron Paul has endorsed him as well).
Hardiman seems like a good guy (and has a picture of himself with Sean Hannity on the front page of his web site) but I don’t know. My state rep (who’s a Club For Growth member) has endorsed Amash...
We’ll have to see.
There could be 5 black conservative Republicans in Congress next year even without any major upsets.
Tim Scott was as good as elected to Congress tonight; if Bill Hardiman wins the MI-03 primary (which he’s favored to do), he’ll be as good as elected to Congress that night as well. Allen West in FL-22 and Ryan Frazier in CO-07 should have at least even odds of winning the general in their politically marginal districts. And don’t forget about Vernon Parker, who should be competitive in a very crowded primary field to replace Shadegg in his AZ district (where the primary winner is guaranteed victory in November).
There haven’t been 4 or 5 black Republicans in Congress since the 1870s. It’s about time.