SLIDE TO THE RIGHT — In just two weeks, Ohio and Indiana will launch a busy portion of the 2022 primary calendar on May 3. And as the clock ticks down, GOP governors are gearing up for reelection across the country, making their final pitches to voters to show they're still up for the job. From Mike DeWine of Ohio to Oklahoma's Kevin Stitt and Brian Kemp in Georgia, state leaders are enacting far-right policies, leaning into attention-grabbing and politically charged topics like abortion, guns and the southern border. "In the months before and the weeks before a primary, you're seeing governors and you're seeing members of Congress really drive home messaging to their base — that they are conservative, they're one of them, and they're reflective of the values that come from the base," veteran GOP strategist Doug Heye told Nightly. "This is sort of your last advertisement to your audience essentially." DeWine's most recent ad, according to Facebook's ad tracker, shows him signing the "Heartbeat Bill," highlighting a "national leader in pro-Life Legislation." Another ad says DeWine is "protecting your Second Amendment rights," and one touts endorsements from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the National Border Patrol Council for DeWine's views on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border. The Ohio Republican, who's managed to successfully straddle the line between staying in former President Donald Trump's good graces while not keeping him too close, will face off with three lesser-known conservatives who could potentially split the far-right vote, likely setting up DeWine for another term. The primaries are a good indicator of who's going to be your next governor, Heye said. In the past few years, winning the primary means you have a strong chance of victory in November. It's worth noting that these governors each face their own unique set of challenges, and that they have their own styles for going about election-year strategy. Still, in many cases, the incumbent Republicans are shifting right, making their final plays to pull in base voters to beat out more conservative — and sometimes even Trump-backed — contenders. Kemp is playing the same game in Georgia, making moves to loosen gun laws ahead of his May 24 primary. He signed a bill last week allowing Georgians to carry handguns without a license or background check, delivering roughly a month before he's set to battle David Perdue, who won the former president's endorsement after Trump turned on Kemp for refusing to challenge the state's 2020 election results. In Oklahoma, Stitt signed a near-total abortion ban last week and has vowed to sign "every piece of pro-life legislation" that goes before him. And today, led by border state governors Abbott and Doug Ducey of Arizona, 26 governors announced the creation of a strike force to "secure" the U.S.-Mexico border. DeWine, Kemp, Stitt and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were among those who joined the effort. As for the term-limited Ducey, Trump has blasted him as a "RINO" and endorsed Kari Lake, a former TV anchor who has become a frontrunner for governor. She still insists Trump won the state in 2020. Other GOP governors' motivations go well beyond 2022. DeSantis has made national headlines for his "Don't Say Gay" law. And just last week, the potential 2024 candidate signed a 15-week abortion ban into law, once again building his national portfolio. Abbott is another rumored 2024 contender who likes to keep his name on the big networks and in the White House briefing room. He's sent multiple buses of migrants to Washington, D.C., this month, and he made headlines last week for his policy, which he has since ended, that increased truck inspections, gridlocking commercial traffic along the U.S.-Mexico border. While 2024 hopefuls await a decision from Trump about whether he plans to run again, governors like DeSantis are simultaneously working to keep their current jobs while preparing for a potential White House bid, Heye said. "They're all putting themselves in the starting gate for a race that they may not run. But if you don't put yourself in that position, then if there is a real race, you start from way behind," Heye said. "The DeSantis', the Ted Cruz's and Nikki Haley's of the world are very mindful of that. They have to go right up to the starting line, but they can't say that they're running." That's because the first one who officially announces a run for the White House in 2024, Heye said, Trump will try to eliminate them.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment