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Republicans stumble with independents who contributed to middle woes

Egan, Minnesota. – Last month, when Republican Tyler Kistner’s closing ad aired in one of the most competitive congressional districts in the United States, Vicky Crane felt something was missing.

The 58-year-old veterinary technician and self-described independent voter watched a grainy black-and-white image of the president appear in a 30-second spot. Joe Biden 2nd term Democrat Angie Craig overlapped with him. The narrator ominously described her life in America as “dangerous and unaffordable” due to the alliance of the two Democrats.

Klang thought no advertising was closer to the solution than choosing Kistner.

“You never tell me what you’re going to do for your country or your country,” Kuran recalls. “It’s a big turn-off.”

The Klan ultimately endorsed Craig, giving the Democratic incumbent a 5-percentage-point victory that the Republicans had spent over $12 million to lose. From Maine to California, Republicans face similar, unexpected setbacks, with a small but significant minority of voters who don’t identify with either major party, according to the AP VoteCast, an extensive national survey of voters. There was a slice of voters.

The national Republican House candidate won the support of 38% of independent voters in last month’s midterm elections, according to VoteCast. That’s far less than her 51% in the same group when Democrats seized power with her 41 seats in 2018. The GOP’s lack of luster among independents partly explains why it won just her nine seats and secured a crude majority that already casts doubt on the party’s ability to govern. helps.

Some Republican strategists believe the findings suggest that independent voters were looking for something other than the opposition, and messages that resonated during party primaries, including heavy criticism of Mr. Biden, were less effective in the general election campaign. It states that it shows that there was no

Republican pollster and House GOP senior adviser David Winston said he was critical of this year’s GOP candidates’ messaging strategies. “For some reason, the Republican campaign didn’t do that. And that’s a really serious problem.”

More than a dozen independent voters agree with Winston’s assessment in the former farmland, which is heavily developed near the northern edge of Minnesota’s Second Congressional District, the Lakes of the Zone, and the Twin Cities.

Unlike Klan, who grew up in a Union-Democratic household, Steve Stauff of Shakopee, 20 miles west, grew up in a rural conservative Republican home. The two share a recent history of voting for Republican and Democratic statewide candidates, as well as the independent candidate for Governor Jesse Ventura in 1998.

However, Kistner’s message, like that of other Republican challengers who lost targeted elections, seemed more aimed at Republicans than swing voters. Nancy Pelosiwidely unpopular with Republicans.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy However, the proposal was a collection of repackaged goals, such as increasing domestic oil production, that were downplayed in detail and barely mentioned during the campaign.

“Instead of saying, ‘This is my plan to represent this constituency,’ they just said, ‘Pelosi is bad, Biden is bad, so Craig is bad,'” said Stauff, a 42-year-old salesperson. rice field. “How can I take you seriously if you don’t bring me the solution to the problem you think we have?”

VoteCast suggests that independent voters were distinguishing between the problems facing the United States and Biden’s responsibilities. Few independents said the economy was doing well, with about two-thirds disapproving of Biden’s response, but independents were more likely to see inflation as the result of factors beyond Biden’s control. slightly higher, from 51% to 47%. According to research.

But Republican political messages often lacked that nuance.

Kisttner’s ad in October included the following claims: Thank you Joe Biden and Angie Craig.

“I understand how hard it is for people,” said Lewis, a 71-year-old school board member who lives in a Republican-leaning suburb southwest of St. Paul. “I never really believed in a president, whoever the president was … never really controlled inflation. I couldn’t control it.

Democrats lean toward true independents and parties, according to Pew Research Center analysis of post-election surveys of voter-identified voters in 2014, 2010, 2014 and 2014. Among the people, he performed much better in the recent midterm elections than he did when he also held the White House. 1998.

While questions remained about the electoral role of the Supreme Court’s June ruling, which overturned the groundbreaking abortion rights precedent of 1973, some independents in Minnesota’s Second District voted for Craig. He cited that as the issue that was the driving force behind his support.

According to VoteCast, about seven in 10 independent voters who don’t belong to either political party believe that abortion should be legal in most or all cases.

Pamela Olson, an independent from rural Farmington, Minnesota, said she doesn’t typically vote on a single issue. She didn’t vote for Craig in 2020. That changed in light of the court’s decision, Craig’s support for Craig’s abortion rights, and, for the most part, Kistner’s objections.

“This is about freedom in this country, and I think it’s entirely up to women and their doctors,” said Olson, a 56-year-old engineer. “Instead of letting others tell us what to do, we need to let individuals choose.”

In addition to alleging that Republican candidates weren’t focused on independents, Winston said independent voters may be reluctant to jump on alternatives in the wake of President Donald Trump’s turmoil. suggests that there is a

“Change should be something they’re willing to vote for, as opposed to a perverse response of ‘This is bad and it’s just going the other way,'” said Winston.

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Finger Hat reported from Washington.

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For AP coverage of the 2022 midterm elections, please visit https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections. For more information on the AP VoteCast methodology, please visit https://www.ap.org/votecast.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

https://www.local10.com/news/politics/2022/12/26/gop-stumbles-with-independents-contributed-to-midterm-woes/ Republicans stumble with independents who contributed to middle woes

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