House races bring new faces

Thursday, June 9, 2016
| Chad Groening, Charlie Butts (OneNewsNow.com)


A number of conservative groups are being credited for the defeat of an incumbent Republican congresswoman who had been a favorite of the tea party movement.
 On Tuesday night, North Carolina Congresswoman Rene Ellmers became the first Republican incumbent to lose a primary this election season. Elected in 2010, Ellmers was one time viewed as a rising tea party star. But in office she alienated a number of groups – including Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity, and the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, which all worked for her primary defeat.
William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) has been one of Ellmers' staunchest critics.
"[She] supported a path to citizenship and a legal status for illegal immigrants. She voted to fund Obama's refugee resettlement and illegal alien amnesty orders that are clearly unconstitutional and 26 states are suing to stop," he explains. "So we fought against her and, in this case, took her down."
But while he's pleased Ellmers is out, Gheen isn't sure about the Republican who defeated her. "We don't know 100 percent where George Holding is on immigration. We can be hopeful that he'll be better than Rene Ellmers," he tells OneNewsNow.
While Gheen admits he's unsure where Holding stands on immigration, Susan B. Anthony List says the GOP candidate deserves the vote of North Carolina pro-lifers.
"He's a true champion for the pro-life cause," says SBA List's Mallory Quigley. "He's got a great relationship with Susan B. Anthony List [and] with our pro-life allies in North Carolina, including the North Carolina Values Coalition. He's been a supporter of the Pain Capable Bill."
SBA List had supported Ellmers when she ran for election but opposed her bid this time for blocking a bill in the House that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks.
"She had previously supported this bill. It was common sense legislation, compassionate legislation to protect babies after five months more than halfway through pregnancy," Quigley explains. "She falsely stated that this legislation wasn't important to millennials and that Republicans shouldn't make it a primary issue."
Quigley believes Holding will continue to be a principle pro-life leader in Congress. But first, Holding must win the November election when he faces Democrat John McNeil.
No waiting in line
Another Republican winner from Tuesday night won't have to wait until November: he's going straight to Capitol Hill to represent an Ohio district. Warren Davidson, an Army veteran and businessman, took 77 percent of the vote in Tuesday night's special election to complete the term of former House Speaker John Boehner.
Phil Burress, an Ohio-based pro-family activist who lives in Davidson's congressional district, is pleased that a true conservative has handily won the vacant House seat. Davidson really shook up the GOP establishment, says the chairman of Citizens for Community Values.
Burress
"Warren's credentials are just impeccable. We are so excited that Boehner is gone and [that] we've got a pro-life, pro-family, solid conservative going to Congress to take Boehner's seat," he shares.
Burress predicts Davidson won't knuckle under to the Republican leadership.
"There is no way in the world that this man is going to be threatened or have his arm twisted to do something that he does not want to do. He will work with people," says the family advocate. "He was an Army Ranger – he knows how to lead, he knows how to follow. But he has convictions."
House Speaker Paul Ryan will swear Davidson into office later this week in Washington. He will be the odds-on favorite to win a full term in Congress this fall.

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