Daily Brew: The clash: intra-party disputes in 2018 U.S. House primaries

May 30, 2018

U.S. House factional conflicts + Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton resigns to run for Congress + Garrett will not seek re-election to U.S. House   U.S. House factional conflicts In 2018, intra-party disputes have appeared among U.S. House primaries involving Democratic candidates endorsed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Republican candidates endorsed by the House Freedom Caucus. The DCCC is supporting House candidates who they believe will be competitive in general elections, sometimes creating conflict with candidates not endorsed by the group. The House Freedom Caucus and allied groups such as the Club for Growth are supporting candidates who are likely to join their ranks once in the House. Other wings of the Republican Party, including House Republican leadership, often prefer opposing candidates. See the lists of these 2018 U.S. House primary factional conflicts: Democratic Party factional conflicts→ Republican Party factional conflicts→         Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton resigns to run for Congress Yesterday, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton (D) resigned from office to run for office. The now-former mayor is seeking election to the U.S. House to represent the 9th Congressional District of Arizona. Stanton was first elected mayor in 2011. He represented District 6 on the Phoenix City Council from 2000 to 2009. Arizona is one of five states with resign-to-run laws, in which officeholders must resign from their current office in order to run for another. Learn more→ Garrett will not seek re-election to U.S. House U.S. House Representative Thomas Garrett (R) announced Monday that he would not seek re-election in 2018. Garrett has represented the 5th Congressional District of Virginia since his election in 2016. He is a former Virginia State Senator, representing District 22 from 2012 to 2017. Two days prior to his announcement, a POLITICO article alleged that his congressional staffers had been used to run errands for Garrett and his wife. Garrett denied these allegations. As of May 28, 2018, 54 representatives will not seek re-election to their U.S. House districts: 17 Democratic members and 37 Republican members. Learn more→