Those of us who wish to see more science and technology trained folk in Congress should note the upset of the GOP‘s Katie Arrington by 314 Action’s endorsed Democrat Joe Cunningham, as reported by Roll Call:
Democrat Joe Cunningham’s win in South Carolina’s 1st District is a blow to Republicans who thought they’d hold on to the coastal seat even after South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford lost a GOP primary earlier this year.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Cunningham led GOP state Rep. Katie Arrington 51 percent to 49 percent when The Associated Press called the race.
President Donald Trump carried this Charleston-area seat by 11 points in 2016. But there were signs the race was becoming increasingly competitive this fall, with some internal polling pointing to a close contest. Offshore drilling — which Sanford opposed and Arrington said during the primary that she supported — became a central part of the general election contest.
Close readers will note the name Mark Sanford, who I’ve mentioned before as a somewhat more moderate Republican who had the temerity to criticize President Trump. He was upset by Arrington in the primary, who probably thought she’d won herself a job in that initial victory. Roll Call attributes Arrington’s own missteps for her loss:
In a moment of major significance for this race, Arrington said during the primary that she supported Trump’s effort to lift the ban on offshore drilling. She repeatedly attempted to walk back those comments, but it became fodder for Cunningham and his allies. Cunningham picked up the endorsement of several area Republican mayors because of his opposition to offshore drilling.
Cunningham avoided taking money from PACs and still outraised Arrington. He is an “ocean engineer,” which must be the item that attracted 314 Action’s attention, although presently he’s a lawyer. Or perhaps I should say that additionally he’s a lawyer. Having chops in both engineering and the law is no mean set of skills.
And this should be a lesson to all the Trump-clones that not all of the President’s plans, serious or not, will play well with general conservatives. When it becomes clear that some policy will damage them, Republicans are like everyone else – they bleed, too. There are times when self-sacrifice of economic prosperity is necessary for the greater good, but when it’s merely to benefit the fossil fuel industry, then it’s a bit nuts.
The real question is whether these Republicans who revolted also realize that the fossil fuel industry’s output is a menace in terms of climate change – and now that, too, is a menace to their communities.
Another winner from the science and technology sector was in Oklahoma, where surprise Democrat victor Kendra Horn from the space industry upset a long time Republican.
