Renee Ellmers Call Your Campaign Team, You Have A Primary Challenge

By Aaron Gardner | 4:16 PM on January 23, 2015

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Rep. Renee Ellmer, who shuttered a pro-life bill with 60% public support on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade may have a challenger in the Republican Primary. According to GOP operatives who spoke to Roll Call politics the Chatham county GOP chair, Jim Duncan has been interested in a primary challenge of [mc_name name=’Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’E000291′ ] for some time and this most recent betrayal of a core Republican principle may be enough to push Duncan to commit.

Roll Call:

Ellmers already started the 2016 cycle with a couple cracks in her hold on the seat.

In 2014, local activists were angry over her support for giving undocumented immigrants earned legal work status, and she received a primary challenge. She defeated Frank Roche, a radio host whom Republicans called a weak and underfunded challenger, with 58 percent of the vote.

Republicans say Duncan, a retired businessman who ran a computer disaster recovery company, is a more serious candidate than Roche. Duncan has better ties to the conservative base in the district, both because of his role as chairman of the Chatham County Republican Party and as a co-founder of the Coalition for American Principles, a group that seeks to elect Republicans in the Raleigh-Durham area.

The district — which starts in the Raleigh suburbs and makes a winding horseshoe shape through Fayetteville and up to Asheboro — includes large chunks of Chatham County.

I don’t know whether or not Duncan is the man for the job, I will wait to read what Erick’s sources have to say on with regard to his conservative bona fides. That said, the connections to the party apparatus, along with his connections to the Coalition for American Principles, would make him an attractive candidate, especially if he shares our core principles, like the sanctity of life.

This is how it should happen every time one of the people we elect to represent us instead betray us. We should not be afraid to take corrective action against those we send to Washington, and the sooner in their career you do it, the better.

You did this to yourself, [mc_name name=’Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’E000291′ ].