Saturday, September 14, 2024

Kit McHenry will not vote for John Bosworth

FAIRNS, Ver. -- After her stunning defeat in Veroche's primary election two weeks ago, federal Sen. Kit McHenry (C) says she will not vote for the Conservative colleague who beat her.

Just a month ago, McHenry was considered safe for re-election.

The popular Conservative senator has served Veroche since it achieved statehood back in 2007. She's been re-elected twice -- never by a landslide, by respectable margins, especially considering Veroche is an NAT-leaning state.

But then former Sen. John Bosworth did what many thought was impossible: he pulled an upset, defeating McHenry in the state's primary election by a 52% - 48% margin.

Bosworth had previously served one term alongside McHenry, but lost re-election back in 2022.

Immediately after his 2022 loss to Nationalist David Acade, Bosworth vowed to run for the Senate again 2024, even though the only Senate seat up for grabs in 2024 was McHenry's, and she had previously announced her intention to seek re-election.

"It offended me right off the bat that he announced he would challenge me in the primary. I'm a sitting Conservative senator. I've been in the Senate longer than he has. I have seniority, I have a vested interest in this body. And we're on the same team. We're trying desperately to reach 49 senators so the Conservative Party can retake the majority in the Senate. We should not be fighting each other in expensive and nasty primaries, we should be saving our manpower and money to beat Nationalists in the general election," a frustrated McHenry told a reporter for The Mavocke Capitol newspaper.

Making the loss sting even more was the fact that McHenry and Bosworth worked closely together in the Senate, often co-sponsoring legislation. They often appeared at events together and even dined in each other's homes and met each other's families.

"I considered him a friend, until he announced he was going to challenge me. Then I realized he doesn't care about conservative values or the Conservative Party. He cares about John Bosworth. He is one of those detestable politicians that will do anything to regain power, even targeting a 'friend'," said McHenry, using an ironic accent on the word 'friend' to convey her disgust.

In the immediate aftermath of her shock loss, McHenry declined to say if she would support Bosworth in the general election.

"I will continue to support Conservative candidates because I want our party to reach that magical number, 49, in the Senate," said McHenry on election night at her election night celebration in Fairns, her small hometown in the extreme northwest corner of the state.

But yesterday, the now-outgoing senator said she will not vote for Bosworth.

"I can't in good conscience support someone who stabs his own friends and Conservative peers in the back. I just can't support that kind of behavior. Because it's not just about me. It's me this time, but next time it could and will be another Conservative politician who is in good standing. And I don't want to support that kind of cannibalistic behavior," said McHenry.

On the other side of the state, in the city of Lavington, just southeast of Lanakis, Bosworth spoke with a reporter over the phone from his home, and brushed off McHenry's comments.

"I'm not surprised she's not voting for me. And frankly, I don't really care," said a defiant Bosworth. "I don't need Kit McHenry's one vote to win this election. I don't need the support of the establishment. I don't need any old relics of the Senate to support my campaign. I need fresh people, who are energized and ready to take on the establishment and the swamp," said Bosworth, echoing former US President Donald Trump, who often refers to alleged corrupt political opponents as "the swamp."

While Bosworth may not care about losing McHenry's support, he does need every vote he can get.

Although he is facing little-known homemaker and mother (and first-time candidate) Alex Tupperman (N) in the general election, Veroche is a liberal-leaning state. Conservatives have won statewide elections in recent years, but with the strongly-progressive city of Lanakis and its suburbs trending sharply to the left, it is difficult for Conservative candidates to win Veroche elections.

Most successful Conservative candidates try to run up big wins in rural counties and conservative-leaning suburban areas, such as Kanassett, Lavington and Collettasville.

Perhaps even more detrimental for Bosworth than losing McHenry's vote is how his run for senator has offended other Conservatives who strongly supported McHenry.

Already, more than two-dozen Conservative operatives and strategists in Veroche have announced they will not work with or support Bosworth in the general election.

"What he did to Kit McHenry is just reprehensible. He targeted her, he slung a whole bunch of mud at her, portrayed her as insufficiently conservative, turned her own party's voters against her, even though she's a reliable Conservative vote in the Senate, and he did all these things just to advance his own interests. That's pissed off a lot of people in the Conservative political world, especially here in Veroche," said Rich Mabry, who has worked for both McHenry and Bosworth in the past with his communications firm.

Mabry is among the more than two-dozen Conservative consultants who have refused to support Bosworth.

"We can't reward this kind of behavior, or it will open the floodgates and other renegade, narcissistic candidates like John Bosworth will do this to other valuable, venerable Conservative senators and governors," said Mabry.

The Bosworth campaign dismissed the criticism.

"They're painting John Bosworth as if he's a villain. Calling him a 'traitor' and a 'cannibal' because he dared to stand for election and put his name up on the board next to Kit McHenry's," said Justin Rhys, a deputy campaign manager for Bosworth.

"The fact is, Kit McHenry is much more liberal compared to John Bosworth. She has voted with Nationalists on dozens of occasions, maybe even hundreds. John Bosworth is a true conservative. Kit McHenry is a faux-conservative. John put his name up against Kit McHenry, asked the voters to weigh which candidate is better and pick the best candidate, and the Conservative voters of Veroche chose John Bosworth. He won. There was no cheating, there was no underhandedness. He won, fair and square. And she's mad she lost," said Rhys.

"You know what kind of politicians pout and whine and complain when they lose? Establishment, career politicians who are desperate to win re-election," added Rhys.

In a Zoom interview from her home in Fairns, McHenry disputed the idea that she's a "career politician."

"I had a very long and successful career before I ran for the Senate. So the idea I've been in the Senate my whole career is just not true. And this isn't about staying in power or being 'desperate' to win re-election. I'm not desperate to win re-election. If the voters of Veroche -- all the voters, not just the Conservative voters -- if they voted for someone else over me, I would respect that and accept that. And to be honest, I respect the will of the Conservative voters too. Obviously I have lost their trust, and that pains me, because I consider myself a lifelong Conservative who has been in good-standing with the party. I don't consider myself a 'moderate' or a 'faux-conservative.' I'm a proud and faithful Conservative. So I recognize that the Conservative voters have an issue with me, and I hope I can remedy that. But my beef with John is just that we were friends, we are on the same team, we are both Conservatives and should be uplifting and supporting each other. Instead, he turned on me, on a dime, and went after me with all the gusto he could gather, and instead of channeling that energy and that money and that momentum against Nationalists in the fall election, he channeled it against me," said McHenry.

"And now, here we are in September, and we've spent millions and millions of dollars on battling each other when we could have used that money for the fall election, where it's most needed, badly needed. And now what was once a safe Conservative seat is now in jeopardy, all because of John's need for validation and his desperation to get back into the Senate."

Though she hasn't commented publicly on the Conservative Party's intra-party feud, Nationalist Senate candidate Alex Tupperman no doubt must be savoring the opposition party's infighting.

The Tupperman campaign has aired only positive ads across the state so far, though a campaign spokesman told the NPF the Tupperman campaign will soon air new ads targeting John Bosworth.

"You've seen what kind of person John Bosworth is," said Curt Ryan, press manager for the Tupperman campaign. "He selfishly targeted Kit McHenry, and now he wants Veroche voters to give him another term in Mavocke. If he's willing to sell his own friends down the river, you can bet he is willing to sell the people of Veroche down the river for his own selfish interests."

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