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A year after primary victories, moderate Republicans brace for 2018 Wichita Eagle Moderate Republicans in Kansas made national headlines when they ousted a number of conservative lawmakers a year ago, ultimately contributing to the demise of Gov. Sam Brownback's tax cuts. In another year, many will face their first reelection battle.

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A year after primary victories, moderate Republicans brace for 2018 - Wichita Eagle

The moment was filled with political pomp and pageantry: Thousands of cheering supporters packed into an arena, a sea of poster board signs and a big announcement.

The Democrats walked away from me, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, standing beside President Trump, told his constituents Thursday night. I cant help you any more being a Democrat.

So, Justice said, the time for change had arrived: Hell be joining the Republican Party a statement that brought a wide smile to Trumps face.

The move by Justice, who on Friday officially changed his political affiliation, continued a trend in recent years that has seen Republicans dominate gubernatorial offices and state legislatures across the country. During the Obama administration, Democrats invested millions of dollars in bolstering organizational efforts in field operations and technology. But so far, it hasn't translated into significant victories at the state level.

With Justices flip, Republicans now hold 34 governorships, matching the partys all-time high in 1922. Moreover, Republicans control both the state legislatures and the governors mansions in 26 states, compared with total Democratic control in six states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the other 18 states, power is divided among Republicans and Democrats.

Having control at the state level is vitally important, said Nathan L. Gonzales, editor of Inside Elections, a nonpartisan group that handicaps congressional and gubernatorial races nationwide. Governors and state legislatures have a strong hand in things like redistricting, which have consequences.

While parties historically lose ground when in control of the White House, Obama, in his two terms, saw losses in gubernatorial and state-level races that outpaced setbacks of his predecessors. In total, Democrats lost 12 governors seats while Obama was in office, compared with nine each for Presidents Bush and Clinton, based on an analysis by the Atlantic. Obama significantly exceeded his predecessors in losing state legislative seats, as Democrats handed over a total of 918 nationwide between 2009 and 2016, the NCSL said.

In a push to make inroads at the state level, former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., with the support of Obama, helped launch the National Democratic Redistricting Committee in January. The group, which consists of members of the Democratic Governors Assn. and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, aims to help the party win state-level races and, in turn, have an impact on redistricting battles in 2020.

Presidential elections are obviously important, but we lost sight of the fact that if you want to have a representative in Congress, youve got to make sure that you have state legislatures that are drawing districts that will yield a representative in Congress, Holder said in January during a speech before the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

Rick Tyler, a longtime Republican political strategist who has worked on several state-level campaigns, said that for Trump whose approval numbers hover near 37% and whose support among Republicans is undergoing a slow decline it will be difficult to help his party maintain its advantages in state legislatures and governors offices.

In 2018, for example, Republicans will have to defend 27 of 38 governors seats, with several of those races in states that have a politically diverse electorate.

Its always difficult for the incumbent party that has the presidency to keep seats in state capitols and governors mansions, Tyler said Friday. Its especially difficult when you have a president who often bashes his own party.

In recent days, Trump has assailed Senate Republicans for failing to pass a measure to repeal the Affordable Care Act a key pillar of Trumps presidential campaign last year. Hes also castigated members of his party for passing a bill that places additional sanctions on Russia (though he ultimately signed it).

When you need to rally the troops, that doesnt help, Tyler said. That creates divisions in the party that wont help next year.

On Thursday night, however, Trump lauded Justices flip and shied away from targeting members of his party.

Having Big Jim as a Republican is such an honor, Trump said to deafening applause from those in attendance.

Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, said Justices switch was another blow to the Democrats.

Gov. Justices announcement is just the latest rejection of a party that is leaderless from top to bottom and unable to find a positive, unifying message, she said in a statement.

In West Virginia, Justice, a grain farmer worth nearly $1.6 billion dollars, had been a lifelong Republican. But in 2015, Justice jumped into the gubernatorial race as a Democrat. He bested two primary challengers, then went on to win the general election by 7 percentage points over Republican Bill Cole, a state senator. (He plans to run for reelection this time as a Republican in 2020.)

Last year, the Democratic Governors Assn. doled out $1.5 million to help Justices candidacy. This week, the group was far from pleased.

Jim Justice deceived the voters of West Virginia when he ran as a Democrat eight months ago, Executive Director Elisabeth Pearson said. West Virginians have learned that they simply cant trust Jim Justice.

kurtis.lee@latimes.com

Twitter: @kurtisalee

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With party switch in West Virginia, Republicans now have matched record number of governor's seats. Will it last? - Los Angeles Times

By Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Hours after news broke that special counsel Robert Mueller had impaneled a grand jury in the Justice Departments investigation into Russian election interference, Donald Trump took the stage at a campaign-style rally in West Virginia to dismiss the scandal. The Russian story is a total fabrication, it is just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of American politics, the president said, surrounded by a sea of red and white Make America Great Again hats. Thats all it is.

But while Trumps jokes about Russian infiltration (Are there any Russians here?) drew boisterous cheers from Thursday nights crowd, few on Capitol Hill are laughing. Earlier this week, Trump was effectively forced to sign a veto-proof bill leveling new sanctions against Russia and limiting his ability to lift thema stunning rebuke of the White House and its Republican president. Meanwhile, a growing bipartisan group of senators are moving to protect Muellers investigation from Trump, who has signaled that he might fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions in order to curtail the F.B.I. probe.

Last week, Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that he would not schedule hearings to confirm a replacement for Sessions if Trump were to dismiss the former Alabama senator from his post at the Justice Department. Now, amid concerns that Trump would try to make a recess appointment later this month, circumventing the Senate confirmation process, leaders in both parties have put their foot down. We have some tools in our toolbox to stymie such action. Were ready to use every single one of them, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. On Thursday, the Senate confirmed that it will hold a series of pro-forma sessionsbrief meetings that will occur every three daysthat will prevent the president from making any appointments during the August recess.

As Muellers investigation accelerates and expands, probing Trumps personal finances and business tieswhat the president has described as a red line for his familysenators have introduced two bipartisan bills that would prevent the president from ordering the firing of Mueller arbitrarily and without cause. One proposalfrom Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Chris Coonswould allow any fired special counsel to contest their dismissal in court, after which point a three-judge panel would have two weeks to determine whether it was warranted. The other proposalco-authored by Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Corey Bookerwould delay any firing until after a three-judge panel determined whether there was cause.

The Mueller situation really gave rise to our thinking about how we can address this, address the current situation, Tillis told The Washington Post, adding that his bill would provide a great opportunity, in perpetuity, for us to be able to communicate to the American people that actions were appropriateor if not, then not. And while it is assumed that Trump would push back on any legislation that would curtail his authority to fire the special counsel, Coons told the Post that there is a broader bipartisan concern that the president may take inappropriate action to interfere with the ongoing, important work of Bob Mueller, and said, if the president were to fire the special counsel, the Senate might promptly take action to reappoint him.

The emerging bipartisan effort represents a remarkable vote of no confidence in Trumps ability to weather the F.B.I. investigation without attempting to obstruct justice. And it suggests that Republicans, who long defended the indefensible on Trumps behalf, may have found their own red line. Perhaps most important, the shifting tone on Capitol Hill comes as the presidents popularity has continued to sag, threatening the partys hold on Congress. Six months into his term, Trump has no substantive legislative accomplishments to speak of and his approval rating is as low as 36 percent. And while Trump has retained the support of his Fox News base, the G.O.P.s various health-care bills were all widely unpopular. Another recent poll found that 64 percent of voters believe Mueller will conduct a fair investigation into whether Trumps campaign colluded with the Russian government.

Republicans used to be afraid of Trump. Now, theyre mostly ignoring him. The administrations ham-handed attempts to coerce Senators Dean Heller and Lisa Murkowski to vote yes on Obamacare repeal were met with sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers. And Trumps threats in the aftermath of the failed health-care vote last week fell on deaf ears. If thats what he wants to do, he ought to just do it, Senator Bob Corker said of Trumps call to stop insurance payments to members of Congress. [As] probably hes learned over the last couple of weeks, threats dont really go over particularly well. My advice would be to either do it or dont do it.

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As Mueller Closes In, Republicans Turn Away from Trump - Vanity Fair

Perhaps most important, Senate Republicans have begun to stiffen their spines against Mr. Trump, who has spent the better part of his presidency alternatively ignoring, undermining or outright denouncing the efforts of Congress to legislate. On Thursday, before leaving on a monthlong recess, the Senate set up a system to prevent the president from appointing senior administration officials to posts that require confirmation in the senators absence.

Among its more notable successes this year, and against Mr. Trumps objections, Congress passed a tough Russia sanctions bill with a veto-proof majority, which the president begrudgingly signed this week. Congress also approved a law to help veterans get health care a bipartisan, bicameral, messy but ultimately successful effort that came together with zero involvement from the administration.

A complicated debt ceiling fight may be averted now that Mr. Trumps budget director, Mick Mulvaney, said on Thursday that Congress could lift the ceiling on the nations debts without having to make spending cuts in exchange.

There is more good happening here than people know about, said Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee. He added that he expected further bipartisan agreement on various policy efforts now that the Senate has dropped the health care battle and Republicans are gaining momentum on a tax package that they desperately need to win. As for the role of the president in all that, I havent thought about it, he said.

Indeed, most of the coming efforts in Congress run counter to what the White House has suggested ought to happen.

On the health care front, many lawmakers are already busy figuring out a way to stabilize the individual health insurance market and to fund the cost-sharing subsidies that Mr. Trump has threatened to end.

I had Democrats bombard me right after the health care bill went down on that Friday morning, said Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, speaking of the dramatic 49-to-51 vote in the early hours of July 28. He said he was already knee-deep in work across the aisle on health care: There was almost a quiet sense of hope.

Mr. Trumps budget requests have largely been ignored or rebuffed by the Senate, as were his administrations notions on how to manage a bill to fund the Food and Drug Administration, which passed the Senate on Thursday.

While efforts to change the tax code have been hampered by the failure to repeal the health law, the motivation by congressional Republicans to work together and move beyond internal party disagreements has been, for now, bolstered by a deep desire to succeed.

On the next big thing, we cant fail, said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Senate Republican. We have to double down on tax reform.

There is no question the lift ahead is heavy. Congress has yet to pass a budget, something that should have been done this spring. Without measures to fund the government, a shutdown threat, which has become a feature as endemic to Washington as the annual cherry blossom run, will loom. Democrats in the House and Senate may make their own mischief with the debt ceiling, tying it to the Republicans tax bill.

Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and the House minority leader, has expressed support for a clean debt ceiling hike. But her spokesman, Drew Hammill, said Ms. Pelosi has also echoed the concerns that many House Democrats have about supporting such a move while Republicans simultaneously blow a multitrillion-dollar hole in the deficit with tax reform for the rich.

We are awaiting a plan from the Republican majority on how they plan to accomplish lifting the debt ceiling, Mr. Hammill said.

It is not entirely clear that Republican leaders can deliver the votes on their own. What is more, Congress this fall must also tackle the reauthorization of the Childrens Health Insurance Program, which may well get entangled in other budget and tax issues.

As Republicans head to their respective states and congressional districts for recess, their lack of accomplishments hangs around their collective necks. Many small bills passed by the House were never considered by the Senate; that chamber pushed through a number of small measures on Thursday to give lawmakers something to brag about back home.

But some Republicans say legislative achievements will remain elusive without unity on a host of public policy issues that the party could not tackle during the eight years of the Obama administration. Within, and between, the two political parties remain massive gulfs.

Its not Congresss job to see how many bills we can pass, said Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina. Otherwise there would not be working groups and task forces designed to study overcriminalization and overregulation. You cant have it both ways, cant pat yourself on the back for passing a law and four years later pat yourself on the back for repealing it.

Our first challenge is to define those principles upon which our party is based, and then pursue legislation consistent with those principles, Mr. Gowdy said. I think we are still stuck on the first prong.

A version of this article appears in print on August 5, 2017, on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: After Failing to Succeed, Giving Compromise a Try.

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With Few Wins in Congress, Republicans Agree on Need to Agree - New York Times

Congress sank to a 10% approval rating in a new Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday, with roughly five in six Americans saying they disapprove of the country's legislative body. This compares to an 18% approval rating in March.

And if you're searching for the main reason behind the drop, look no further than Republican voters.

Back in January and March, more than one in three Republicans said they had positive views of Congress, which is controlled by the GOP in both chambers.

But now, that's plummeted to just 14% of Republican voters who give Congress a thumbs up.

The new numbers come after a high-profile effort to repeal and replace Obamacare barely squeaked through the House and failed in a dramatic late-night vote in the Senate.

Congress's overall 10% approval is the lowest for Congress in Quinnipiac's history of data back to 2003. Using Gallup data beyond that, it's the lowest for Congress in data back to 1974.

(Congress did reach a 9% approval rating in Gallup polling in November 2013 in the wake of a two-week government shutdown.)

And to make matters worse, Republicans were Congress's most supportive group. The low numbers stretch across every demographic division -- only 12% of nonwhites, 12% of people under 35 years old, 11% of men, 10% of people over 65 years old, 9% of women and 9% of whites approve.

Support for Congress among independents has also bottomed out, falling from 18% in January to just 8% now. Democrats have remained essentially stable in the single digits.

The poll does point to some reasons why: Four in five voters say they disapprove of the way the congressional GOP is handling health care -- including three in five Republican voters and three in four whites without a college degree.

Indeed, a whopping 92 percent of Republicans say the GOP should repeal some or all of Obamacare, but the latest attempt to do so went down in flames.

Quinnipiac's poll showed Trump's approval falling to its lowest level yet at 33% - still more than double the number who approve of Congress -- and bolstered by 76% of Republican voters.

Historical trends show that, even though broad majorities disapprove of Congress, more people do tend to support their own individual member of Congress. So the low disapproval numbers do not necessarily translate to any particular outcome at the ballot box. (The most recent Gallup numbers from 2014 show 54% of Americans approved of their own representative in Congress, even though Congress overall had just a 14% approval rating.)

The Quinnipiac University poll of 1,125 registered voters was conducted from July 27 to August 1. It has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points among all voters and 7.1 points among Republican voters.

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Even Republicans don't like Congress anymore - CNN