House Dem: Liberal groups need to back off for party to win in 2012
Sean J. Miller | The Hill
Jan. 30, 2011
Liberal groups need to stay out of Democratic primaries if the party is going to retake the House majority, according to a conservative Massachusetts Democrat.
Rep. Stephen Lynch was one of several Democrats who faced an aggressive primary challenge from the left in 2010. His challenger Mac D’Alessandro, a former top official with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), received almost $300,000 from labor groups for his campaign.
“There was a lot of money spent against Democrats by Democrats,” Lynch told The Ballot Box. “That contributed to the scale of our losses.”
Lynch survived his primary and was reelected in November, but several House Democrats who were targets of the left lost their reelection bids. For instance, the SEIU encouraged its members in Ohio’s 18th district to “skip-a-Space” on their ballots and not vote for Rep. Zack Space because of his opposition to healthcare reform. The two-term Democrat was subsequently defeated by Republican Bob Gibbs.
Read more @ The Hill’s Ballot Box.