Thread by @RachelBitecofer

1. Well-meaning but strategically STUPID Never Trump Republicans in Utah cost @BenMcAdams his seat in UT-4. They invented a new party- something some of you dream of doing to fix "our broken 2-party system" & instead, they siphoned off the votes he needed to win reelection.

2. I should note that they did, eventually, realize the error of their ways & try to end their candidate's candidacy. But if you don't withdraw before the ballots or printed (& shit, I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP sued to keep her on the ballot- they're shrewd like that)

3. you're still getting printed on that ballot. Now, what's interesting to me is the strong performance- esp since she quit. The Libertarian Party performed very well in this district. This is SLC, very college edu which is why my model ID'd it in 2018 as a potential flipper.

4. STILL, its Utah, so it was not a gimme race like many of the others under a surge turnout model. Frankly, this was a district that needed to produce the surge to see if it could meet the size need to flip. The Lib pull off likely was a factor in 2018 too- this is actually a

5. systemic problem the GOP faces all across America- losing a chunk of voters, particularly college ed white men, to the Lib track (I joke that young white dudes ALWAYS think they're libs until they figure out what they're into other than pot, then they realize they're actually

6. Dems, its just that the GOP has killed the brand "Dem" so bad everywhere outside the West Coast and Northeast- 20 yr white dudes are embarrassed to think they might BE Dems! (SuperPac's gonna fix that problem, among the Left's many). Anyway, the Lib Party is pretty well

7. developed, but a 7K vote showing off a candidate who withdrew from a party that didn't exist 4 years ago in a race that already had a 3rd party drawing from the center right and center. Interesting. Wouldnt be surprised to find out the Utah Republican Party hit their own voter

8. file with an ad or ads for this Never Trumper bc it would have likely pulled away any R thinking of defecting to @BenMcAdams/@RepBenMcAdams

The strategic stupidity that goes along w this is mind blowing.