by Nick Storm, @NickStorm_cn2 –
There’s more than the White House on the line for Kentucky Republicans this year, and former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup is laying out the stakes of putting the “wrong candidate” on the top of the ballot.
Northup, who is chairing U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s Kentucky campaign, spoke with Pure Politics on Tuesday — the same day Donald Trump pitched Kentucky voters in Louisville before picking up a slew of delegates in contests across the country on Super Tuesday.
The former 3rd Dist. Republican congresswoman laid out the stakes if Kentuckians throw their support to Trump on Saturday — the day Republicans will caucus for presidential delegates.
Not only is the path of the country and the presidency at stake, but potentially the U.S. Senate majority and Kentucky’s state House of Representatives, which currently favors Democrats 50 – 46, she said.
“Right here in Kentucky we have reached out and recruited some of our best candidates ever,” she said. “In district after district we have challengers who are working their heart and soul to try to win, so we can flip the state House.”
“If we put somebody at the top of the ticket that is reviled by most of the people in these (swing) districts that we can win, we are also going to kiss goodbye our opportunity to take the state House and dispose (House Speaker) Greg Stumbo,” she continued.
Part of the reason Trump has been effective with GOP is anger against President Obama and the political process, Northup told Pure Politics. The New York real estate mogul “exudes this anger.”
“Kentuckians shouldn’t just think about who is just as mad as they are, but who can fix this, and put this country on another path,” she said.
Northup is identifying Rubio as the right choice, but she said if the GOP nominates Trump or someone else not capable of speaking to the middle in swing states then the presidency will again be in the hands of the Democratic Party.
“If we don’t win those states it is going to be President Hillary Clinton,” Northup said.
To earn a share of Kentucky’s 45 delegates up for grabs Rubio’s team has been rolling out high profile elected officials including House Minority Floor Leader Jeff Hoover, former U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis and former U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning. The campaign has dozens of elected endorsers overall.
On Saturday, Republican voters will find workers in nearly all of the caucus locations making the case for Rubio.
“We have 120 volunteers in the caucus locations, when people go to vote they will see Rubio people. They should remember no other campaign was able to have that presence on the ground,” she said.
“In Kentucky we may be able one of the first state’s that is able to pivot and drive us in a direction where we elect a conservative, but also somebody who can win,” Northup said.
Rubio will be speaking to supporters on Friday morning in Lexington.
Watch the full interview with Northup below.
