Republican Rep. Scott Garrett
Back in 2013, Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes made headlines when he tried to convince the NRCC not to support Richard Tisei or Carl DeMaio
because they were gay. The NRCC didn't listen and spent on both men, though they ended up losing anyway. Now New Jersey Rep. Scott Garrett is the one taking up the no gays allowed cause, but with a new twist. Politico reports that Garrett is
refusing to pay his dues to the NRCC because they've recruited and supported gay candidates, and he even told his caucus that he's declined to send the NRCC money in past years for this very reason.
The NRCC and Garrett have reached a compromise. Garrett will donate to the group's building and recount efforts, but not to the NRCC directly. But this isn't the first time Garrett has locked horns with his party's leadership: Back in January, he refused to vote for John Boehner in the speakership race. But while Forbes could get away with his behavior without any real electoral consequences, Garrett may not be so lucky. Garrett represents a northern New Jersey seat that only voted for Romney by a 51-48 margin, and he faces a credible challenge from former Clinton aide Josh Gottheimer.
This whole thing is probably too inside baseball to influence voters, but Boehner and the NRCC aren't going to forget Garrett's stunts. If Garrett needs help next year, the GOP establishment will need to decide if they want to dump money to air ads on ultra-expensive New York City television to aid someone they don't like, or if it's better to spend that money elsewhere and let Garrett twist. The NRCC has already effectively abandoned Iowa's Rod Blum for his disloyalty, so they're quite willing to punish members if they don't think it will put their majority at risk. Of course, it's far from guaranteed that Garrett will be in real danger next year and even if he is, the GOP may decide that it's better to put up with him than risk a Gottheimer victory. We'll just need to see.