With Michele Bachmann gone from the House, we're pretty much left with Louie Gohmert as the House Republican who's most likely to say something that would be considered inflammatory if it weren't so incoherent. And while he's in a district in rural east Texas that's so red as to insulate him against Democrats no matter what he says, he may now be facing someone who's not just casting aspersions on his asparagus, but may actually be in a position to do some damage.
Rancher Simon Winston is running against Gohmert in the Republican primary, which, believe it or not, is barely a month away. Winston loaned his campaign $305,000, giving himself a hefty $302,000 to $178,000 cash on hand edge over Gohmert. (Credit for sussing this out goes to Bloomberg reporter Greg Giroux, who's better at unearthing these tidbits than anyone else.)
And with the election so close at hand, there’s very little time for Gohmert to call around and raise more funds. Gohmert is also a complete pain in the ass for the House leadership, so they have little reason to help him in his hour of need. But could Gohmert just pull out his own checkbook and make up the difference, though? Nope! As a prime example of the financial discipline that Republicans are known for, Gohmert has a net worth of negative $370,000.
Winston's angle doesn't seem to be running to Gohmert's left (which wouldn't work well in this district) or his right (not much room there), but simply from the less-crazy. He explains on his campaign website:
But like many of you, I'm frustrated that Congress has become such a circus, and that our representative Louie Gohmert is one of the main clowns. [...] I'm not going to promote myself while ignoring our district, nor will I embarrass the Republican Party or East Texas. I'll simply fight every day for the issues and values that are important to East Texas, and work hard to get things done.
It's hard to know if that message will resonate in a GOP primary: Donald Trump's place at the top of the polls indicates that circuses don't exactly turn off Republican voters. Gohmert, of course, also has the advantage of name recognition that comes with incumbency, so Winston has to be facing a steep uphill fight. Still, Winston's big cash edge suddenly makes this a primary to watch.