Wingnut GOP Assemblyman Michael Doherty is a sore loser after GOP moderate Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow beat him decisively at a special convention of GOP leaders to choose a successor to the 23rd legislative district's State Senator Leonard Lance, who was elected to Congress last November.
The district is largely rural and heavily Republican, dominated by bitter wingnuts who read their bibles, clean their guns, and whine about the New World Order. Doherty, who was the only elected official to endorse Ron Paul, was considered the favorite going into this race. However, he did such a splendid job of alienating GOP leaders with his pomposity and verbal assaults against the RINO (Republicans in name only) establishment that even some of the most hardened wingnuts among them wound up casting their vote for the more moderate (at least in comparison) Marcia Karrow.
Like any bitter wingnut Doherty won't take his defeat gracefully. Doherty says he'll challenge Karrow in the June primary even though, as he puts it, "I'd have to bust a nut." He also swore, "I'd rather die than not run in that primary."
Although traditionally a safe Republican seat, a knock-down drag-out slobberknocker pitting rebellious wingnuts against the evil RINOs in a bloody primary fight could open up an opportunity for Democrats to take the seat if they can find the political equivalent of New York's Kirsten Gillibrand. Another wrinkle is the upcoming Superbowl of wingnuts versus RINOs known as the New Jersey gubernatorial primary. In the wingnut corner is Steve Lonegan, former Mayor of Bogota (New Jersey's answer to Wassilla, Alaska) whose fifteen minutes of fame is based on his call for a boycott of McDonald's because they had the temerity to post a billboard in Spanish. In the RINO corner is establishment favorite Chris Christie, who was formerly US Attorney, but who is still making up his mind about what he thinks he should believe; not too much to the right which would alienate Democrats and Independents, but not too much to the left to get the wingnuts foaming at the mouth about God, guns and gays.