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Criss’ Candidacy is Moves and Countermoves · Commentary - TJ Meadows

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  Speaker 1: Most things in life, personal, professional, and political come down
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  Speaker 1: to moves and counter moves. Those who achieve the best
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  Speaker 1: outcomes usually think several moves ahead. That's why no one
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  Speaker 1: should be surprised that House Finance Chairman Vernon Chris, after
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  Speaker 1: losing the Republican primary, is seeking reelection as a rite
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  Speaker 1: in candidate. His candidacy is a counter move permitted by
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  Speaker 1: West Virginia law, and one even a political newcomer should
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  Speaker 1: have seen coming a mile down the road. The original
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  Speaker 1: move was closing the Republican primary to independent voters. Chris
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  Speaker 1: says independence account for roughly forty percent of the voters
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  Speaker 1: in his district. They could not participate in the primary,
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  Speaker 1: but they can participate in the general election, and now
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  Speaker 1: Chris is giving them another choice. He's not wrong about
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  Speaker 1: the opportunity. Conservative leaning independence feel Republicans needed them to
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  Speaker 1: capture the legislature back when, only to exclude them once
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  Speaker 1: that power was secured. Defenders of the closed primary argue
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  Speaker 1: that Independence rarely participated in Republican primaries anyway, but that
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  Speaker 1: ignores a changing political landscape. The new far right faction
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  Speaker 1: is advancing ideas, including those of protectionism and populism that
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  Speaker 1: often conflict with traditional conservative principles. The differences among Republican
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  Speaker 1: candidates are now more consequential, not less. That makes participation
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  Speaker 1: more important to conservative independence that Republicans still need in November.
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  Speaker 1: Voting for Chris would allow those voters to preserve their
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  Speaker 1: leverage over whether the primary reopens while supporting someone who
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  Speaker 1: more closely reflects their political convictions. Chris also offers something
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  Speaker 1: his opponents cannot immediately provin the chairmanship of the House
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  Speaker 1: Finance Committee. A newly elected delegate will not assume one
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  Speaker 1: of the legislature's most powerful positions on day one. Will
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  Speaker 1: that matter enough to re elect Chris? No one knows.
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  Speaker 1: Independent voters follow their own political path. Both Republican factions
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  Speaker 1: believe they understand them, but election night in the twelfth
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  Speaker 1: District may reveal which side understands them better. Closing the
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  Speaker 1: primary was the move vernon Chris's writing candidacy is the
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  Speaker 1: counter move. Those angered by it, particularly those who championed
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  Speaker 1: closing the primary, have no one to blame but themselves.