Red Wave Fizzle: Inside One Failed Congressional Campaign in California
Commentary
Many people expected a “Red Wave” of Republicans sweeping into office in November—and Tom Patti, a Congressional candidate in Stockton, California, was one of those set to ride it to victory. But it didn’t happen, leaving dozens of Republican candidates, like Patti, wondering what went wrong.
I was a senior advisor to the Patti campaign. And as I suspect with so many of the House races Republicans expected to win, this race was lost due to numerous unforced errors by Republicans.
Patti, a sitting San Joaquin County Supervisor and local businessman, was designated by Leader Kevin McCarthy as a “Young Gun.” This designation is given to candidates who have raised a certain amount of money and who are in a district targeted to flip from Blue to Red….