Rep. Chris Jacobs dropped his bid for reelection to his Western New York district after facing fierce blowback from Republican leaders over his recently-announced support for an assault weapons ban in the wake of the Buffalo supermarket mass shooting last month.
“Last Friday, I made remarks before the press regarding my support of some gun control measures. Since that time, every Republican elected official that endorsed me, withdrew their endorsement, as did many Republican committees,” Jacobs said at a Buffalo press conference on June 3.
“Despite this backlash, I truly believe I could have won this election, but it would be incredibly divisive.”
His changing political fortunes, which included GOP leaders’ efforts to recruit a primary challenge against him if he did not drop out, comes amid fierce Republican opposition to any additional gun control measures following multiple mass shootings in recent weeks.
“[We] have a problem in our country, in terms of both our major parties. If you stray from a party position, you are annihilated. For the Republicans, it has become pretty apparent to me over the last week that that issue is gun control – any gun control,” Jacobs said at the press conference.
He plans to serve the remainder of his term through the end of the year.
A litany of Republican hopefuls are jockeying to be his replacement – including former GOP gubernatorial nominee Carl Paladino, who has already received the endorsement of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-North Country), the No. 3 House Republican.
“I am proud to announce my endorsement of my friend Carl Paladino. Carl is a job creator and conservative outsider who will provide Western New York and the Southern Tier with strong representation and leadership. Carl will be a tireless fighter for the people of New York in our fight to put America First to save the country,” she said.
“I think I can be effective given my history and background. This area deserves a conservative representative.” Paladino, now 75, said. He joked that he likely won’t campaign with a baseball bat as he did when he ran for governor in 2010 and earned the nickname “Crazy Carl.”
Some Republicans, meanwhile, had already begun collecting signatures, before Jacobs announced his plans to drop out, to get GOP state Party Chair Nick Langworthy on the ballot.
This is an excerpt from the New York Post.
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