Some Vulnerable Senators Suggest They’ll Skip GOP Convention

Former Speaker of the House donna Sytek, right, watches as Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., arrives and where she announced her plans to seek a second term Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
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Some Republican senators facing tough re-election fights this year are thinking about skipping July’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, CNN reported Tuesday.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) said it was “unlikely” she would attend the convention.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do in New Hampshire, I have my own re-election and I’m going to be focusing on my voters in New Hampshire,” she added, according to CNN.

When explaining why he might avoid the event, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) told the news outlet that he was more “more valuable outside of Cleveland than inside of Cleveland.”

Anonymous GOP aides told CNN that Republican lawmakers up for re-election were better off hosting events in their home states and districts than being associated with the GOP convention, which could get messy in the event of a brokered convention.

One person who definitely won’t be in attendance? Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Bush, who tried and failed to take GOP frontrunner Donald Trump down this election cycle, also said “no” when CNN asked if he would be attending the convention.

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Notable Replies

  1. Maybe Dick Cheney will finally be invited this year just to help fill the stage.

    This GOP melt-down is seriously the best show of the year.

    Kudos, Reince!

  2. Only a bunch of GOPers could hold a convention where nobody shows up.

  3. Ayotte: I need to campaign in my own state to ensure that each and everyone knows that I will not let Obama pick a supreme court nominee.

  4. Another Bush who won’t be there would be the one nicknamed W I’ll bet. Wasn’t allowed at the last one either. What’s up with that? This time Clint Eastwood may be doing his rant to the hundreds of empty chairs in the auditorium if current trends continue.

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