GOP Rep. Drops Pro-Gun Stance, A+ NRA Rating From Campaign Site

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 28: Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., attends a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Rayburn Building on oversight of the FBI featuring testimony by Director James Comey, September 28, 2016. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 28: Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., attends a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Rayburn Building on oversight of the FBI featuring testimony by Director James Comey, September 28, 2016. (Photo... UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 28: Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., attends a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Rayburn Building on oversight of the FBI featuring testimony by Director James Comey, September 28, 2016. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) MORE LESS
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Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI) has scrubbed all traces of his pro-gun stance and A/A+ rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) from his campaign site.

The Detroit News reported on the change Wednesday, days after the massive nationwide March For Our Lives rallies that called for tighter gun control measures in wake of the Parkland high school shooting.

The move could signal at least one Republican’s concern that the gun group’s mark of approval may not go over well with voters amid the burgeoning gun control movement.

Campaign spokesman Stu Standler told TPM in an email that the change merely “reflects an update for a Congressman who has served for 2 terms and has worked on several pieces of legislation that have been signed into law and are helping the community,” and that “Mike Bishop has not changed positions on these issues.”

“The last version of the website was written when Mike Bishop was a candidate in 2014 and never served in Congress,” Standler added.

Bishop’s district is one of the Democrats’ targets in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program for the 2018 midterms, and the Detroit News noted that Democratic candidate Elissa Slotkin raised more money than Bishop during the last two quarters of 2017.

This story has been updated to include the campaign’s statement to TPM.

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  1. Bishop’s district is one of the Democrats’ targets in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program for the 2018 midterms, and the Detroit News noted that Democratic candidate Elissa Slotkin raised more money than Bishop during the last two quarters of 2017.

    However, a campaign spokesman insisted that “there’s no hidden agenda” behind the change.

    Nope, no hidden agenda at all. Michigan voters should believe this.

  2. No hidden agenda?

    I guess that’s true.

    Hiding the agenda takes way more skill.

  3. Well, evidently, they’ve been known to believe dumber things, so why not give it a shot?

  4. This is shooting yourself in both feet: 1) call attention to the suburban voters that want sensible gun control that you are in the NRA’s pocket and 2) look untrustworthy to the hard-core NRA crowd.

    Proceed, Representive.

  5. No worries, methinks the people of Michigan will be well reminded of Mr. Bishop’s NRA stance in the coming election.

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