Chris Jacobs drops re-election bid after beating his party with a gun

After the deadly mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, Representative Chris Jacobs of New York, a soft-spoken congressman serving his first term in the House, rattled Republicans. stunned to accept the federal assault weapons ban and capacity magazine limits.

Said from his suburban Buffalo county a week ago, about 10 miles from the grocery store where 10 black residents were massacredMr. Jacobs framing his fraught break from the Republican platform’s orthodoxy bigger than politics: “I can’t be in good conscience to sit back and say I wasn’t trying to do something,” he said.

It took only seven days for the political forces to catch up with him.

On Friday, facing backlash from party leaders, a potential preliminary from the state party chair and a powerful piece of clothing from Donald Trump Jr.Mr. Jacobs announced that he would quit running for re-election.

Episode, goes like President Biden pleads with lawmakers in Washington to pass a series of new laws to tackle gun violence, which could serve as an incentive for gun control advocates, who have welcomed Mr. Jacobs’ progress on the issue as a sign of signal that the nation’s latest mass tragedy could break a decades-old logjam. in Washington.

It also serves as a stark summary of the degree of slight deviation in gun policy that Republican officials and activists are willing to tolerate from their legislators, despite the disapproval. widespread support for American gun safety measures.

Just last week, Mr. Jacobs, the son of one of Buffalo’s richest families and confirmed in 2020 by the National Rifle Association, was an easy favorite to win re-election. , even after a court-appointed cartographer His Western New York district includes some of the state’s reddest rural counties, areas he doesn’t currently represent.

But by Friday, after local gun rights groups posted his office phone number on the internet and local party leaders began pulling in one by one, political analysts predict he could lose a major challenge if he relies solely on accepting weapon restrictions.

Party leaders and allies who spoke to him in recent days said Mr Jacobs clearly understood the political ramifications of his decision to support strong gun control measures – but he still refused. back down.

Mr. Jacobs announced his support for a federal ban on assault weapons last week without consulting many of his political advisers first, according to a person familiar with his decision, who not allowed to discuss it.

After making his remarks, he conducted a poll showing that he may still have a road to re-election, although not an easy one.

Ralph C. Lorigo, longtime Chairman of the Erie County Conservative Party, said: “Look, his heart is in a good place, but he is wrong in his thinking as far as we think. “The jump so fast that it suddenly becomes the gun that kills the person and not the person himself is certainly not 100% true.”

Mr Lorigo said he verified Mr Jacobs earlier this year when other conservatives doubted him. But on Monday, he asked the MP to come to his office and make it clear that he would encourage a key challenge.

“He understood that this could be a political suicide,” Mr. Lorigo said.

Even before he made his decision on Friday, a number of Republicans lined up to run against Mr Jacobs, angered by his comments and the way he has swayed party members. his surprise, including some who approved of him?.

The state senator said: “We deserve the courtesy of a chief. George Borrelloa second-term Republican from Irving, NY, south Buffalo, who said he did not believe Mr. Jacobs’ remarks were “an out-of-the-box emotional response,” but was pre-planned. .

Mr Borrello, who said on Friday that he was considering running for office, added that Mr Jacobs’ actions were particularly gallant considering the MP had “actively and actively” sought support from groups pro-gun like the NRA and 1791 Society.

“And those people do feel betrayed,” he said.

Other potential Republican challengers include Mike Sigler, a Tompkins County lawmaker, and Marc Cenedella, a conservative businessman.

The most formidable threat, however, comes from Nicholas A. Langworthy, a longtime leader of the Erie County Republican Party who currently serves as the state’s Republican Party chairman.

Mr. Langworthy had been a supporter of Mr. Jacobs, helping him secure the endorsement of Donald J. Trump, but he has started putting out petitions to vote himself in recent days and told associates that he would consider challenging Mr. Jacobs.

Mr Langworthy has yet to officially announce whether he will seek a chair, but his entry into the race will likely erase the emerging entry-level position.