U.S. Sen. candidate says Donald Trump turmoil won’t change how he runs Washington campaign

It’s become abundantly clear that Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy has created a divide in the Republican Party, and Washington U.S. Senate candidate Chris Vance isn’t expecting a united front this fall. But he told KIRO Radio he and the rest of the state Republicans will stay neutral until the national decision is made.

“I think the Republican Party right now is on a trajectory that we will not be united this fall,” he said. “Where some people will be supporting the nominee and others won’t, and I’ve never seen anything like that before. But I just have to keep my head down and do my job, and run my campaign, and offer the people of the state of Washington a positive alternative to Patty Murray who has been in office for 24 years and is part of the problem with Washington D.C.”

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Vance, the former chair of the Washington Republican Party, says a Trump nomination will likely cause a lot of hard feelings within the party, but that his beliefs and stance will not change. He says it’s the party’s job to run the get-out-the-vote program, to identify Republicans and rally them by November.

“I don’t believe they will change anything,” he said. “The Republicans in Washington state are united behind Bill Bryant for governor and me for the US Senate and I don’t think that’s going to change at all.”

He says Washington Republicans need to remain neutral about what is happening on the national stage.

“You need to let your own partisans work this out,” he said. “Just like I’m sure that the Democrats are remaining neutral in the fight between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. So no, the state party would never formally endorse a candidate for president before there’s a Republican nominee.

“Right now Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz together have more delegates than Donald Trump does, so this is not over,” he added. “And until it’s over, the party stays neutral and candidates like me stay neutral.”

The Washington state Democrats bashed Bryant and Vance for their refusal to rule out voting for Trump and his “racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic” campaign.

“Republicans Bill Bryant and Chris Vance like to spout off about leadership, but on Donald Trump, they seem to have lost their voice,” said Jaxon Ravens, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “It’s simple. Our state values diversity and inclusion and Donald Trump does not share our values. But Bryant and Vance are putting their loyalty to the Republican party and their desire for the votes from their base before the values of our state.”

Vance noted that most Washington Republican activists and donors are supporting Rubio, who overwhelmingly won a straw poll at a conference in Ocean Shores, Wash.

Vance says the Republican Party division has been a long-time coming, with ousting of the Speaker of the House and the Senate rebelling against its leadership.

“The Republican Party is going through a massive amount of turmoil and debate over what is it to be a Republican, what is it to be a conservative,” he said. “That’s been going on and it’s going to continue to go on. What’s ironic about it though is it comes at a moment when the Republican Party has never been more successful. Outside of Seattle and downtown San Francisco, America elects Republicans and maybe that’s why this family feud is going on because the Republican Party has become large enough that people are trying to figure out what it means to be a Republican.”

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