NEW YORK — An upstate New York congressman who abandoned his reelection effort in a clash with fellow Republicans over gun control criticized on Sunday the nation’s polarized political climate as harmful to democracy, in what has become a familiar refrain from centrist GOP lawmakers.
Rep. Chris Jacobs of western New York ended his reelection campaign amid Republican backlash to his support for a federal ban on assault weapons and limits on high-capacity magazines.
“Our parties are very polarized right now,” Jacobs said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I don’t think that’s good for the parties.
“I don’t think that’s good for democracy, and I think that’s one reason why Washington is not working,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump was among the archconservatives to blast Jacobs, whose district is near the scene of the May 14 massacre in Buffalo.
“I just felt that it would be very divisive for the party to pursue running and also divisive because I thought there was a high likelihood of outside groups coming in and that this issue would be the issue of the race,” the congressman said.
He added that during his remaining time in Congress, “I really want to be a positive force on this issue so we can get meaningful change.”
He’s the latest Republican lawmaker to leave office as the GOP base shifts right.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who voted to impeach Trump, said last year that he wouldn’t seek reelection.
Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman lamented living “in an increasingly polarized country” when he announced his plans not to seek reelection.
A deal on gun safety measures that fell short of an assault weapons ban was announced Sunday by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
———
