Failed memo stunt leaves Nunes in danger of losing his seat

GOP Rep. Devin Nunes has represented California’s 22nd Congressional District since 2003 — in title, at least. For the past year, however, Nunes has served the interests of the Trump White House while hanging his constituents out to dry.

Now, with the April 2018 primary elections only a few months away, voters are signaling that they’ve had enough of Nunes’ antics.

According to the latest figures from Public Policy Polling, Nunes is barely polling ahead of a generic Democratic primary opponent, holding a lead of just 50 percent to 45 percent — less than one percentage point outside the margin of error.

In the last three election cycles, Nunes has won with more than 60 percent of the vote, including 2016 when he won with 68 percent of voters in the historically Republican district.

But the new poll numbers look even worse when you put a face to the name of that generic Democratic primary opponent.

According to a campaign spokesperson for Andrew Janz, one of six Democrats who has filed to run against Nunes, Janz’s campaign raised more than $100,000 last Thursday and Friday, with $54,394 coming in on Friday alone — the same day the White House released Nunes’ overhyped memo, which turned out to be an embarrassing failure for Nunes and his Republican colleagues.

Janz’s campaign attributes the spike in support directly to Nunes’ memo stunt, which is just the latest example of the Republican using his elected office to serve the president rather than his constituents.

“Our dramatic increase in contributions is a direct reflection of Nunes’s actions,” said Janz’s campaign manager Heather Greven. “[Nunes] has given Andrew’s campaign the best gift we could have received, he put a national target on his back and has made this a top 5 race. He is doing everything possible to make this a winnable race for us.”

Last week, Nunes’ hometown newspaper excoriated the GOP representative, calling him “Trump’s stooge” and blasting him for “doing the dirty work” of the Trump White House.

Soon, his constituents will have their say, too — and Nunes may regret leaving their interests by the wayside.