Exclusive: Political Fundraisers Say Establishment Members Railroading Jim Jordan, Betraying GOP Base

Establishment House members who prevented Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) from obtaining the gavel on Tuesday betrayed the small donor community that supports the reelection campaigns of those same Republican politicians, several GOP operatives and fundraisers exclusively told Breitbart News.

“I’m concerned Republicans don’t understand that the online donor community is very angry because they actually believe they would finally get a Speaker Jordan,” one GOP operative explained. “They are not an ATM, they are hardworking, patriotic Americans who are spending their hard-earned money to effect change in our country. It’s their only agency.”

Many of the members who voted against Jordan represent very red districts and often vote contrary to their constituents and the small donor community, a dissonance that loudly reverberates in rural and seemingly forgotten areas slammed by globalism. Jordan’s failure to obtain the gavel due to Tuesday’s GOP opposition is an example of the mismatch.

“Some messages I’m receiving from small donors read: ‘I’m not giving you $1 until Jim Jordan is elected speaker,” the GOP operative told Breitbart News. “‘Why are you asking me for money when I want the list of people who didn’t vote for Jim Jordan so I can call their office?'”

Jordan’s speakership bid draws a further disconnect between establishment lawmakers and the small donor community. A second operative who specializes in digital fundraising told Breitbart News that Jordan’s bid highly motivated donors to contribute hard-earned money to Republicans, but establishment members who opposed Jordan betrayed their dollar.

Watch: Rep. Ken Buck: Hard No, “I Will Not Vote for Jim Jordan” for Speaker

“There’s a real passion behind Jordan — people [small donors] are essentially investing in this guy,” the digital fundraiser said. “If you are crushing those folks, and crushing them repeatedly, I don’t know how you expect them to open up their checkbooks next year.”

The digital fundraiser also noted Jordan’s name is directly responsible for huge fundraising numbers in October, a month when small-dollar donations come more slowly. “When you have this huge balloon two weeks in October, during a traditionally slower time period in politics, that’s directly attributable to people getting behind Jordan for speaker,” he said.

“You can’t tell me that it’s a Republican Party that cares about its constituents. You can’t tell me that it’s a Republican Party that cares what its donors think even beyond just the small echelon of super-wealthy super elites,” he added. “If the Republican National Committee just mentions Jordan’s name, the money flows through and they’re [Jordan’s opposition] willing to sacrifice all of that.”

The first GOP operative explained the Republican Party is undergoing a political realignment, and small donors are beginning to realize their establishment members are not voting according to constituent interests. Political experts suggest the political realignment first took shape with the Tea Party and fully formed with the election of former President Donald Trump in 2016.

“There’s been a realignment and a lot of members of Congress act like it’s the GOP of 2007. And I don’t think they understand,” he said. “I’m concerned Republicans don’t understand that the online donor ATM, the online donor community, is very angry because they actually believe they would finally get a speaker Jordan.”

A third political GOP fundraiser located in Texas said the anger and uncertainty created by Jordan’s opposition negatively impacts the small donor community’s willingness to donate to establishment members.

“My message would be that when there is uncertainty, the casual donor does not show up, but the hardcore donor does for the hardcore conservatives,” he said eluding to Jordan.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.