Democrats are not dumb. Question is, are Republicans smart?

Put another way, will GOP voters in Virginia’s 2nd District fall for an underhanded and malicious campaign by far-left political action committees and be suckered into voting for an unelectable extreme candidate in Tuesdays’ primary?

Let’s hope not. Democrat Elaine Luria needs to go.

Luria, a left-winger who masquerades as a congressional moderate at election time, is in very real danger of losing her seat in November’s mid-terms. Proof of that is the expensive disinformation campaign being waged on her behalf by murky PACs that are lying about the record of Republican front-runner State Sen. Jen Kiggans, while pumping up one of Kiggans’ far-right rivals.

The airwaves are full of these ads and mailboxes are bulging with scurrilous mailers.

Democrats are seriously afraid of what’s coming.

If there was any doubt that a Red Wave was on its way, look at what happened in Texas’ 34th congressional district this past week.

In a special election to replace Democrat Rep. Filemon Vela, this largely Hispanic district stunned pundits by voting to send Republican Mayra Flores to Washington. She’ll be the first Mexican-born member of Congress. It’s worth noting that she campaigned on a pro-border enforcement, pro-life and pro-2nd amendment platform. 

With that win, Flores became the first member of the GOP elected from this Democratic district in over 100 years.

The 2022 Red Wave is officially underway.

Desperate Democrats are trying to stanch what promises to be a hemorrhage in Congress this fall by meddling in GOP primaries across the country. Their goal? Discredit good candidates and work to get nutty conspiracy-spewing candidates nominated who can’t win in November.

The Wall Street Journal ran a fascinating piece by Karl Rove explaining the phenomenon, “Why Democrats Are Funding the GOP Fringe,”

“Fringe GOP candidates who are struggling in primaries are getting temporary aid from unusual allies. Democrats are spending tens of millions of dollars on ads in Republican primaries depicting the more radical contender as too conservative—which may be an effective attack in a general election but appeals to Republican voters in primaries. The upside for Democrats is that it can lead the GOP to nominate candidates who are less attractive to swing voters in November.”

Rove mentions several races around the country, but neglected to call out the shenanigans in Virginia’s 2nd District race. Major omission.

Other news outlets are taking notice

In “Democrats Play With Fire in GOP Primaries,” Axios reports that,

Democratic groups are buying ads touting some of the most extreme pro-Trump candidates in Republican primaries around the country — meddling in GOP contests to set up more favorable matchups in November.

Why it matters: The risky gambit assumes general-election voters will reject candidates who embrace conspiracy theories or lies about the 2020 election. But it could dramatically backfire by vaulting fringe Republicans into national office.

Should any of these far-right candidates win a nomination, let’s hope they win in November so the Democrats can deal with even more lunacy in Washington.

In a Fox News Special Report, Mike Emanuel also spotlighted the well-funded, coordinated attacks on popular incumbent Republicans around the country.

In “Democrats ‘Meddling’ in GOP Primaries, Hoping To Nominate Unelectable Republicans,” Emanuel said Democrats appear to be spending millions to boost Republican candidates in the primaries they see as easier to beat in the November mid-term elections.

Here are some of the falsehoods being spread about Jen Kiggans (Did I mention she’s the front-runner with endorsements from the National Rifle Association and former Governors Bob McDonnell, George Allen and Jim Gilmore?)

The PACs claim Kiggans - one of the popular rising stars in Virginia’s Republican Party - supports abortion on demand, Critical Race Theory in schools, and wants boys competing in girls’ sports.

To put it politely, that’s bull excrement. All of it.

There’s an easy way to check the veracity of those insane claims. Head to the Virginia General Assembly website and look at her voting record, the bills Kiggans introduced and the ones she co-sponsored.

No time? I did the heavy lifting for you. You’re welcome.

Here are bills Jen Kiggans patroned in the last session. Some passed and were signed into law. Others were thwarted by hard-left State Sen. Louise Lucas and her disciples, who brag about being a “brick wall” to stop Republican initiatives, no matter how worthy.

SB766: This bill would ban biological boys from competing in girls’ sports in elementary, secondary and even private schools that compete with other schools in athletic events. “Male students shall not participate on any athletic squad designated as female.”

Could Kiggans BE any clearer about where she stands on trans students and girls’ sports?

SB570: Prohibits public elementary and secondary schools from teaching “inherently divisive concepts” - that’s CRT, by the way. Kiggans carried this bill at the behest of Gov. Glenn Youngkin. It was blocked by the Brick Wall loons.

Could Kiggans BE any clearer on where she stands on CRT in the classroom? 

SB211: Requires registrars to clean up voter rolls WEEKLY by removing the names of dead registered voters. This bill passed and is now law.

Ironically, it seems election integrity is important to Kiggans. Not to her opponents, though.

When it comes to abortion, Kiggans has the endorsement of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life of America organization. In earlier Senate sessions she voted against SB733, which called for the removal of the requirements for a waiting period before abortions and Virginia’s pre-abortion ultrasound.

Kiggans also voted against state-funded abortions when she gave a thumbs down to SB1276.

When I asked Kiggans yesterday about the sleazy campaign to keep her from getting the nomination, Kiggans replied:

“Nancy Pelosi and her dark-money PACs know that Elaine Luria doesn't stand a chance against me in November. That's why they're spreading lies everywhere about my record and interfering in our Republican Primary. But their tricks won't work, because Virginia Republicans know better! They know that when I win on June 21st, they lose in November!" 

The nasty campaigns to discredit Jen Kiggans and lie about her record are evidence that the Democrats don’t want to run against this highly competent and electable candidate in the fall.

The Republican primary is Tuesday. Vote smart.