The target is on U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones’ back again.
Phil Law, a site deployment supervisor for Hewlett-Packard in Jacksonville, announced last week his intention to challenge Jones for the Republican nomination for the 3rd Congressional District.
Law grew up in Forsyth County but made Onslow County his home after serving more than four years in the Marine Corps.
He said the singular issue with Jones’ performance in the House is the Farmville resident’s ineffectiveness.
“Right now, in my opinion, Jones talks a good talk but he doesn’t actually get anything done because he can’t garner enough support,” Law said. “Because, that’s what you have to do in Congress. It’s not one vote, it’s 435 people.”
Law said Jones’ contrarianism becomes a problem when it’s applied to national security issues like ISIS, Russia’s military efforts and North Korea’s missile tests, along with the United States’ relationship with Israel.
Jones and the House Republican leadership haven’t gotten along for years, even resulting in Jones losing key committee appointments. He’s openly come out against reelecting Speaker of the House John Boehner back to that position, and recently called him out for possibly seeking budget votes from Democrats.
“If the leadership continues to reach out to Democrats and forgets that the Republican Party has certain core principles as a party,” he said to The New York Times, “it will create more and more animosity.”
However, after surviving a hard charge from Taylor Griffin of Fairfield Harbour in the 2014 primary, Jones told CQ Roll Call in February he’s fundraising and ready for another challenge, adding, “I like to be a thorn in people’s ass.”
The same story quoted anonymous GOP consultants saying Griffin’s mounting another effort, but Law said what handicapped Griffin’s candidacy the first time was that he was more or less a hired gun.
“First of all, Taylor Griffin was the wrong candidate,” Law said. “He wasn’t from North Carolina — he lived in D.C., he was sent down, he was an operative, he was a registered lobbyist. And a lot of outside money, which Jones pointed out, backed him.”
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