Today started out to be a good one for Dr. Greg Brannon. He appeared on the Glenn Beck Show and got rave reviews from the liberty-minded, constitutional crowd. Then WRAL reported that Brannon had failed to pay his property taxes on time. But the biggest blow came with the news that a Wake County jury found him liable for misleading investors in a technology start-up. Brannon will be required to compensate the investors $250,000.
It’s unknown at this point how this will affect Brannon’s Senate bid, and the candidate himself says he will appeal the ruling. But it’s not going to help. The Tillis campaign must be very happy at this news. Until this point, Brannon was the most serious challenger to the House Speaker. This finding by the jury will be a millstone around his neck. More importantly, it means Tea Party groups on the sidelines might think twice about getting behind Brannon’s candidacy. Up until now, Brannon seemed like the Tea Party dream candidate. No more. He’ll always have this jury ruling. Ultimately, integrity cuts across ideological lines.
Of course, the nightmare scenario for the Republican establishment is if Brannon becomes the nominee in spite of these revelations. That’s not particularly likely to happen, but then again that’s true of most nightmares.
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
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