The splits in Washington politics are growing by the day

What has happened to Chris Jacobs shows the extent of the problem of partisanship in US politics, writes Chris Stevenson

Chris Jacobs: ‘If you stray from a party position, you are annihilated’ (AP)

You may not know the name Chris Jacobs, but his political fate illustrates the current state of US politics.

Jacobs – who represents the New York 27th congressional district in the House of Representatives – has announced that he will not seek re-election, having considered doing so in the newly drawn 23rd district. His decision comes after he faced a backlash from some Republicans about his comments that he would back a ban on AR-15 assault rifles as well as a move to raise the minimum age for gun ownership to 21.

“I do not believe that individuals need magazines of 50 or 60 rounds or more,” Jacobs has said. “Capacity limits should be limited, at a minimum, if we cannot achieve an assault-weapon ban.” As for raising the age limit for purchasing firearms, Jacobs said this was “perfectly reasonable”.

Jacobs – who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in 2020, and in April this year introduced legislation that would protect the rights of gun owners who have gone bankrupt – was called a “Republican in name only” (or “Rino”) by some, and Donald Trump Jr tweeted that he had caved in to “gun-grabbers”. The Buffalo area congressman’s support for stricter gun-control measures came after 10 people were shot at a supermarket in Buffalo, and another mass shooting, at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, left 19 children and two teachers dead.

Speaking on Friday about the backlash, Jacobs said: “I truly believe I could win this election, but it would be an incredibly divisive election for both the Republican Party and for the people of the 23rd district, many of whom I have not ever represented. The last thing we need is an incredibly negative, half-truth-filled media attack, funded by millions of dollars of special-interest money, coming into our community around this issue of guns and violence and gun control.”

Jacobs was clear. “If you stray from a party position, you are annihilated,” he said. “For the Republicans, it became pretty apparent to me over the last week that that issue is gun control – any gun control.”

The partisan nature of US politics, where there are entrenched splits between Democrats and Republicans, has also affected the internal politics of both parties. It is something that makes bipartisanship more difficult, and leaves candidates with little room for manoeuvre.

Some might make the argument that Jacobs is getting out of a race before really getting into it, in order to save face, but the congressman has a frank assessment on the state of politics in the nation’s capital: “This requirement of 100 per cent fealty or else is not good for our democracy, and certainly is one reason not much gets done in Washington DC. I knew that there was going to be a high level of backlash, but look, if you’re not going to take a stand on this, I don’t know what you’re going to take a stand on.”