ELECTIONS/GOP/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Alabama Republicans are set to decide Tuesday [7-17-18] whether they’ll tolerate a member of Congress criticizing President Donald Trump, even if Trump has since given his blessing to the candidate. Rep. Martha Roby faces a GOP primary runoff for her 2nd District seat against former Rep. Bobby Bright, an ex-Democrat who is basing his campaign on the argument that Roby hasn’t supported Trump strongly enough. The reason the 41-year-old Roby wears a target: In October 2016, after the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape became public, she said Trump should ‘step aside.’ Though Trump has held grudges against some Republicans who criticized him — particularly Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who is retiring, and Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who then lost his own primary — the President has let Roby’s criticism go…Still, endorsements from Trump and Pence haven’t always carried the day in GOP primaries. Most prominently, Trump was embarrassed by Alabama last year when he campaigned for interim Sen. Luther Strange, only to see Strange lose a Republican runoff to former Judge Roy Moore. Then, despite allegations of sexual assault and child molestation against Moore, Trump campaigned for Moore — who lost to Democrat Doug Jones in December.”
–Eric Bradner, “Onetime Trump critic Martha Roby faces ex-Democrat in Alabama runoff,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 17, 2018 6:06 am