Fred Karger — the gay, Jewish, pro-choice Republican mounting a super-longshot bid for the GOP presidential nomination — has finally had his surge, courtesy of Puerto Rico primary voters.
Granted, it’s not as dramatic of a surge as other GOP hopefuls have enjoyed.
The Yahoo! News campaign blog The Ticket reports:
Ron Paul not only placed last in Sunday’s Puerto Rico primary, he lost to Fred Karger, the former actor and political consultant who has never before held elected office.
Karger, who brands himself as the first openly gay Republican presidential candidate and has failed to garner any significant support this season—let alone qualify for any presidential debates—led Paul 1,702 votes to 1,452 with 83 percent of precincts reporting Monday morning.
Those totals offered Karger and Paul each less than 2 percent of the overall vote, but still Karger was celebrating.
"LOOKS [sic] WE BEAT RON PAUL IN TODAY’S PUERTO RICO PRIMARY," read the Karger campaign Twitter feed.
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Karger, however, isn’t the only marginal candidate to edge out a more high-profile candidate in the Puerto Rico primary. Fellow obscure GOP hopeful Buddy Roemer, the former governor of Louisiana, appears to have finished ahead of not only Karger and Paul but also of Newt Gingrich. (Incidentally, Roemer dropped out of the Republican race last month, and is now seeking the Reform Party and Americans Elect nominations — so Gingrich, Paul and Karger all finished behind someone who isn’t even seeking their party’s nomination.)
Karger had previously celebrated beating Michele Bachmann in the New Hampshire primary, even though by the time that contest was held she had already dropped out of the race.
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