Is This Why Tea Party Star Rep. Renee Ellmers Lost on Tuesday?

Did Rep. Renee Ellmers, a Republican from North Carolina, lose because she opposed a pro-life bill?

The federal Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, because unborn babies at this stage might be able to survive outside the womb and could feel the pain of their deaths. Abortionists must try to save the babies born alive after a failed abortion attempt.

The Obama administration called the bill disgraceful. Would Rep. Ellmers agree?

North Carolina lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional map, which pitted Rep. George Holding against Rep. Ellmers. He defeated her on Tuesday, garnering 52 percent of the vote to her 24 percent. From Life Site News (emphasis added):

Ellmers, who campaigned as a pro-life nurse aligned with the Tea Party when she first sought office in 2010, led a House revolt against the bill designed to end abortions after 20 weeks. In 2015, she and a handful of Republicans including Jackie Walorski of Indiana objected that the bill – which they had previously voted for – required rape victims to report a crime to police before legally having a late-term abortion.
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Ellmers responded to objections from the pro-life community by saying, “I am appalled by the abhorrent and childish behaviors from some of the leaders of” the right to life movement.

After the final district lines were set, national pro-life groups poured resources into opposing a sitting Republican congresswoman. The national and state right to life chapter supported Rep. Holding, and the Susan B. Anthony List says it contacted more than 215,000 people in North Carolina’s second congressional district.

Rep. Ellmers came into office on the Tea Party wave. So what went wrong?

“You go to Washington and you think you vote the right way,” Rep. Holding said. “I try to vote in a conservative manner, and you wonder sometimes, do people even notice? This primary gave me the opportunity to learn that people do notice.”

Perhaps the congresswoman’s views on amnesty for illegal aliens cost her the election. From Breitbart:

It all started back in March 2014 during an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Laura Ingraham when Ellmers called Ingraham “small-minded” and “ignorant” for standing up for American workers against Ellmers’ pro-amnesty viewpoints.

During the interview, Ellmers argued for amnesty for all illegal aliens in America and mass migration so her donor class friends could have a cheap foreign labor supply—and accused Ingraham of using “union-speak” for aiming to protect American workers’ wages and job prospects by arguing for more controlled immigration levels.

Photo credit: American Life League (Creative Commons) – Some Rights Reserved