Jim Nelson: A house (of cards) divided cannot stand

When I announced my candidacy for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 17th district, I did so with purpose, conviction and authentic intentions for service to my country. I’ve been a public servant most of my life, first in the U.S. Air Force, then as a law enforcement officer for 30 years, and now as the head pastor of a local church.

I entered this race to represent the people I spent decades protecting. I’m an African American who is proud of the country I came from, but not of the direction it is currently heading.

For any insiders or analysts who may be reading this, allow me to speak your language for a moment. My candidacy was also a well-thought-out and sharp political strategy: run a diverse, moderate candidate with no controversial voting record in a swing district to give Republicans a fighting chance at winning back a seat in Congress and growing our dangerously slim majority.

This wasn’t political rocket science. The winning formula was there. Unfortunately, the foresight from local Republican Party leadership to rally behind one strong candidate was not.

As I spent the early days of my campaign dialing for dollars, sharing my background and outlining our winning strategy, I was met with immense support from everyday folks like me.

Voters heard my story, and it resonated. Where I struggled to gain momentum was with the Republican old guard here at home.

Meetings and phone calls with those who control the political purse strings generally ended the same way:

“You won’t be able to raise money.”

“You have no path to victory.”

“Let’s wait and see who else enters the primary race.”

One prominent Republican even commented that the party has tried to run “candidates like them” in the past and it hasn’t worked. We can all speculate the context of that pronoun, but let’s just call a spade a spade.

Time and again, conservatives sit idle as they watch Democrats unite, execute an organized ground game and win. Republicans encourage infighting and allow costly primaries that stunt our chances of winning general elections in competitive districts.

The race for Pennsylvania’s District 17 is no different with the entrance of Rob Mercuri, a party-encouraged state representative with an extremist voting record who has put Republicans in the position of explaining themselves rather than appealing to crucial swing voters in a diverse district. We’ve forfeited this race to the left before it has even begun with a candidate who cannot win.

I will, however, give credit where credit is due. I am glad to see the party already united for the 2024 U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, and I hope that Dave McCormick is victorious.

But this all begs the question: Why is our party eager to unite for millionaire country club Republicans, but not for a Black policeman with a modest upbringing and a heart for service?

This truly puts the “old” in Grand Old Party.

The Democrats criticize us for being the party of racism, exclusivity, bigotry and shortsightedness. When presented with the opportunity to change the perception here in PA-17, my fellow Republicans turned a blind eye.

I guess you can lead an elephant to water, but you can’t force it to drink.

Republicans lost PA-17 by seven points in 2022 and we’re well on the way to history repeating itself. In fact, we’ll be in a worse position against an incumbent versus the open-seat midterm election.

I am gracefully bowing out of this race because I am a fighter, not an infighter. I entered this campaign for the cause: to secure America’s borders, ensure safety in our communities and schools, defend our individual liberties, and help mend a democracy in crisis. I was not running on ego to simply win the battle (a Republican primary), but ultimately lose the war. In the era of political mudslinging, I’d rather save my family that trouble.

Don’t get me wrong. A primary election can be healthy in a wide-open seat. But it is detrimental when trying to steal one back. Whichever candidate were to emerge victorious next spring will be depleted of resources and defenseless against the Democrat machine and their organized, unified party. We only must look back to 2022 and the Republican bloodbath for proof.

Should our party finally learn its lesson in 2026 and rise beyond the definition of insanity — doing the same thing repeatedly, yet expecting different results — I will be here and ready to serve.

The 2024 race for PA-17 is the Republican Party’s to lose. With the current mess in Washington, the historic ousting of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the crumbling house of cards that is presently the GOP, I can only hope the loss here in Western Pennsylvania isn’t contagious.

Jim Nelson was the first Republican to declare his candidacy for Congress in the 2024 race for Pennsylvania’s 17th District.