What happened to Renee?

Following nearly eight years of job-killing and opportunity-crushing policies and regulations coming from Washington, Americans from all walks of life and all 50 states have grown accustomed to one simple axiom: elections have consequences.

For one congresswoman from North Carolina who helped lead the charge on those policies, there’s a new, cautionary response reverberating throughout not just her office, but across our nation’s capital and congressional districts around the country this week: votes in Congress have  consequences, too.

{mosads}Soon-to-be-former Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) finished a distant second this week in a three-way partisan primary for the seat she’s held since 2011, managing to garner just 23 percent of the vote—an astonishing 30 points behind the winner, Rep. George  Holding.

Ellmers’ meteoric fall started just four weeks ago when Americans for Prosperity volunteers and activists began an aggressive grassroots campaign aimed at drawing attention to the Congresswoman’s abysmal record in Washington. Sixteen thousand door knocks and 168,000 phone calls later, voters in North Carolina’s second congressional district sent a resounding message to Ellmers and those who will now be her former colleagues in Congress.

The message is a simple one: the American people were serious during the last two  election cycles when they used the ballot box to tell their representatives and senators that Washington is broken. Cronyism, handouts to special interests and runaway spending are no way to change the trajectory of our country and get America back on track.

Americans told their representatives in Washington that a vote for the Export-Import Bank was a vote against American workers and economic interests, and they took notice when they were ignored by those they had entrusted with their support. The same goes for budgets and spending bills that have been heavy on the handouts to special interests and light on the fiscal responsibility that is necessary to ensure a prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.

When she went to Washington, Ellmers voted in favor of Ex-Im, the irresponsible Ryan-Murray Budget, and the now-infamous Cromnibus bill—all after she was a proud AFP activist standing alongside our volunteers. They’re the same volunteers who spent the last month knocking on doors and making phone calls to educate her constituents on her failed record because she has clearly lost her way. Unlike her time as an AFP activist, she had become part of the Washington problem instead of a tireless champion for solutions.

While the outgoing Congresswoman’s loss is the first time Americans for Prosperity has expressly advocated for the primary defeat of a sitting U.S. member of Congress, it likely won’t be our last. Politicians like Renee Ellmers who clearly haven’t learned anything from their constituents over the course of the last two, four, six and eight years—but  we have. Americans for Prosperity is a constant presence on the ground from Alaska to New Hampshire and listening to citizens has given our staff and volunteers a clear picture of what they want from Washington. Ending the bankrupting of America and defeating cronyism—two areas where Ellmers was a dismal failure—are at the top of that list.

We have a saying at Americans for Prosperity that we share with each and every elected official we speak to: because of our 2.8 million activists in all 50 states, you cannot go to Washington to get away from your district, nor can you go to your district to get away from Washington. We’ve made tens of millions of door knocks and phone calls to spread the message that economic freedom is the path to prosperity in this country . We will call on our elected officials to do the right thing, and if they’re so unwilling to listen to their constituents, we may again take the extraordinary step of calling for their removal.

In short, the votes our representatives and senators take in Washington—like the ones we cast for or against them back home—have consequences. Fortunately for Renee Ellmers’ constituents, it took just four weeks to deliver a message four years in the making. 

Luke Hilgemann is the CEO of Americans for Prosperity. Donald Bryson is the North Carolina state director.