One of the last competitive GOP primaries of the 2014 election cycle will be decided on Tuesday when Marilinda Garcia and Gary Lambert face off in New Hampshire's second congressional district.
Garcia, a 31-year-old state representative named a " rising star" by the RNC, has long been seen as more conservative than Lambert, a former state senator who has taken liberal positions on abortion and cap-and-trade. "Early in his campaign for Congress, Gary Lambert was privately telling Republicans that they should choose him because Marilinda Garcia was too conservative," according to a Union-Leader editorial. "Now he is calling her a 'liberal.'"
Specifically, Lambert is calling Garcia a liberal on immigration and Obamacare, charges that she strongly denies. This Sunday, Texas senator Ted Cruz, a staunch opponent of illegal immigration and Obamacare, will vouch for Garcia's conservative credentials at a rally in Nashua.
“I’m proud to support Marilinda Garcia because she is the candidate who will fight to stop President Obama’s amnesty, work to secure the border, and celebrate a legal immigration system that both protects immigrants and our national security interests,” Cruz said in a statement that was released by Garcia’s campaign. "Marilinda will stand up for the citizens of New Hampshire to repeal Obamacare, protect our constitutional rights, and restore jobs and economic growth."
It's anyone's guess whether Garcia or Lambert will pull off a victory on Tuesday. David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report noted last week the "primary is a coin flip at this point."