Even though Rep. McKinney managed to escape criminal charges when she struck a Capitol police officer last March, it looks like the incident will damage her in other ways (via Roll Call):
Defeated and later politically redeemed in the span of two election cycles, Rep. Cynthia McKinney's electoral fate once again hangs in the balance after the controversial Georgia Democrat failed to garner a majority of the vote in Tuesday's primary.
She now faces an Aug. 8 runoff with former DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson (D), who came within roughly 1,650 votes of the incumbent in a contest that received relatively little attention before the votes were counted.
It seems that the Fraternal Order of Police wants to make sure Rep. McKinney doesn't get reelected (via Roll Call):
After remaining neutral in the primary, the DeKalb County Fraternal Order of Police lodge endorsed Johnson on Wednesday afternoon and said it would request a contribution from the national FOP political action committee.
"I've been in touch with Hank Johnson's campaign and I've placed all of the resources of the state lodge at their disposal, whatever they need, whatever we can do, we've placed our resources with Hank Johnson," said Carlton Stallings, president of the Georgia state lodge of the FOP.
Things have gotten so bad for Rep. McKinney that even the Congressional Black Caucus, which is usually protective of its members, is divided in its support for her (via Roll Call):
McKinney has some staunch loyalists in the CBC - Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) chief among them - but there also are pockets of resentment in the 43-member group.
"I think she's going to get some help. But it's not going to be across the caucus," said one CBC source. "She very seldom attends meetings, and the only recent one she did attend was when she got in trouble and she came for help."
One Capitol police officer made it clear on who he wanted to win (via Roll Call):
"It's really now in the hands of the voters in her district and I hope those voters make a better decision than Cynthia McKinney did when she struck a U.S. Capitol Police officer," said Andy Maybo, an officer with the department's K-9 division.