Many Republicans were left disappointed by last month's midterm elections, with the party barely winning a House majority while failing to take control in the Senate.

In an article published this week, RedState contributor Joe Cunningham acknowledged that candidate quality likely played a role. However, he says there is a bigger issue that the GOP refuses to face. 

Columnist: Republican Party is "filled" with grifters

"The Democrats are in it to win it," Cunningham wrote in his piece on Wednesday. He then alleged that "Republicans are in it to get paid."

According to the author, the GOP "is filled with grifter consultants, who make sure that they get their checks cleared before they’re worried about whether or not somebody wins.

He argues that Republicans "will not have any meaningful success until they can get rid of a consultant class that is more focused on the paycheck than victory."

Cunningham says that much of the problem revolves around political action committees (PACs), organizations through which donor cash is "being sucked up" through "dishonest fundraising messaging."

GOP needs to "make sure that the party and the ideology come first"

"Vendors, consultants, and strategists? All of these people make sure they get theirs before the candidate can be absolutely sure that they’ve got the best strategy," the writer complained.

He notes that whereas "by law, media companies have to charge politicians’ campaigns the lowest ad rates possible" PACs must "pay an insane amount of money to get their ads on the air."

"Candidates can make the dollar stretch further than PACs, but they go in and suck up all the money," Cunningham insisted.

As an example, he pointed to "the two-to-one advantage" Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock had over Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

"In Arizona, Mark Kelly had more cash on hand than Blake Masters," Cunningham continued, adding, "Catherine Cortez-Masto in Nevada had more cash on hand than Adam Laxalt."

He then pointed to the Lincoln Project as evidence of just how prevalent grift has become within the Republican Party, with no one having "fought to make sure that the party and the ideology come first."

The PAC was founded in 2019 by former Republican strategists like Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson, people Cunningham says "were mad they didn’t get a seat at the table with Donald Trump" and have since decided to make money by opposing conservatives.

"They’re all focused on the money and the power in the access to all those things," the writer said of the consultant class as he drew to a close.