Challengers. Headlines. Candidates for the Senate, House, Governor, Secretaries of State and even state legislators. The nearly 130 candidates that President Donald Trump has endorsed so far in 2022 have tested the former president’s influence at the head of the Republican party.
Trump’s 2022 had a good start in the Texas primaries, with his 33 backed candidates all winning or entering the second round in strong positions. But a person familiar with Trump’s thinking said that the bad performances and stumbling blocks of some of his chosen candidates, and some bad advice he had received about them, are making him more cautious when it comes to throwing his weight behind the contenders in some key primary races.
In some cases, the actions have raised questions about the power of Trump’s endorsements and his power over Republican primary voters now that he is no longer in office. In places like Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama, he was unable to clear the field for his favorite contender.
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But elsewhere, Trump’s selectivity has made his support even more coveted. In a crowded Ohio Republican primary for an open Senate seat, scheduled for May 3, several of the candidates are fighting hard for the former president’s blessing, positioning themselves as significantly more “pro-Trump” or “America first” than his competitors and looking face to face with him.
A sign of Trump’s power comes from visits by candidates and political groups to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida and Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey since he left the White House. In 2021, FEC records indicate that campaigns for the federal office and political committees spent at least $ 750,000 on both properties.
Former Ohio GOP state president Jane Timken is scheduled to visit Mar-a-Lago next week, according to a well-known source. His rivals Josh Mandel, JD Vance and Mike Gibbons are also looking for endorsements. With early voting there starting next week, candidates are anxious for Trump to make a decision.
The Ohio race is the first of several that month to feature a major test of the former president’s influence. In Georgia, he backed former Sen. David Perdue in his challenge to incumbent Governor Brian Kemp, who has become Trump’s number one enemy in certifying state election results. In North Carolina, Trump supported Rep. Ted Budd, who is running for an open seat in the Senate. But Budd is in a tight primary career with former Gov. Pat McCrory.
The former president can still offer endorsements for Senate and governor primaries in Pennsylvania and Alabama this month. In these states, he is looking for new favorite candidates in the Senate after his initial election failed.
Last week, took his endorsement from Alabama representative Mo Brooks, who has been behind two other Republicans for the Senate open race there. In Pennsylvania, Trump-backed candidate Sean Parnell abandoned from the race after losing a custody battle with his separated wife.
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With the primaries getting closer, Trump is on his way to meeting for his chosen candidates. He went to Georgia last weekend to campaign for Perdue and a host of other candidates he supports. This week, he is expected to be in Michigan to meet for his chosen candidates for attorney general and secretary of state. The following week, he will travel to North Carolina to support Budd.
Campaigners from several campaigns and super PAC say a Trump endorsement gives candidates a significant increase in polls.
“President Trump’s endorsement is the most powerful force in politics, and Save America is committed to ensuring that all voters are engaged and educated before this important election,” Trump spokeswoman Taylor Budowich said in a statement. press release. Save America is Trump’s PAC, which had $ 110 million in cash at the end of February.
When choosing endorsements, Trump takes into account the candidate’s polls and fundraising, and closely monitors debates and suspends the extent to which candidates can implement their GOP vision, according to people familiar with the GOP. their decision-making process.
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But getting the endorsement of the former president can only get this far. “It will take you a long way, but you have to raise funds, have the game of land, and you have to be fighting for what he is fighting for,” said a former Trump campaign official.
“It’s not a problem for Trump’s endorsement to lose its power; it’s the issue of campaigns that don’t capitalize on endorsement,” another Trumpworld agent said.
In the case of Georgia, strategists say Trump underestimated the power of Kemp’s concern and the ways Republican primary voters may be more focused on the present than the past.
“What you’ve seen over the last year is that Joe Biden reminded Republican voters why they don’t like him and his policies, and he put them in his pocket,” said a Georgia GOP consultant aligned with Kemp. . “It benefits us. It’s no longer ‘I’m angry about the last election,’ but ‘I’m angry about what’s going on right now.'”
Trump’s endorsement of Perdue has an effect on the margins, the consultant said, but “but I don’t think they’ve been able to reveal anything new to change the conversation.”
The fact that Trump’s endorsement has not been clearing the field in the races is a sign to some GOP agents that Trump, while still the most powerful force in Republican politics, has lost some influence.
“Anyone receiving the endorsement should be happy,” said a GOP agent who worked on several campaigns, who asked to speak anonymously to speak frankly. “If you get the endorsement of a guy who really likes the grassroots, it’s definitely a good day for you, but that doesn’t mean you’re the next governor, senator or MP.”
If a candidate does not win Trump’s endorsement, that agent told CBS News that there is still a way for candidates to continue their campaign instead of closing it.
“You have to say, ‘Let’s move on,’ because there’s a project now,” the agent said, citing McCrory’s position as an example of how to stay competitive in a career where Trump has supported someone else. “The game is not over”.
In some cases, Trump is testing the support of a candidate without absolute endorsement. In the open Senate race in Missouri, the former president released a statement last week asking if voters have been considering Rep. Billy Long. “They appreciate what they have on him, a warrior and the first major political leader who said, ‘You better get on the Trump Train, get out of the station?'” Trump said. I’m just asking. “
Candidates have also lined up former campaign and Trump administration officials. In Ohio, Timken hired former Trump campaign director Corey Lewandowksi, who was fired from his post in a pro-Trump super PAC following allegations of unwanted sexual advances toward a donor, and the former aide of Trump campaign David Bossie. Former White House Senior Councilor Kellyanne Conway is also assisting Timken and Long in their Senate primaries and Pennsylvania State Sen. Jake Corman is running for office.
Billionaire Peter Thiel, who donated large sums of money to efforts to support the Trump campaign in 2020, supports Vance in Ohio and Blake Masters in Arizona. The Super PACs that support Vance and Masters have used Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio. In Arizona, a company founded by former Trump campaign director Bill Stepien and Trump campaign lawyer Justin Clark is assisting Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
In Pennsylvania, David McCormick, who is married to Trump’s Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell, is campaigning Wednesday with former White House Secretary of Press Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks. Fox News host Sean Hannity, who has advised Trump, supports Mehmet Oz.
In addition to Ohio and Pennsylvania, Trump has ignored the highly competitive competition from the Arizona Senate. Missouri and Arizona do not hold elections until August, giving the former president time to weigh his options. But the other races are just a few weeks away.
Trump likes to promote his record of approval and will look at candidates he believes can win the primaries and ultimately the general election. But he acknowledged in an interview Tuesday night with Real America’s Voice that he may end up supporting some candidates who lose their careers.
“If I lose one along the way, what do you have to do, right? They’ll say it was a humiliating experience,” Trump said. “They could have 100 wins and one defeat and they could make it look like this is humiliating.”
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