Trump plays kingmaker in GOP primaries |
Trump plays kingmaker in GOP primaries
President Trump is playing the role of kingmaker, clearing the field in several crucial GOP primaries for his preferred candidates for Congress.
Trump’s endorsement hangs over the Texas Senate GOP primary between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), and he went a step further Wednesday by ordering the person he does not pick to endorse to drop out of the race.
Later on Wednesday, the president quickly backed Republican Kurt Alme for Montana’s Senate seat after Sen. Steve Daines (R) announced he would not seek reelection. Earlier in the week, Trump threw his support behind Montana radio host Aaron Flint after Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) announced his retirement.
Sitting presidents going back to former Presidents Richard Nixon and Franklin Roosevelt have played the role of power broker when it comes to picking and choosing candidates in key races, but Trump’s approach is being done in a much more public fashion.
“It helps him with his legislative agenda by keeping them on their toes,” presidential historian Craig Shirley said.
“He wants a unified party, and what president doesn’t want that? They all achieve it in different ways,” he added. “The carrot and stick used by presidents manifests itself in many ways.”
Trump’s allies have been quick to tout the strength of his endorsements.
On Wednesday, White House deputy chief of staff James Blair noted that every candidate Trump backed won their Tuesday primary or advanced to a runoff.
“This is your occasional reminder that your algorithm and/or favorite ‘influencer’ may not reflect real life,” Blair said in a post on social platform X.
White House communications director Steven Cheung called Trump’s endorsement record “sterling” in a statement to The Hill.
“Everybody wants it because they know how powerful his support can be,” Cheung said.
Many Republicans working in the party’s campaign apparatus say the president’s involvement makes their jobs easier in the run-up to general election season.
“It’s one less thing to worry about,” one Republican operative said. “It’s everything in terms of fundraising, grassroots, locking up the rest of the endorsements in the delegation or local endorsements.
“You can start focusing on the general election, and the more time we have campaigning against the Democrat, the more likelihood we have of actually winning the race,” they continued.
The operative cited the contrast Republicans have with Democrats, pointing to a number of contested Democratic House and Senate primaries across the country.
“They have these messy primaries developing all over the country in these very competitive battleground districts where it seems like these further-to-the-left candidates are pulling ahead,” the operative noted.
Trump himself warned about the risks of a messy primary in Texas on Wednesday, saying in a Truth Social post the party must be focused on putting Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico “away, quickly and decisively!”
But because Trump has not endorsed in the Texas GOP Senate primary, Republicans in the state have found themselves embroiled in a bruising and expensive intraparty battle.
On Wednesday, Paxton said he will be “staying in the race” regardless of whom Trump endorses.
“I’ve spent a year of my life campaigning against John Cornyn because John has not represented the people of Texas well,” Paxton told the outlet. “Everything that Trump stood for, John Cornyn’s fought.”
Trump responded to Paxton’s remarks, telling Politico in an interview “that’s bad for him to say.”
“That is bad for him. So maybe, maybe, that leads me to go the other direction,” the president said.
Paxton then said he would be open to dropping out of the race as long as Senate Republican leadership met a set of conditions, including eliminating the filibuster — the 60-vote threshold needed to clear most legislation in the upper chamber — and the Senate passing a bill that would require voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The lack of a Trump endorsement can send a strong signal to the primary electorate.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (Texas), who represents the state’s 2nd Congressional District, was the only House Republican running for reelection in the Lone Star State who did not receive Trump’s endorsement. He was defeated by conservative state House Rep. Steve Toth (R), who had the backing of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Crenshaw has notably broken with Trump, including when he condemned Trump’s rhetoric amid the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and the president’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The state’s 2nd Congressional District leans heavily Republican and is unlikely to be competitive in the general election.
Trump has seemingly enjoyed a good relationship with the GOP’s campaign apparatus during his second term.
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella described Trump and his political team as “tremendous partners” in helping to unite the party.
But like with many announcements from Trump, operatives often first learn of news of an endorsement from Truth Social.
“The timing is always uncertain,” the Republican operative said. “But we’re always in constant communication on which candidates are performing well.”
“The White House sees everything, and they ultimately make the final judgment call,” they said.
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