Donald Trump’s favorite in the Alabama Senate race is treading water. His pick in Pennsylvania just bowed out of the GOP primary after losing custody of his children. In Alaska and North Carolina, two other Trump-endorsed Senate candidates are behind in primary election polls.
Trump may still have an iron grip on the Republican Party, but the limits of his powers are being exposed in 2022 Senate primaries. A number of his preferred Senate candidates are discovering that the former president’s endorsement is no guarantee of success in a crowded primary, leaving Trump to decide just how much political capital to further expend on their behalf.
I think that Trump voters are ready, willing and able to take his word on a particular candidate they don’t know much about,” said Gregg Keller, a Republican political strategist who maintains that a Trump endorsement is “highly effective.” “But if and when he has made political mistakes along those lines, it’s been on behalf of the wrong candidate or not at the right time.”
Trump has endorsed in 15 Senate contests to date. While roughly half are for incumbents who are expected to cruise to the GOP nomination, he’s also waded into other nomination fights where his imprimatur was once thought to be determinative. So far, it hasn’t worked out that way.
In Alabama, where Trump remains extremely popular, Rep. Mo Brooks has struggled despite Trump’s endorsement. Brooks, a veteran congressman who lost in a 2017 Senate primary bid, has raised less than half of the $3.7 million his primary opponent Katie Britt has received. Britt has also earned the endorsement of the state’s largest farm organization, the Alabama Farmers Federation — a group that represents one of Trump’s key constituencies.
Polls this month show Britt, a former chief of staff to retiring GOP Sen. Richard Shelby and a first-time candidate, neck and neck with Brooks.
Trump in recent months has expressed disappointment over Brooks’ performance in the race, concerns echoed by others in his circle, according to a source familiar with the conversations.
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At a briefing with reporters this fall, Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said it remains to be seen how crucial the Trump endorsement will be for candidates in 2022 primaries. Scott said earlier this year that he asked Trump to stay out of primary races beyond supporting incumbents, but was unsure if the former president would heed the suggestion.
Trump ignored that request in Alaska, where he has made a priority of ousting Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict him in his second impeachment trial — and the only one up for reelection in 2022
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