Results spur debate over Trump’s midterm role
WASHINGTON >> A new round of lackluster showings by Republican candidates reignited a debate Wednesday within the GOP over whether President Donald Trump will be a drag on the party’s chances in November and should stay out of some of the country’s most hotly-contested races.
Inside the White House, Trump aides are mapping out plans for the fall that would offer a variety of options to Republican candidates, be it a visit from the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, to a blue state or a presidential tweet for a red-state ally. But mounting apprehension about Trump’s political capital lingered in Washington and on the campaign trail.
In a flurry of elections on Tuesday — from the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, to the technology corridor in Washington state — Democrats turned out in droves and significantly overperformed expectations by posing serious challenges to Republicans in staunchly GOP districts.
Many Republican strategists viewed the results as a dark omen three months ahead of Election Day, saying they illustrate the limits of Trump’s ability to boost candidates, particularly in suburban areas where Trump’s popularity has suffered.
Even in Republican primaries, securing Trump’s endorsement was not a guarantee of electoral success.
“Nothing bodes well,” said veteran Republican consultant Stuart Stevens, a frequent Trump critic. “You look at the amount of money spent on the Republican side in Ohio, the focus put on it,” including a Trump rally last weekend in the district, “and you have an early warning sign. It’s time for Republicans to counteract.”
Trump took a different lesson from the outcomes, crowing in a series of tweets that his presence on the campaign trail and his record could lift his party and prompt a “giant Red Wave!”
“As long as I campaign and/or support Senate and House candidates (within reason), they will win!” Trump wrote.
Despite Trump’s lastminute visit and Republicans dramatically outspending Democrats, Ohio Republican state Sen. Troy Balderson was barely ahead of Democrat Danny O’Connor, an elected county recorder, in Tuesday’s special congressional election in central Ohio. The race remained too close to call Wednesday with thousands of provisional votes still outstanding.
The razor-thin margin comes in a district that Trump won by 11 points in 2016 and that Republicans have held since 1983.
White House officials have been giving President Trump him weekly or biweekly updates on races and showing him polling and pictures of candidates along with the staff or party leadership recommendation of what to do in each race, according to the people briefed on the discussions.
But Trump doesn’t always listen to advisers. Republicans working with the White House also pointed to Tuesday’s elections in Kansas as the latest example of the volatility inside the West Wing.
Kris Kobach, the antiimmigration secretary of state who served as vice chairman of Trump’s nowdisbanded voting integrity commission, was endorsed by Trump in the Kansas gubernatorial primary less than 24 hours before polls opened.
Some aides and top Republicans had urged him to hold off on endorsing Kobach, who they fear could threaten other Republicans running this fall due to his hard-line positions. The race remained too close to call Wednesday, with Kobach holding a lead of fewer than 200 votes over incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer.
In Ohio, Balderson’s alignment with Trump was uneasy, as the low-key state lawmaker suddenly began belittling his opponent with Trump-style nicknames. The situation reflected broader discomfort among traditional Republicans over how to energize Trump’s core voters while also courting moderates.
“They’re frozen in the headlights,” Republican strategist Mike Murphy said. “Everyone’s in this defense crouch. They’re afraid of getting on the wrong side of their base and afraid of general election voters.”