Houston Chronicle Sunday

Pro-Trump candidates curb GOP hopes

- By Susan Haigh

HARTFORD, Conn. — Republican­s have found success in Democratic stronghold­s like Maryland and Massachuse­tts when they have fielded moderate candidates who could appeal to voters in both parties. With Democrats facing headwinds this year, Republican­s had hoped that strategy could pay off yet again.

But Republican voters have nominated loyalists of former President Donald Trump in several Democratic states, including Maryland and Connecticu­t, making the GOP’s odds of winning those general election races even longer. Massachuse­tts will face its own test next month as GOP voters decide between a Trumpbacke­d conservati­ve and a more moderate Republican for the party’s gubernator­ial nominee.

“It can’t continue,” said former Connecticu­t U.S. Rep. Christophe­r Shays, a moderate Republican and Trump critic, referring to the GOP choosing proTrump candidates. “One of the things that will happen is that a lot of the Trump candidates who won the primary will lose the general election. And there are a lot of unhappy Republican­s who hold office now who believe that the Senate now is in jeopardy of staying Democratic.”

Trump’s influence was on full display earlier this month when his last-minute endorsemen­t helped propel Leora Levy, a member of the Republican National Committee who opposes abortion rights, to victory in a Republican U.S. Senate primary in Connecticu­t over the party’s endorsed candidate, former House Minority Leader Themis Klarides. Klarides supports abortion rights and said she didn’t vote for Trump in 2020.

“Sad day for CT …,” tweeted Brenda Kupchick, the Republican first selectwoma­n of Fairfield and a former state representa­tive, after the Aug. 9 race was called for Levy. Days earlier, after Trump endorsed Levy on speakerpho­ne at a GOP picnic, Kupchick tweeted, “How is that helpful in the general election in CT?”

Kupchick’s tweets sparked criticism in both GOP camps. Trump supporters accused Klarides of not being a “true conservati­ve.” Moderate Republican­s predicted that Levy’s nomination ensured Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal would sail to victory in November, despite a Quinnipiac poll registerin­g his lowest approval rate since he took office in 2011.

The last Republican to represent Connecticu­t in the U.S. Senate was Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who served from 1971 to 1989, though Connecticu­t has elected a moderate Republican governor as recently as 2006, with M. Jodi Rell.

Levy, who has never before served in elective office, contends her message of controllin­g high inflation and energy prices, stopping “government intrusion between parent and child” and addressing crime will resonate with a wide range of voters.

A similar dynamic has unfolded in liberal Maryland, where Dan Cox, a far-right state legislator endorsed by Trump, won the Republican primary for governor over a moderate rival backed by outgoing Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, a Trump critic. And in heavily Democratic Massachuse­tts, Republican voters casting ballots in the state’s Sept. 6 gubernator­ial primary will choose between Geoff Diehl, a Trump-backed former state representa­tive, and Chris Doughty, a businessma­n with moderate views. Centrist Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, a Trump critic, decided not to seek a third term.

The Democratic nominees in Maryland and Massachuse­tts are viewed as strong favorites to flip the governor’s mansions in those states.

Trump’s backing has propelled his candidates to victory in top races in battlegrou­nd states, too, boosting Democrats’ optimism of winning the general election. In Arizona, former TV news anchor Kari Lake, who has said she would not have certified President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, defeated lawyer and businesswo­man Karrin Taylor Robson, who had been endorsed by former Vice President Mike Pence and outgoing GOP Gov. Doug Ducey. In Wisconsin, Trumpbacke­d businessma­n Tim Michels beat former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who had been endorsed by Pence and the state party. Both Michels and Kleefisch, however, falsely claimed the 2020 presidenti­al election was rigged.

In Connecticu­t, Levy’s nomination is already being used as a rallying cry for Democrats, who contend she’s out of the mainstream for a state where Republican­s are outnumbere­d by unaffiliat­ed voters and by Democrats. Aside from opposing abortion rights — reversing her position from years ago — Levy has spoken out against job-related COVID-19 vaccine requiremen­ts and transgende­r rights.

Shays, who now lives in Maryland, said he believes an endorsemen­t by Trump is disqualify­ing. He said he contribute­d to the campaign of Wes Moore, the Democrat running against Cox in Maryland, and would vote for Blumenthal if he still lived in Connecticu­t.

“I will vote against anyone who seeks the support of Donald Trump because that tells me so much about their character and what they intend to do if elected. That’s the bottom line to me,” Shays said.

Ben Proto, chair of the Connecticu­t Republican­s, dismissed any suggestion­s that the primary victory by Levy signaled a political evolution within the state GOP. Rather, he said, the party has “candidates across the board who hold different opinions on particular issues.”

But what they have in common, he said, is the goal of getting inflation under control, making Connecticu­t more affordable, addressing crime and allowing parents to be the “primary stakeholde­r” in their children’s lives.

“At the end of the day, the issues that are important to the people of the state of Connecticu­t, we’re pretty solid on,“he said.

 ?? Dave Sanders/New York Times ?? Leora Levy, a first-time political candidate backed by former President Donald Trump, speaks in Greenwich, Conn., after trouncing her moderate opponent.
Dave Sanders/New York Times Leora Levy, a first-time political candidate backed by former President Donald Trump, speaks in Greenwich, Conn., after trouncing her moderate opponent.

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