Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
A look at Trump’s endorsement record now that the fields are set for the midterms
As the midterm primary season comes to an end, candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump have continued to rack up wins but with a handful of prominent losses.
Of the more than 200 Republicans Trump has backed this year, many ran unopposed or faced little-known opponents. He has also waited to make some endorsements until a front-runner emerges, as with his last-minute endorsement of Tudor Dixon for governor of Michigan.
Several of his candidates were defeated in early primaries, including in Georgia and North Carolina; more recently, he had a startling loss in a special election in Alaska. But for candidates such as J.D. Vance in Ohio and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Trump’s support was crucial to securing victory. His choices also won in large numbers in two swing states, Arizona and Michigan.
Here is a look at Trump’s endorsement record.
n Big losses for pro-impeachment Republicans
In Wyoming, Rep. Liz Cheney, the most prominent of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, fell to her Trump-endorsed challenger, Harriet Hageman, in a landslide.
Another of the 10, Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan, lost his primary to Trump’s preferred candidate, John Gibbs. And in Washington state, Joe Kent defeated a third pro-impeachment Republican, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler.
In one exception to the trend, Rep. Dan Newhouse, who also supported Trump’s impeachment, advanced over his Trump-endorsed opponent, Loren Culp, largely because of Washington state’s open primary system.
n A sweep in Arizona
A former local television news host, Kari Lake, won the Republican primary for governor with Trump’s endorsement, narrowly defeating Karrin Taylor Robson, the choice of establishment Republicans. Lake has forcefully promoted Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Blake Masters, a venture capitalist who has pushed a version of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, won his Senate primary and will challenge Sen. Mark Kelly, a vulnerable Democrat.
State Rep. Mark Finchem, who is affiliated with the farright Oath Keepers militia group and said before the primary that he would not concede if he lost, won the Republican nomination for secretary of state, a position in which he would oversee Arizona elections.
And David Farnsworth won a state Senate primary against Rusty Bowers, the Arizona House speaker who drew Trump supporters’ fury for resisting efforts to overturn the 2020 election and for testifying before the Jan. 6 congressional committee.
n A high-profile loss in Alaska
Sarah Palin, the Trumpaligned former governor and vice-presidential nominee, lost a special House election to Mary Peltola, a Democrat — a major upset in a state as Republican as Alaska, although Palin will have a second chance in November.
n A win in Massachusetts
Geoff Diehl, a former state legislator
who Trump approvingly told Massachusetts voters would “rule your state with an iron fist,” won the Republican nomination for governor and will face the state attorney general, Maura Healey, in a race Democrats are likely to win.
Sarah Palin, the Trump-aligned former governor and vice-presidential nominee, lost a special House election to Mary Peltola, a Democrat, in Alaska.
n Mixed results in Wisconsin
Trump’s preferred candidate, Tim Michels, won his primary for governor, defeating former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.
But Robin Vos, the powerful speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, fended off a challenge — barely — from Adam Steen, a Trump endorsee who had called for eliminating most absentee and early voting in the state and for decertifying the 2020 election.
n In Georgia, several losses and one victory
Gov. Brian Kemp easily defeated former Sen. David Perdue, Trump’s hand-picked candidate, in the Republican primary for governor. Kemp became a Trump target after he refused to overturn the president’s loss in the state in 2020. He will face Stacey Abrams, the Democrat he narrowly defeated four years ago.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who refused Trump’s demand to “find” additional votes after his 2020 loss, also defeated a Trump-endorsed challenger, Rep. Jody Hice.
In a primary runoff for an open seat in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, Rich Mccormick, a physician and retired Marine, defeated Trump-backed candidate Jake Evans, the former chairman of the state’s ethics commission and the son of a Trump administration ambassador.
Former professional football star Herschel Walker, who was endorsed by Trump, dominated a Senate primary and will face Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat.
n Victories in Pennsylvania
After a close race that prompted a recount, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s choice, won a Senate primary over David Mccormick.
Doug Mastriano, a state senator and retired Army colonel who has promoted false claims about the 2020 election and attended the protest leading up to the Capitol riot, won the Republican nomination for governor. Trump had endorsed him just a few days before the primary.
n Two wins and a loss in North Carolina
Rep. Ted Budd won the Republican nomination for Senate, and Bo Hines, a 26-year-old political novice who enthralled Trump, was catapulted to victory in his primary for a House seat outside Raleigh.
But Rep. Madison Cawthorn crumbled under the weight of repeated scandals and was ousted in his primary. Voters chose Chuck Edwards, a state senator.
n A split in South Carolina House races
Rep. Tom Rice, one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, lost to his Trump-backed challenger, state Rep. Russell Fry.
But Rep. Nancy Mace defeated her Trump-endorsed opponent, former state lawmaker Katie Arrington. Mace had said Trump bore responsibility for the Jan. 6 attack but did not vote to impeach him.
n A win for election deniers in Nevada
Adam Laxalt won a primary to face Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who is seen as one of the most vulnerable Democrats this fall. Laxalt, a former attorney general, was endorsed by Trump and had helped lead his efforts to overturn the presidential election results in Nevada.
Joseph Lombardo, the Las Vegas sheriff, won the Republican nomination for governor and will face the incumbent, Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat.
n Victories in Maryland and Illinois, with outside help
Dan Cox, a first-term state legislator who embraced Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, handily defeated Kelly Schulz — a protégé of Gov. Larry Hogan, a leader of the Republican Party’s anti-trump wing — in the primary for governor in Maryland. Cox benefited from more than $1 million in advertising from the Democratic Governors Association, which hoped he would be easier to defeat in the general election.
State Sen. Darren Bailey, who received a last-minute endorsement from Trump, won the Republican primary for governor in Illinois after similar spending by Democrats, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Also in Illinois, Rep. Mary Miller, a Trump endorsee, won her House primary against fellow Rep. Rodney Davis after new
borders put them in the same district.
n Victories in Ohio
Senate candidate J.D. Vance defeated a field of well-funded rivals, nearly all of whom pitched themselves as Trump-like Republicans. Vance, an author and venture capitalist, had transformed himself from a self-described “never-trump guy” in 2016 to a Trump-supported “America First” candidate in 2022.
Max Miller, a former Trump aide who denied assault allegations from Stephanie Grisham, who was one of Trump’s press secretaries, received an endorsement from Trump and won his House primary.
Trump also endorsed Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, a lawyer who had been a surrogate for his campaign. She won a seven-way primary for a congressional seat.
n A loss in Idaho
Gov. Brad Little overcame Trump’s endorsement of Lt. Gov. Janice Mcgeachin, who challenged him in the Republican primary.
n A victory in West Virginia
Rep. Alex Mooney prevailed over Rep. David Mckinley in a newly drawn congressional district. Trump’s backing was seen as the decisive factor.