The last of the midterm primaries took place Tuesday night. After making over 200 endorsements in the Republican primaries, former President Donald Trump achieved many notable wins, while also notching a few significant losses.
Trump’s track record of endorsement victories and defeats are seen by many as an indication of his strength in the Republican Party, and whether he will be competitive enough in 2024 to mount a presidential comeback campaign.
Most of Trump’s endorsed candidates across the U.S. House, Senate and various statewide races ran unopposed or faced political neophytes whose campaigns hardly registered a serious challenge. Three-fourths of the GOP incumbents Trump backed were already expected to win, according to a review conducted by NPR.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s loss in his early May primary was the only time a Trump-endorsed incumbent was thrown out by voters. Another notable loss came in Alaska, where former governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin could not garner enough support in the three-way special election, making it the first time Republicans have lost that congressional seat in nearly 50 years.
Occasionally, Trump waited until a consensus front-runner appeared before extending his support, as in Michigan, where he announced his support of conservative media personality Tudor Dixon for governor only days before voters went to the polls.
In Arizona, Trump candidates swept the GOP primaries. Trump-backed Kari Lake won the Republican primary for governor over Karrin Taylor Robson, who had the backing of former vice president Mike Pence and the state’s outgoing governor Doug Ducey.
U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters won his primary with Trump’s endorsement and will face Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., whose seat the National Republican Senatorial Committee is hoping to flip in its bid to regain control of the Senate for the GOP.
The real test of strength of Trump’s candidates will be in the general election, less than two months away. Their success or failure to get the majority of ballots cast this November could be a bell-weather of the direction of the Republican party.
Trump’s endorsement success and loss record in GOP primaries and a list of notable races:
U.S House Candidates
- Trump-backed Incumbents — 130 wins, 1 loss
- Trump-endorsed Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina lost his re-election
- Trump-backed Challengers — 4 wins, 2 losses
- Harriet Hageman defeated Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming. Cheney voted to impeach Trump.
- John Gibbs defeated Rep. Peter Meijer in Michigan, who voted to impeach Trump.
- Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, who also voted to impeach Trump, survived a challenge from Trump-endorsed Loren Culp
- Trump-endorsements in open races — 16 wins, 2 losses
U.S. Senate Candidates
- Trump-backed Incumbents — 10 wins, 0 losses
- Trump-endorsements in open races — 10 wins, 0 losses
- Dr. Mehmet Oz won the open Pennsylvania Senate primary with Trump’s support.
- J.D. Vance of Ohio won his primary with Trump’s support.
- Blake Masters won the Arizona GOP primary with Trump’s support.
- Herschel Walker won the Georgia GOP primary with Trump’s support.