NEW YORK (AP) – Donald Trump’s post-presidency is entering a new phase this month as US voters begin to weigh the candidates he nominated to pursue a vision of a Republican Party steeped in hard populism, cultural wars and denial of loss. his in the 2020 campaign
The first test comes Tuesday, when Ohio voters choose between Trump-backed JD Vance for an open seat in the US Senate and several other contenders who spent months seeking the support of the former president. In the coming weeks, elections in Nebraska, Pennsylvania and North Carolina will also serve as a referendum on Trump’s ability to shape the future of the Republican Party.
In almost every case, Trump supports only those who accept his false allegations of electoral fraud and apologize for the deadly US Capitol uprising he inspired last year.
“May will be a critical window on where we are,” said Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, a Trump critic who defended the incumbent Republican governors in Georgia, Ohio and Idaho against Trump-backed contenders this month. “I’m just worried that there are people trying to tear up the party or burn it down.”
Several states may be a higher priority for Trump than Georgia, where early voting begins Monday before the May 24 primary. He took a particularly active role in the race for governor there, appointing a former US senator to stand up to the incumbent Republican for disobeying his election lie. For similar reasons, Trump is also seeking to oust the Republican Secretary of State, whom he unsuccessfully pressured to undo President Joe Biden’s victory.
While the main season will continue deep in the summer, the first batch of competitions can set the tone for the year. If Republican voters in the first states unite behind Trump-backed candidates, the former president’s status will be confirmed, which will likely boost his power as he considers another presidential candidate. However, major setbacks could affect his growth and provide a stronger foundation for those who hope to offer an alternative vision for the Republican Party.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz predicts a strong month in May for Trump and his allies.
“The voices in Washington that want him to disappear into obscurity or remain silent are committed to their own form of wishful thinking,” Cruz said in an interview. “This is not going to happen. Nor should it. “
As Republicans fight Trump, Democrats face their own set of revealing primary elections.
Candidates representing the moderate and progressive wings of the Democrats are pulling the party in opposite directions, while offering conflicting messages on how to overcome their acute political shortcomings, including Biden’s weak permanent boss. History has suggested that Democrats, as the party that controls Washington, could face heavy losses in November, no matter which direction they go.
But as Democrats engage in passionate policy debates, Republicans are waging deeply personal and costly attacks on each other, designed primarily to win over Trump and his strongest supporters.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who is leading the Republican Party’s efforts to regain the Senate, described May as a brutal sorting period that is likely to be dominated by Republican struggles instead of political decisions or contrasts with Democrats he would like to see.
“The first election too often turns into something like killing heroes,” Scott said in an interview. “That’s what happened.”
He added: “We hope people get together.”
No race can be more confusing than the Republican primary election for governor of Georgia. Trump spent months attacking Republican incumbents Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger. He accuses the two men of not working hard enough to make up for their small loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The results in Georgia were confirmed after three censuses, including one partially made by hand. They all confirmed Biden’s victory.
Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general said there was no credible evidence that the election had been tainted. The former president’s allegations of fraud have also been flatly rejected by courts, including judges appointed by Trump.
Georgia’s Republican Gov. Jeff Duncan, a frequent critic of Trump’s non-re-election candidate, described Trump’s decision to support former Sen. David Purdue against Kemp as an “inconvenient” waste of time that could undermine the Republican’s broader goals. party this fall.
Duncan predicted that Trump would eventually win some races and lose others this month, but was particularly optimistic about Kemp’s chances of beating Trump’s challenge.
“If one incumbent governor manages to defeat this whole idea of Donald Trump by a huge sum – and others on the list – I think we will send a message that it will take more than Donald Trump’s approval to call yourself a Republican,” he said. .
For now, however, Trump is arguably the most powerful Republican in the nation, as even those who find themselves on opposite sides of the former president are careful to show their loyalty to him. Cruz, who supports opponents of Trump-approved Senate candidates in Ohio and Pennsylvania, downplayed any disagreement with him in an interview. Cruz noted that he made his election long before Trump.
“In his four years as president, Donald Trump has had no stronger ally in the Senate than I have,” Cruz said.
Six months before the general election, Republican candidates in key primary elections have already spent mountains of cash attacking each other as Democrats save a lot of resources – and their sharpest attacks – for November.
As early voting is already under way in Ohio, half a dozen Republican candidates in the U.S. Senate primary and their allied outside groups have spent more than $ 66 million this year combined with television advertising last week, according to Democrat officials tracking advertising spending. Most of the ads were Republican attacks on Republicans.
Mike Gibbons, a Cleveland real estate developer and investment banker, spent $ 15 million on last week’s TV commercial alone. This includes an advertising campaign attacking Vance, highlighting his past description of Trump as an “idiot.”
Meanwhile, the Pro-Vance super PAC, known as Protect Ohio Values, has meanwhile spent $ 10 million on primary elections so far, including a recent series of commercials in an attack in which Cruise-backed candidate Josh Mandel is “another failed career politician.”
On the other hand, the leading Democratic candidate in the Senate, Tim Ryan, has so far spent less than $ 3 million on positive television commercials promoting his own efforts to protect jobs in China’s Ohio manufacturing.
The differences in the cost of first-class Senate elections in Pennsylvania and North Carolina were equally staggering.
In Pennsylvania, where Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund chief executive David McCormick are embroiled in a fierce battle for the Republican nomination, candidates and related outside groups have spent more than $ 48 million on television commercials so far. . Democrats spent just over $ 10 million.
And in North Carolina, Republican forces spent more than $ 15 million on riding primary elections, pitting Trump-backed Ted Bud against former Gov. Pat McCrory. Democrats, who united behind former Supreme Court Justice Cherry Beasley, spent just over $ 2 million.
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who is leading Democrats ‘efforts to retain a Senate majority, said Republicans are essentially advertising the Democrats’ general election for them. He described the intensity of Republican strife in several states as “toxic to the nature of Republican candidates.”
“They’re trying to compete over who’s the best Trumpist,” Peters said. “They don’t talk about issues that interest people.”
At the same time, Peters acknowledged the challenges of his own party, especially Biden’s low popularity. He said each candidate would decide whether to invite the Democratic president to campaign on their behalf.
“I think the president can be useful,” Peters told Biden. But “this is about the candidates. They are running for office in the United States Senate. And they have to rise and fall according to who they are as individuals. “
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