"Just glance at the 2026 Senate map. What jumps out ... is what's not happening: Unlike so many times in the last 15 years, Senate Republicans are not poised to throw away winnable seats because of messy primaries and controversial nominees. You know the roster, which probably still causes Mitch McConnell to wake up in the middle of the night: Kari Lake, Roy Moore, Blake Masters, Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker, Matt Rosendale."
"Trump has also made early endorsements of strongly polling candidates for open Senate seats in Iowa and Michigan, at the potential expense of MAGA firebrands, and has refused so far to intervene in Georgia to help either of the two self-proclaimed Trump loyalists who are battling Trump rival Brian Kemp's Senate endorsee. He also reportedly helped talk the wildest MAGA champion of them all, Marjorie Taylor Greene, out of entering the race."
Donald Trump values loyalty as much as any Mafia boss and keeps a long memory of slights. He often backed low-quality candidates whose main credential was conspicuous Trumpiness. Determination to keep the Senate and its confirmation powers has made him more pragmatic about choosing electable Republicans. Trump has endorsed incumbents like Lindsey Graham, Mike Rounds, Jon Husted, Shelley Moore Capito and Dan Sullivan, insulating them from primary threats. He has backed strong pollers in Iowa and Michigan, declined to intervene in Georgia, and discouraged Marjorie Taylor Greene from running. A New Hampshire Senate contest may test his pragmatism.
Read at Intelligencer
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]