S.Minority leader Mitch McConnell (Republican-Kentucky) has made no secret of his disdain for Donald Trump.he’s almost a former president inflammatory speech made him unelected and called him “”DiminishedAfter the Republicans’ poor results in the midterm elections.
The sentiment is clearly mutual, with Trump calling the senator a “absolute loserFor not taking a tougher stance with Democrats in the Senate.he even leveled racist Attack on McConnell’s wife.
Club for Growth draws battle lines in 2024 Senate primaries
But with the Republican leader trying to regain control of the Senate in 2024 and Trump running for president, the two could match up in a must-win campaign.
Trump has already joined the Republican ruling class over Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) in the Indiana Senate race.
Senator Steve Danes (R-MT), the head of the Senate’s campaign division, said in late January after former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels declined to run for a seat vacated by the Senate. I offered my endorsement to Banks. Mike Brown (R-IN).
Trump’s endorsement came the next day.
But Daines, who works closely with McConnell, gave the clearest sign this week that Senate Republicans will seek common ground with the former president.
Danes endorsed Trump’s 2024 candidacy on Monday, becoming the highest-ranking Republican to endorse his White House bid. are doing.
A source familiar with the endorsement stressed that there was no agreement between Danes and Trump and that the two have a long-standing friendship – Danes hunting partner Former president’s son Donald Trump Jr.
But Republican senators on the Capitol responded favorably to Tuesday’s move as a calculated decision that could benefit Republicans in the 2024 election.
Trump’s endorsement of a candidate favored by the Republican establishment in the Republican Senate primary could help him avoid costly intraparty battles. Even Trump’s remaining neutral could benefit Senate Republicans.
“Sen. Daines — thank you for the delicacy of his work. Washington Jury.
“I’m sure he was thinking from all angles. But the goal is to regain the majority and win the election, and how to get there isn’t that important to me.
The Republican Party remained reeling after the midterm elections when it lost a seat in the Senate despite two problems – crime and inflation – that created a favorable political environment for the Republican Party.
Since then, McConnell’s allies have insisted on aggressively recruiting Republicans to run in key Senate primaries, and the quality of the candidates has declined in states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. It concludes that it is at the expense of the majority.
The change, led by Danes as chairman of the NRSC, stands in stark contrast to his predecessor, Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida).
Today, the NRSC and the Senate Leadership Fund (a political action committee aligned with McConnell) work in tandem. minority leader, Asked On Wednesday, he sidestepped the question of whether he would follow Danes in endorsing Trump in the 2024 election, but praised Danes’ leadership of the NRSC, whose focus is winning the Senate majority in 2024. said to be in
Republicans are facing an edge this cycle, with Democrats occupying 23 of the 33 seats slated for re-election next year. They see Democratic seats in his three leading states — Montana, Ohio and West Virginia — as vital to victory, but even more competitive constituencies like Pennsylvania are candidates. We are looking for.
In most of these states, it’s too early to tell whether Trump and the majority will match. But operatives believe McConnell wouldn’t hesitate to put aside his malice if it helped Republicans win a seat in the Senate.
“If the goal of winning a Senate majority is mutually beneficial, it will bring us closer together than anyone thought,” said one Republican strategist. Washington Jury“The number one priority is winning the general election. There really is nothing else.”
In a race to challenge Senator Joe Manchin (D) of West Virginia, the interests are most likely to align.
Justice, perhaps the state’s most popular politician, is a close ally of Trump and, like Danes, hunting With the sons of the former president. He famously turned Republican at the 2017 Trump rally.
Trump has broadened his support for Justice in his 2020 gubernatorial run for reelection, but in 2022 he will also endorse Rep. Alex Mooney, the West Virginia legislator Justice will face in next year’s Republican Senate primary. bottom.
Mooney’s backers may be the determining factor in who Trump endorses. He is backed by Club for Growth, an influential conservative group that spent about $100 million in the 2022 cycle.
The club’s head, David McIntosh, was once an ally of Trump, but their friendship fell apart after he endorsed different candidates in the previous cycle’s Senate elections. reluctant Support the candidate he supports.
The club has already committed to spending at least $10 million for Mooney in the primary.
One Republican strategist said, “Wherever you see a growth club on the map, it seems like a pretty good bet that President Trump is on the other side.” Washington Jury.
Trump has voiced his support in several high-profile elections in 2022, mixed records in competitive Senate elections. While the candidates he supported won in states like North Carolina and Ohio, the blame fell on his feet as the flawed candidates he supported in Georgia and Arizona helped steal the Republican majority. rice field.
Last cycle, his endorsement record in the Republican primary was seen as a test of whether he still dominated the Republican Party.
But with Trump elected in 2024, the former president will have additional incentives to back candidates who are electable.
One state where it could help McConnell is Pennsylvania, where leading Republicans are lobbying David McCormick to run for the seat held by Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat. .
Trump has decided not to endorse McCormick in 2022, instead casting his endorsement behind the failed candidacy of Dr. Mehmet Oz. But if Doug Mastriano announces his own run for the Senate, he could side with McConnell, or at least stay neutral.
Trump announced a last-minute endorsement for Mastriano in the 2022 primary when he ran for governor of Pennsylvania. A vocal election skeptic, Mastriano was easily defeated by Democrat Josh Shapiro in the general election, well below Trump’s 2020 vote share in the state.
Trump is unhappy with Mastriano for his 2022 performance. according to Politicoand I’m personally worried that Mastriano’s candidacy could weigh on his ticket for next year.
“I think Trump wants a winner, but again, in this case, I think Trump needs a winner,” said the Republican operative. Washington Jury“At the end of the day, Trump needs someone who can run with him or outperform him, not someone who tries to undercut him by 14 points.”
Some of the same dynamics may be at work in Montana. Rep. Matt Rosendale is the only Republican to run for the Senate seat in 2024 for Democratic Jon Tester’s seat, but he is backed by Club for Growth and will run against Tester in 2018. Three points.
This could help as the Republican establishment looks to two more likely candidates: businessman Tim Sheehy and state attorney general Michael Knudsen. I have.
In some states, the ostensibly large number of strong candidates could keep McConnell’s world from clashing with Trump. In Ohio, neither the NRSC nor the Senate Leadership Fund are prioritizing as three Republicans (Matt Dolan, Bernie Moreno, and Frank LaRose) challenge Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) .
McConnell’s world might even be open to partnering with Trump in less visible places. In Arizona, for example, there was early talk that Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who announced earlier this month that he would be running for the seat of independent Senator Kirsten Cinema, is a consensus candidate, but major areas is still being formed.
Trump allies Republicans who have questioned the integrity of the 2020 election probably carry the same baggage that hurt Kari Lake and Blake Masters last cycle, but one Republican strategy House dismissed the idea that it would hurt his electoral prospects in the general election.
“I haven’t heard anything overly negative about him as far as he brings a professional team around him and runs a campaign designed to win. If so, he has the best shot of anyone,” said the strategist.
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Ultimately, if Trump decides not to endorse any particular Senate election, the two sides could avoid confrontation altogether.trump world less active role In this cycle’s downvote race, as the former president is running for a second term.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep the powder dry for many of these races just because they’re currently building goodwill among Republicans across the country,” said the Republican. added the strategist.
