“One lesson everyone out there claims to have learned is that bitter primaries are bad and should be avoided,” one person said.

But one candidate who may not have been there to hear the message despite the invitation: Kari Lake, former TV anchor and Trump ally who burnt down his Republican rival, will be the president of 2020. Lost a gubernatorial bid last year after focusing on false allegations of fraud.

Her absence exposed the limited power of party organization in battleground states like Arizona. complicating Republican moves to capitalize on the 2024 Senate’s favorable map, where vulnerable Democrats are defending their seats.

Republicans also worry it could be divisive in Republican primaries in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Montana.An early sign is more extreme candidates are considering bidding. Meanwhile, Democrats are holding up incumbents, with Senators John Tester of Montana and Robert P. Casey Jr., Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin and others recently announced their intentions to run for re-election, staving off the possibility of a messy primary.

“They want to have as many sane candidates as they can win,” said Doug Hay, a former Republican National Committee official and Republican strategist.

But national Republicans have limited power to shape the field, he added. “The reality is that any candidate wants support from party committees such as DC, but when they don’t get it, they are willing to use it as a weapon and say, ‘I’m an outsider.’ , I’ll say, ‘I’m not a Washington hand-picked candidate.’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Senator Steve Danes (R-Montana), chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee, are candidates who can win the primary and general elections. They made it clear that recruiting people is their number one priority. 2022 will see the rise of deeply flawed Senate candidates like Herschel Walker in battleground states, with the support of President Trump, and the Democrats despite facing political headwinds in the mid-year. , was able to extend its majority in the Senate.

Now in Pennsylvania, Sen. Doug Mastriano is considering a run to challenge Casey after he lost last year’s gubernatorial race by 15 points to Democrat Josh Shapiro.

Danes has made it clear that he does not want Mastriano to run, recommending former hedge fund executive David McCormick to bid instead. suspects Mastriano, who ran as A self-proclaimed “prophet” to support his campaignHmm, I’m curious.

“He lives in his own world, so all the normal levers against him don’t work,” said Christopher Nicholas, the state’s longtime Republican strategist. “I think some people, myself included, have some kind of resignation to the fact that they have to get through this primary, beat Mastriano outright, and beat Casey.”

Mastriano did not return requests for comment.

In Montana, the Republican National Party has appointed Attorney General Austin Knudsen or veteran businessman Matthew M. I would like to hire Tim Sheehy. Testers painted the running-weighing Rosendale well as a carpetbagger, eventually clinging to his seat in ruby-red condition. But Rosendale will likely enjoy the support of the conservative Growth Club, which plowed tens of millions of dollars into it last election cycle, and could spark major clashes between various domestic Republican groups.

Club for Growth recently endorsed West Virginia Senator Alex Mooney. , Republican primary voters in West Virginia believe they want a principled, growth-minded conservative like Alex Mooney to beat Joe Manchin III.

And in Ohio, wealthy auto dealer Bernie Moreno jumped into the race with Senator Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians. Trump praised Moreno on Truth Social, saying it won’t be easy to beat him.Moreno is poised to play a big role again in shaping the state’s Republican primary Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown said he would run for re-election.

Some Democrats want the already messy-looking primary to repeat itself in 2022.

“For these Republican Senate primaries, it’s going to be a summer of slugfest. Any candidate who manages to get out of an intra-party brawl will be severely damaged and out of step with voters who will decide the general election.” Democratic Senate Election Committee. “The truth is, Mitch McConnell and the NRSC’s endorsement in these primaries could be the kiss of death for Republican Senate candidates, and that’s what these parties are doing. It limits their ability to control internal conflicts.”

But in 2024, Democrats will defend the three Senate seats in the deficit states that backed Trump in 2020.

“Unlike previous election cycles, Democrats are taking far more defenses in 2024,” said Thorn Sinclair, a spokesperson for the Senate Leadership Fund PAC, which is affiliated with McConnell, in a statement. I was. “Election Day is a long way off, and Republicans are focused on assembling the best candidates to win both the primary and the general election.”

In Arizona, Lake’s absence was highlighted by potential candidates, with candidates declared at the conference, including Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who participated in this week’s election. Venture capitalist Blake Masters lost in the 2022 Senate general election. Jim Lamon, a businessman who lost the 2022 Senate primary. Karin his Taylor his Robson, a developer who lost in the 2022 gubernatorial primary in a personal attack by Lake and his supporters. DeWitt, a former Trump campaign official and state treasurer, and two members of the state’s Republican National Committee were also present. Masters and Taylor Robson attended via Zoom.

When they discussed racing over the sandwich, Ramon expressed doubt that her political approach would change significantly if Lake jumped into the race. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) has already entered the contest.

“Kari Lake remains focused on litigating to ensure Arizona has free and fair elections,” Lake spokeswoman Caroline Wren said in a statement. “She is by far the most popular person in the Republican Party in Arizona. If she decides to run for the U.S. Senate, she will win.”

Nothing was formally agreed upon at the meeting, but candidates were told that conservative groups across the country probably wouldn’t invest in an Arizona election without a viable general election candidate. rice field. In 2022, the Senate Leadership Fund PAC pulled millions of dollars in advertising dollars from Arizona. The Masters struggled to compete with incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly.

Tyler Bowyer, a member of the RNC committee and chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, the political arm of Turning Point USA, proposed a spending cap for the primary. He announced that he had spoken with him and so far supported the candidacy of the sheriff.

Republicans have lost three consecutive Senate seats to Democrats since 2018, and last year lost major statewide elections, from attorney general to governor.

Many Republicans are personally skeptical that a nonaggression pact could work in hotly contested primaries. He did not say why he became a candidate.

“I don’t believe in negative campaigns,” Lamb said in an interview with The Washington Post. believe.”