Donald Trump has some well-proven abilities – the ability to cost Republicans winnable elections for the House and Senate, the ability to undermine citizens’ confidence in election outcomes (without providing solid proof the elections were stolen) and the ability to foment some of America’s worst, anti-democratic elements.
Trump’s status as party leader contributed to Republicans’ anemic showing in 2022. He was hardly alone in dragging down the party, but he contributed to the losses in two ways. First, the candidates he pushed over the finish line in the primaries disappointed in the general election. His only clear-cut victory was the endorsement of J.D. Vance in Ohio, who won the Senate seat but finished well behind the vote total for the popular Republican Governor, Mike DeWine. Trump’s candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, a purple state Republicans need for the presidency, won a woeful 42 per cent – with some 750,000 votes less than the winner, Josh Shapiro.
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