In marquee Senate races in Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, the former president’s endorsement has proved far from the field-clearer many expected it would be, and candidates running against Trump-backed Republicans in primaries are going on offense to try to offset their opponents’ advantage.
To be sure, the former president still wields significant sway over the GOP grassroots, and his endorsement is far and away the most coveted of any in Republican politics. Yet candidates with enough of a platform of their own who are running without his support are finding ways to maintain their footing against an onslaught from Trump’s allies — and at times flawed opponents.
“Trump’s endorsement is obviously the biggest get that any Republican candidate can have. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. But it isn’t determinative of what’s going to happen. It’s not a ‘Trump endorses, and therefore that’s the nominee,’ ” said GOP strategist Doug Heye. “We still run these races for a reason.”
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