Republican candidates and political operatives in battleground states are hopeful that Donald Trump is getting ready to put his money where his mouth is. Tuesday’s clean victory by Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, in her Senate primary against a prominent Republican challenger was the president’s latest effort to put a thumb on the scale in a factional GOP fight.
To see Graham Nordone over the finish line, Trump’s affiliated Maga Inc. super PAC dropped more than $800,000 in ad spending and organizing costs. The result sent a message to the GOP establishment and party activist base alike: Trump is still king. And in a new Politico report out Wednesday, Republican strategists around the country and involved in the biggest fights that will determine control of the House and Senate in 2027 are anxiously awaiting the “Darline” treatment as they look to Washington for reinforcements against the resurgent left.
Trump, in comments to reporters before boarding Air Force One last week, vowed to make them happy. But many Republicans worry that Maga Inc.’s investments could come too late for Republicans to mount an efficient defense against Democrats, or worse — they could be selectively doled out to only the most loyal Republicans aligned with the president. I’m just saying, I wouldn’t count on it.
We’re not dealing with somebody that’s, you know, super calculated in the way they plan.” Another strategist involved in several key battleground races told the news outlet that it was time to “put up or shut up” for the president and his allies. Polling shows Republicans trailing by the mid- to high-single digits on generic ballot questions, giving Democrats a clear advantage in congressional races heading into the early fall. With a razor-thin margin in the House, Republicans in battleground states and safe red states alike are spreading doom and gloom about the party’s chances of protecting their majority in the lower chamber.
They’re in a somewhat awkward position: Many still decline to break with Trump, even as his approval ratings decline, out of necessity to maintain control of the GOP base and secure much-needed investments in their races. At least one candidate is trying the opposite: Ralph Alvarado, a Republican running for the House in Kentucky, was reported by NBC News to have removed references to Trump, including the president’s endorsement, from his campaign website after winning the GOP primary with Trump’s backing. But it’s the Senate where the map has surprisingly shifted under the GOP’s feet in the last year, including in North Carolina where the retirement of Sen.
Thom Tillis (spurred in part by a feud with Trump) is causing Republicans headaches. Tillis’s would-be replacement, former GOP chair Michael Whatley, has consistently trailed his Democratic opponent Roy Cooper, the state’s former governor, in polling for months. Democrats have succeeded in recruiting strong challengers in several other red-purple states, including Ohio, Iowa, Texas and Alaska — making the prospect of eliminating the GOP’s four-seat majority in the Senate a real possibility.
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