The first test comes Tuesday as voters in Ohio choose between Trump-backed JD Vance for an open position in the U.S. Senate and several other candidates who have spent months shouting in support of the former president. In the coming weeks, elections in Nebraska, Pennsylvania and North Carolina will also serve as a referendum on Trump’s ability to shape the future of the GOP. In almost every case, Trump has only supported those who espouse his false allegations of electoral fraud and justify the deadly US Capitol uprising that inspired him last year. “May will be a crucial window into where we stand,” said Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, a Trump critic who is defending GOP’s governors in Georgia, Ohio and Idaho against the opposition. this month. “I’m just worried that there are some who are trying to break up the party or burn it down.” Few states may have a higher priority for Trump than Georgia, where early voting begins Monday in the run-up to the May 24 qualifiers. He played a very active role in the governor’s race there, recruiting a former U.S. senator to confront the current Republican because he failed to come to terms with his electoral lie. For similar reasons, Trump also aims to overthrow the Republican Secretary of State, whom he unsuccessfully pushed to overthrow President Joe Biden’s victory. While the premier season will run deep into the summer, the first batch of games could set the tone for the year. If Republican voters in the early states rally behind Trump-backed candidates, the former president’s king will be ratified, most likely strengthening his power as he considers another presidential bid. However, high-profile failures could reduce his stature and provide a stronger foundation for those hoping to promote an alternative vision for the GOP. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has predicted a strong May month for Trump and his allies. “Voices in Washington that want him to fade into obscurity or be silenced are involved in their own form of pious desire,” Cruz said in an interview. “This is not going to happen. Neither should it. “ As Republicans battle Trump, Democrats face their own set of revealing qualifiers. Candidates representing the moderate and progressive Democrats are pushing the party in the opposite direction, offering conflicting messages on how to overcome their strong political shortcomings, including Biden’s weak leader. History has shown that the Democrats, as the party that controls Washington, could lead to heavy losses in November, regardless of the direction they take. But as Democrats engage in heated debate on politics, Republicans are launching deep personal and costly attacks against each other designed, above all, to win over Trump and his strongest supporters. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who is leading the GOP’s effort to retake the Senate, described May as a brutal classification period likely to be dominated by Republican internal strife rather than political solutions or opposition to Democrats. that he would like to see. “Qualifying very often becomes a kind of character killing,” Scott said in an interview. “That’s what happened.” He added, “I hope the people will unite.” No race can be more confusing than the Republican primary for Georgia. Trump has spent months attacking Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger. He accuses both men of not working hard enough to reverse his small defeat in the 2020 presidential election. The results in Georgia were certified after a triad of re-measurements, including one that was done partially by hand. Everyone confirmed Biden’s victory. Federal and state election officials, including Trump’s attorney general, said there was no credible evidence that the election was rigged. The former president’s allegations of fraud have also been rejected by the courts, including the judges appointed by Trump. Georgia Republican Vice President Jeff Duncan, a frequent critic of Trump who is not running for re-election, described Trump’s decision to support former Sen. David Perdue against Kemp as “embarrassing” to “embarrass” of the Republican Party this fall. Duncan predicted that Trump would eventually win some games and lose others this month, but he was particularly optimistic about Kemp’s chances of defeating Trump’s challenge. “If an incumbent manages to defeat all of Donald Trump’s idea by a huge sum – and others on the ticket – I think we will send a message that it will take more than a Donald Trump ratification to call yourself a Republican. ” he said. For now, however, Trump is arguably the nation’s most powerful Republican, and even those on opposite sides of the former president are careful to note their allegiance to him. Cruz, who backs Trump’s opponents in the Senate in Ohio and Pennsylvania, downplayed any disagreements with him in an interview. Cruz noted that he made his choices long before Trump did. “For the four years he was president, Donald Trump had no stronger ally in the Senate than I did,” Cruz said. Six months before the general election, Republican primary candidates have already spent mountains of campaign money attacking each other, as Democrats save a great deal of their resources – and the sharpest attacks – on November. With early voting already under way in Ohio, half a dozen Republican candidates in the state Senate primary and their allied foreign teams have spent more than $ 66 million this year on TV commercials since last week, according to a Republican poll last week. advertising costs. The vast majority of ads were Republican attacks on Republicans. Cleveland real estate developer and investment banker Mike Gibbons has spent just $ 15 million on TV commercials since last week. This includes an ad campaign attacking Vance, highlighting Trump’s previous description as “stupid.” The Vance-backed super PAC known as the Protect Ohio Values, meanwhile, has spent $ 10 million on the primary so far, including a recent barrage of aggressive ads characterizing Cruz-backed candidate Josh Mandel as “another failure.” career policy “. On the other hand, the leading Democratic candidate in the Senate, MP Tim Ryan, has so far spent less than $ 3 million on positive TV commercials, promoting his own push to protect Ohio manufacturing jobs from China. The differences in spending on the high-profile Senate by-elections in Pennsylvania and North Carolina were equally astonishing. In Pennsylvania, where Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund executive David McCormick are embroiled in a fierce battle for the GOP nomination, candidates and allied outsiders have spent more than $ 48 million on television. moment. Democrats spent just over $ 10 million. And in North Carolina, Republican forces have spent more than $ 15 million in a divisive Trump-backed brawl against former Gov. Pat McCroy. The Democrats, who have joined forces behind former Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley, have spent more than $ 2 million. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who is leading the Democrats’ bid to retain a Senate majority, said Republicans were essentially creating Democrat campaign ads for them. He described the intensity of Republicans’ internal struggles in many states as “toxic to the character of Republican candidates”. “They’re trying to compete to see who is the most trampling of the Trampsters,” Peters said. “They do not talk about issues that interest people.” At the same time, Peters acknowledged their party’s challenges, especially Biden’s low popularity. He said it would be up to each individual candidate to decide whether to invite the Democratic president to campaign on his behalf. “I think the president can be helpful,” Peters said of Biden. But “this is for the candidates. They run to represent their state in the United States Senate. And they have to go up and down depending on who they are as individuals. “
