by Justine Brooke Murray
Former President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidates swept their primaries Tuesday, bolstering Trump’s track record as he continues to play an active role in the Republican Party.
Trump-backed candidates added to his successful track record of winning endorsements in both New York and Florida’s primaries on Tuesday. Trump wrote on Truth Social that 98.4% of his endorsements have won their race overall for the last four years, while BallotPedia tracked a winning score of 92% out of the 237 candidates he backed in this year’s primaries.
In Tuesday’s Florida primaries, his winning endorsements included Republican Florida Reps. Matt Gaetz, John Rutherford, Neal Dunn, Gus Bilirakis and Kat Cammack, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Anna Paulina Luna, Fox News reported.
In New York, Trump’s wins included Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, Claudia Tenney and even Democratic candidate Daniel Goldman, who led his party’s first impeachment trial against Trump. He was endorsed by Trump sarcastically.
BallotPedia told the Daily Caller News Foundation that most Trump-backed primary candidates are incumbents, when considering why so many of his endorsements are winning.
Former Trump spokesman Hogan Gidley told the DCNF that Trump’s endorsements are sweeping the Republican primaries because the former president’s America First agenda is “undefeated.”
“Donald Trump is still extremely popular. That’s important to note, but also, what those candidates are doing, whether they’re endorsed by President Trump or not, they’re embracing the America first policies that really improved the lives of all Americans, regardless of race, religion, color or creed,” he stated.
On the other aisle, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is funding Republican candidates they deem extremists, including John Gibbs of Michigan, hoping to get more beatable GOP nominees.
But BallotPedia added that a factor to consider is how far out before an election each Trump endorsement was issued.
“Some of Trump’s endorsements were issued at least a year before a primary, while others were issued days before a primary took place,” they stated.
Republican nominee for Michigan governor Tudor Dixon won her primary after Trump endorsed her at the last minute. Joe Kent, the GOP House nominee in Washington’s Third District, received Trump’s endorsement in September 2021.
He edged sitting Republican Washington Rep. Jamie Herrera, who voted to impeach Trump, with 22.8% over 22.3% support.
Gidley continued that inflation, the rise in crime and the U.S. southern border as top three issues driving voters to support “America First” candidates in the midterms. “Democrats are on the wrong side of every one of them and these Trump endorsed candidates are on the right side, both from a policy perspective and a political perspective,” he concluded.
The Republican National Committee and Trump did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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Justine Brooke Murray is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
