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      Tuesday’s Republican primaries did not go as Trump had hoped | Lloyd Green

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      Tuesday’s Republican primaries did not go as Trump had hopedLloyd GreenSome of the Trump-endorsed candidates won. But for the most part it seems like his sway in 2022 may have peaked On Tuesday, Georgia’s Republicans delivered a beat-down to Donald Trump. Across the board, they rejected his picks for state office. Governor Brian Kemp and attorney general Chris Carr, both incumbents, each grabbed more than 73% of the primary vote. Meanwhile, Brad Raffensperger, Trump’s bete noire and Georgia’s secretary of state, escaped a runoff as he cleared the crucial 50% mark.In the aftermath of the 2020 election, the trio collectively refused to “find” 11,780 votes for Trump. Instead, they defended the verdict of Georgia’s voters, accepted Joe Biden’s win and earned Trump’s wrath. Now, less than two years later, they reminded Trump that he was merely an influential bystander to comings and goings in the Peach state.Their collective humiliation of the 45th president was now complete. Adding insult to injury, a Georgia grand jury continues to weigh whether to indict Trump for his ham-handed alleged effort to influence the election. Meanwhile, betting pools place the chances of Florida’s Ron DeSantis winning the 2024 Republican presidential nominee on par with the former guy.For the record, Tuesday was not a total wipeout for Trump. He could point to wins among a motley crew he could call his very own.Herschel Walker captured the Republican nod for Georgia’s senator. A legendary University of Georgia football star, Walker also possesses a record of alleged domestic violence and abuse.His friendship with Trump spans decades. Walker played football for the New Jersey Generals, Trump’s team in the short-lived USFL. On the campaign trail, Walker claimed he had never heard Trump denounce the 2020 election as stolen.Likewise, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the hyper-performative high-priestess of Maga-hood, sailed to renomination in north-west Georgia. Whatever consternation she may cause nationally, it was not discernible in her home district. She notched nearly 70% of the vote.Over in Texas, Ken Paxton defeated George P Bush in a runoff for attorney general. Paxton, the incumbent attorney general, cruised to a runoff victory over the grandson of one president and the nephew of a second.Of all Republican state attorney generals, Paxton was the most slavishly loyal to Trump. In December 2020, Paxton filed a lawsuit in the US supreme court against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He accused the four electoral battlegrounds of having “destroyed” the public’s trust and “compromised the security and integrity of the 2020 election”.Some things never change. After Tuesday’s Texas school massacre, Paxton suggested arming teachers as a solution. Gun control was not an option. Trump, Texas governor Greg Abbott, and Senator Ted Cruz are set to speak at a National Rifle Association meeting scheduled for later this week in Houston.But the evening’s dominant messages to Trump in contests for state office were clear. Competence and performance still counted, and incumbent officeholders possess a political arsenal of their very own.Earlier this year, Jay Walker, a Kemp adviser, repeatedly told deep-pocketed donors that the governor stood ready to gut his challenger, David Perdue, Trump’s pick and a defeated former US senator.“We’re going to go fucking scorched-earth,” Walker supposedly said. “When you got your foot on someone’s neck, you don’t take it off until the race is over, or they’ve run out of oxygen.”Unlike congressmen and senators, voters expect governors to get things done; Kemp did just that. The Associated Press called his race just 90 minutes after the polls closed.Then again, Perdue offered Republicans little reason to vote for him. He had lost his 2021 insurrection eve runoff to Jon Ossoff, a candidate once graphically derided by the late and toxic Rush Limbaugh.Practically speaking, Perdue should have just stamped a giant “L” on his own forehead. He was damaged goods from the start.On the campaign trail, Perdue repeated the big lie that the 2020 elections were stolen. But as a member of one of Georgia’s pre-eminent political families, his shtick reeked of pandering.His heart wasn’t in it. Beyond that, he had marinated his closing message in unalloyed racial resentment, with remarks widely interpreted as lashing out at Stacey Abrams, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, for simply being Black.Significantly, Trump’s defeats in Georgia follow his recent losses in the Idaho and Nebraska gubernatorial Republican primaries. In other words, Kemp’s win fits an emerging pattern.In Idaho, Janice McGeachin, the state’s Trump-endorsed lieutenant governor and a favorite of the far right, failed to dislodge the already very conservative governor, Brad Little. Unlike Little, McGeachin delivered a video address to the America First Political Action Conference, an event organized by Nick Fuentes, a prominent white nationalist.Over in Nebraska, Charles Herbster, the Trump-endorsed candidate, went down in defeat after several women accused him of sexual misconduct. Apparently, Trump’s own “luck” on that score was personal, and not readily transferable to Herbster. Instead, Nebraska Republicans went with Jim Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent, who was endorsed by the state’s Republican establishment.To be sure, the spirit of Maga remains very much alive. Marjorie Taylor Greene will return to Congress. Herschel Walker is holding his own in hypothetical match-ups against Senator Raphael Warnock. Even Kemp is no never-Trump. Yet Trump’s endorsement can no longer be reflexively equated with a primary victory.Ask Mehmet Oz; he can tell you. Right now, Pennsylvania continues its count of primary ballots. A recount looms. Whether Dr Oz, a Trump endorsee, holds on remains to be seen. Regardless, Trump’s sway in 2022 may have peaked.
      Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York. He was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s 1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
      TopicsUS politicsOpinionDonald TrumpRepublicansGeorgiaIdahoNebraskaTexascommentReuse this content More

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      4 Takeaways From Tuesday’s Primaries in Nebraska and West Virginia

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      A federal candidate backed by former President Donald J. Trump won a contested primary for the second consecutive week on Tuesday, as Representative Alex Mooney resoundingly defeated Representative David McKinley in West Virginia in the first incumbent-vs.-incumbent primary race of 2022.But Mr. Trump’s endorsement scorecard took a hit in Nebraska, where his preferred candidate for governor, Charles W. Herbster, lost in a three-way race to Jim Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent who had the backing of the departing Gov. Pete Ricketts.Here are four takeaways from primary night in Nebraska and West Virginia:Trump successfully notched a win in West Virginia.On paper, West Virginia’s new Second Congressional District should have given an advantage to Mr. McKinley, 75, who had previously represented a larger area of its territory as he sought a seventh term. But Mr. Mooney, 50, who once led the Republican Party in neighboring Maryland, nonetheless romped across nearly the entire district, with the exception of the state’s northern panhandle, on Tuesday.Mr. Trump’s endorsement is widely seen as powering the Mooney campaign in one of the states where the former president has been most popular.Representative Alex Mooney of West Virginia at a rally last week in Greensburg, Pa., hosted by former President Donald J. Trump.Gene J. Puskar/Associated PressThroughout the race, Mr. Mooney slashed at Mr. McKinley as a “RINO” — “Republican in name only” — and took aim at some of his aisle-crossing votes, including for the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed Congress last year and the bipartisan legislation to create the commission examining the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.Mr. Trump sided with Mr. Mooney early on, and invited him to appear alongside him at a rally in Pennsylvania last week. There, Mr. Trump joked that Mr. Mooney should defeat Mr. McKinley “easily.” He largely did, with landslide-level margins topping 70 percent in some of the eastern counties that border Maryland.The race comes a week after Mr. Trump helped J.D. Vance win an expensive Ohio Senate primary, and it again showed his influence when endorsing House and Senate candidates.Biden’s approach to governance suffered a defeatPresident Biden was not on the ballot in the West Virginia House race. But his belief that voters will reward members of Congress who put partisanship aside to get things done took another blow.Mr. McKinley seemingly fit very much in the long West Virginia tradition of bring-home-the-bacon lawmakers (See: Robert C. Byrd).Mr. McKinley had campaigned alongside Gov. Jim Justice, a Democrat-turned-Republican, and turned to Senator Joe Manchin III, a Democrat, in the closing stretch as a pitchman.But Republican primary voters were in no mood for compromise.“Liberal David McKinley sided with Biden’s trillion-dollar spending spree,” said one Mooney ad that began with the narrator saying he had a “breaking MAGA alert.”On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Biden delivered a speech acknowledging that he had miscalculated in his belief that Trump-style Republicanism would fade with Mr. Trump’s departure. “I never expected — let me say — let me say this carefully: I never expected the Ultra-MAGA Republicans, who seem to control the Republican Party now, to have been able to control the Republican Party,” Mr. Biden said.On Tuesday evening, voters in West Virginia reaffirmed where the power in the party lies.Trump’s pick stumbles in a governor’s raceMr. Herbster had tried to make the Nebraska governor’s primary a referendum on Mr. Trump. He called it “a proxy war between the entire Republican establishment” and the former president. He cited Mr. Trump at every opportunity. He appeared with him at a rally.But the race became about Mr. Herbster himself, after he faced accusations of groping and unwanted contact from multiple women in the final weeks of the race.Voters instead went with Mr. Pillen, a former University of Nebraska football player, who had also run as a conservative choice with the backing of the departing governor. A third candidate, Brett Lindstrom, a state senator from outside Omaha, had campaigned for support from the more moderate faction of the party.Charles W. Herbster on Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb., after losing the Republican primary for governor.Terry Ratzlaff for The New York TimesMr. Herbster becomes the first Trump-endorsed candidate to lose in a 2022 primary — but most likely not the last.Understand the 2022 Midterm ElectionsCard 1 of 6Why are these midterms so important? More

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      Trump-endorsed Republican accused of sexual assault loses Nebraska governor primary

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      Trump-endorsed Republican accused of sexual assault loses Nebraska governor primaryCharles Herbster’s loss was a setback for Donald Trump, in his effort to bend the GOP in his direction ahead of possible 2024 run Republicans in Nebraska picked Jim Pillen as their nominee for governor on Tuesday, over a rival supported by Donald Trump and accused of groping multiple women.Charles Herbster’s loss was a setback for Trump, who has issued hundreds of endorsements and staged rallies in support of candidates including Herbster in an effort to bend the GOP in his direction ahead of a possible presidential run in 2024.Herbster’s loss raises the stakes on other high-profile primaries this month in Pennsylvania and Georgia, where Trump has also intervened.Trump’s influence proved decisive in West Virginia on Tuesday, however.In a US House primary pitting Republican incumbents against each other, Trump’s candidate, Alex Mooney, defeated David McKinley, who angered Trump by voting for Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure package and the creation of the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.In Nebraska, Pillen, a hog farm owner and veterinarian, defeated eight challengers including Herbster and Brett Lindstrom, a state senator generally viewed as a more moderate choice.“We live in the greatest place on the planet, right here in Nebraska,” Pillen said as a crowd chanted, “Let’s go, Jim!”Pillen will be a favorite in November’s general election against a state senator, Carol Blood. Nebraska has not elected a Democrat as governor since 1994.Pillen was endorsed by GOP leaders in the state including the term-limited governor, Pete Ricketts, former governor Kay Orr and former University of Nebraska football coach and congressman Tom Osborne.The allegations against Herbster didn’t stop Trump holding a rally with him.“I really think he’s going to do just a fantastic job, and if I didn’t feel that, I wouldn’t be here,” said Trump, who has denied sexual misconduct allegations of his own.Herbster alluded to the groping allegations in a concession speech.“This is one of the nastiest campaigns for governor in the history of Nebraska,” Herbster said.Last month, the Nebraska Examiner interviewed six women who claimed Herbster groped their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants. A seventh woman said Herbster once kissed her forcibly.A Republican state senator, Julie Slama, said Herbster reached up her skirt and touched her inappropriately at a dinner in 2019.Herbster filed a defamation lawsuit against Slama, saying she was trying to derail his campaign. Slama responded with a countersuit, alleging sexual battery.Nebraska Republicans and Democrats also picked candidates for the US House seat previously held by the Republican Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned in March after he was convicted of federal corruption charges.Mike Flood, a former speaker of the Nebraska legislature, won the Republican nomination while state senator Patty Pansing Brooks was the Democratic pick. Flood will be strong favorite in the Republican-heavy first district, which includes Lincoln, small towns and a large swath of farmland.TopicsNebraskaRepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Jim Pillen Wins Nebraska’s G.O.P. Primary for Governor Over Trump-Endorsed Rival

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      Jim Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent backed by the state’s powerful Ricketts political machine, has won the Republican primary for Nebraska governor, defeating a scandal-marred millionaire who had the backing of former President Donald J. Trump.The Associated Press declared Mr. Pillen the winner over his main rivals, Charles W. Herbster, a Trump-endorsed agribusiness executive who funded his own campaign and, in the race’s final weeks, was accused of groping women, and Brett Lindstrom, a state senator who appealed to the moderate wing of the party.Mr. Pillen’s victory makes him an overwhelming favorite to become Nebraska’s next governor in November. Democrats have not won a statewide election since 2006. The party nominated Carol Blood, a state senator from the Omaha suburbs.Mr. Herbster is the first candidate endorsed by Mr. Trump to lose a Republican primary in 2022. Many more Trump-endorsed candidates are facing stiff headwinds in coming primaries, starting with contests for governor in Idaho next week and in Georgia on May 24.Mr. Pillen, in his victory remarks in Lincoln, pledged to run an administration focused on education and agriculture, two pillars of the state. He said he would promote Nebraska to both attract new residents and keep young people from leaving for other states.“We all agree, we’re all in unison, we never ever, ever, give up on kids,” he said. “We’re going to invest the farm in our kids, so all of our kids know, the grass is greenest in Nebraska.”Mr. Pillen, 66, ran a campaign predicated on the idea that Nebraska Republicans were satisfied with the administration of Gov. Pete Ricketts, his main political benefactor and most prominent supporter, who is stepping down because of term limits. Mr. Ricketts spent millions on television advertising backing Mr. Pillen while attacking Mr. Herbster and Mr. Lindstrom.Once Mr. Herbster began to gain traction in the race, the mild-mannered Mr. Pillen adopted some of his rival’s right-wing positions on social issues. He sought to bar the teaching of critical race theory in the University of Nebraska system and came out against allowing transgender athletes from competing in high school girls’ sports in the state.Mr. Pillen, a former defensive back for the University of Nebraska’s football team, became a highly successful veterinarian and pig farmer in the state. In addition to Mr. Ricketts’s backing, he had endorsements from a handful of the state’s most prominent figures, including Tom Osborne, his college football coach, who was also a three-term member of Congress from western Nebraska, and the comedian Larry the Cable Guy, who was raised on a farm in the state’s southeastern corner.Much to the frustration of his opponents, Mr. Pillen skipped all of the televised debates during the primary campaign, opting instead to hold hundreds of small meetings with voters across the state. Mr. Pillen’s opponents argued that he lacked charisma and was not prepared to discuss the state’s issues; Mr. Pillen said he was building coalitions away from the prying eyes of the news media.Mr. Lindstrom sought to rebuild the type of Republican coalitions that existed before Mr. Trump’s rise. He appealed to educated professionals in the state’s urban centers of Omaha and Lincoln and put political distance between himself and Mr. Trump — saying that the 2020 election was legitimate and that he would prefer “a new face” to lead the Republican Party in 2024.While Mr. Lindstrom made a late charge in the polls, most of the race became a proxy fight between Mr. Ricketts and Mr. Trump, to whom Mr. Herbster yoked his political identity. He talked like Mr. Trump, adopted many of Mr. Trump’s policy positions and pledged to drain “the swamp” in Lincoln, the state capital.In other Nebraska races, Mike Flood, a state senator from Norfolk who owns radio and television stations across the state, won the Republican nomination to the Lincoln-based congressional seat vacated by former Representative Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned after he was convicted of lying to the F.B.I. in a campaign finance investigation.Mr. Flood defeated Mr. Fortenberry, who remained on the ballot but did not mount a campaign, and Curtis Huffman, an accountant.Democrats in Omaha nominated Tony Vargas, a state senator, to face Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican who is seeking his fourth term. Mr. Vargas, the son of immigrants from Peru, is a former public-school teacher in Omaha who served on the city’s school board before he was elected to the Nebraska Legislature.The House Democrats’ campaign arm is optimistic Mr. Vargas can be competitive in November, despite the difficult national environment for the party.Mr. Bacon is one of 10 House Republicans who hold a district carried by President Biden in 2020. But in the last two elections, Omaha Democrats nominated Kara Eastman, a democratic socialist who did not appeal to centrist voters in the district. Mr. Vargas has not campaigned on the left-wing issues Ms. Eastman promoted. More