Despite an approval rating that is underwater largely due to the double-punch of inflation reaching a three-year-high in April and the Iran war continuing to drive up fuel costs, President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the GOP primaries this spring has proven powerful. Across a slate of GOP House and Senate races, as well as some State Senate races and several high-profile gubernatorial campaigns, Trump-backed candidates have ousted their GOP rivals.
According to a detailed Fox News tracker of Trump’s endorsements, candidates that have received an endorsement from the President have ousted their opponents in 110 Congressional primaries so far this spring. This includes 101 House races, nine Senate races, and eight gubernatorial campaigns according to the tracker.
In the U.S. Senate race in Texas, Trump-backed state attorney general Ken Paxton defeated four-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn by over 27 points on Tuesday, heading on to face State Rep. James Talarico in November.
In Texas, Hispanic voters will play a significant role in the election, and data shows Hispanics are breaking from Democrats. A UnidosUS survey of 3,000 registered Latino voters across 32 competitive congressional districts, found 54 percent of Latinos plan to vote for a Democratic House candidate, down six points since 2022 and fifteen points since 2018.
In Kentucky, Trump-backed former Navy Seal Ed Gallrein defeated Rep. Thomas Massie in the GOP primary for the U.S. House race. Massie is a conservative who has served in Congress since 2012 but found himself at odds with the Trump Administration over his opposition to taking military action in Iran without official endorsement from Congress.
President Trump also successfully ousted two-term Sen. Bill Cassidy in the Louisiana Senate race. Cassidy was one of the seven Senate Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump due to the January 6th incident in 2021, but Trump-backed Congresswoman Julia Letlow will advance to a runoff next month. While Letlow will face State treasurer John Fleming in the runoff election in late June, Cassidy is out.
President Trump’s preferred candidates also swept state senate races in Indiana earlier in May. Trump-backed primary candidates ousted five out of the seven Indiana state senators who went against the president on redistricting in the state, though one race is in a recount.
In Ohio, President Trump weighed into the gubernatorial race, backing Vivek Ramaswamy against businessman Casey Putsch. Ramaswamy easily won the GOP primary by over twenty points, pitting him against the Democratic pick Amy Acton.
President Trump’s endorsement in the governor race could significantly shift the balance of power in California as well. Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton has been eclipsing the only other GOP candidate in the race, Chad Bianco, and is poised to go head-to-head with the leading Democrat in the race, Xavier Becerra, in Tuesday’s top two primary.
All these races show President Donald Trump’s political strength. Many of them, like the ousting of Sen. Bill Cassidy, who was one of the seven Senate Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump due the January 6th incident in 2021, have been hailed as victories for the MAGA movement. Other losses have been met with mourning from libertarian-minded conservatives. Congressman Thomas Massie’s defeat in Kentucky comes to mind. Other endorsements, like President Trump’s endorsement of Steve Hilton in California, could prove pivotal in ending long-entrenched Democrat power structures. One thing is clear, President Trump’s endorsement is powerful, and he is moving rapidly to shape the GOP landscape ahead of November.
Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
