{"id":611,"date":"2026-05-20T04:34:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T04:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=611"},"modified":"2026-05-20T04:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T04:34:24","slug":"trump-notches-more-gop-primary-wins-but-big-midterm-questions-remain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=611","title":{"rendered":"Trump notches more GOP primary wins, but big midterm questions remain"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump flexed the strength of his party-transforming political movement again on Tuesday, continuing the successful process of eliminating political enemies within the GOP this month.<\/p>\n

Read more The Trump Administration<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time, the president\u2019s low approval ratings and the war with Iran have raised red flags in key Republican primaries among base voters who supported the president\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d agenda that included the idea of a focus on domestic issues.<\/p>\n

Those red flags may persist with independent voters and base turnout alike when the general election gets underway in a few months.<\/p>\n

But in the meantime, Trump continues to prove he can not only influence the Republican primary electorate but also attack Republicans who have opposed him in any way without feeling like there are significant negative consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what everyone can take away from this is that Donald Trump is going nowhere,\u201d said a Trump adviser working for his political operation. \u201cHe has won, and will continue to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump earlier this month defeated five incumbent Republican state senators in Indiana who opposed his push for mid-decade redistricting. Over the weekend, Trump\u2019s political machine also blocked Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, from advancing in his primary in Louisiana, a state he has represented for two terms.<\/p>\n

The biggest and most exciting win for the White House, though, came on Tuesday: defeating Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who opposed Trump on key issues, including on the \u201cbig beautiful bill\u201d tax and spending plan and on pushing for the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

Massie lost to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein, who received 54% of the GOP primary vote.<\/p>\n

For months, Trump and his allies have attacked Massie, and on Tuesday they got their win in what was the most expensive House primary in history in terms of ad spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cThomas Massie is just the latest proof that being Democrats\u2019 favorite Republican is not a badge of honor in our party,\u201dJames Blair, a former Trump administration official who now runs the president\u2019s political operation, told NBC News. \u201cGoodbye and good luck with the cows.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview last month with NBC News, Massie noted that, with the exception of Cassidy in the Senate, he was one of few Republicans in Washington willing to cross Trump on principle and policy, even as he also usually voted with the president on most issues. Massie added that the results of his race would determine how many more might follow his lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can always be this cascading effect,\u201d Massie said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big herd. The herd moves as a herd, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Massie\u2019s loss was met with disappointment in other corners of the GOP.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened tonight is sad to be honest,\u201d said a veteran Republican strategist who has worked \u201cwith both the liberty and MAGA\u201d movements and was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the Trump-fueled intraparty clash.<\/p>\n

Read more Senate advances bill aimed at ending Iran war as Cassidy, after primary loss, flips to support it<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a revenge tour on a solid conservative vote who refused to break to the will of Trump,\u201d the person said. \u201cThomas Massie refused to be compromised. He refused to bend the knee, and for that he was taken out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump, however, did not outright win everything he touched Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRepublican Reps. Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Ro Khanna called on the Justice Department to release all of the files relating to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

In Georgia\u2019s nationally watched race for governor, Trump-backedLt. Gov. Burt Jones, who also has major GOP establishment backing in the state, moved onto a runoff against billionaire Rick Jackson, who has framed himself as a Trump ally, even as organizations, including Trump-backed super PAC MAGA Inc., have leaned in for Jones. <\/p>\n

Jackson has spent over $80 million of his own fortune on TV ads, many of which have tied him to Trump, but the president has been clear he does not support the businessman now headed to a Georgia runoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of confusion, everyone\u2019s saying I endorsed them. I didn\u2019t. I endorsed a man named Burt Jones, your lieutenant governor,\u201d Trump said earlier this month. \u201cVote for Burt Jones. He\u2019s just an incredible guy who has my complete and total endorsement in the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s unclear, however, is how Trump\u2019s GOP primary dominance will play out in the midterm general election, with Republicans trying to hold onto slim House and Senate majorities. Democrats could take the House and are trying to challenge for the Senate, even as that is considered a much more difficult endeavor.<\/p>\n

Some Senate Republicans think what could be seen as a Trump \u201cwin\u201d Tuesday, ahead of yet another primary, actually hurts Republican chances.<\/p>\n

The most notable example is Texas state Attorney General Paxton, as of Tuesday the Trump-endorsed Senate candidate in his state. If he wins next week\u2019s GOP primary runoff, as is now expected, Paxton enters the general election at a significant fundraising disadvantage to Democratic nominee James Talarico. And he also comes with significant political baggage, including a 2023 impeachment by the GOP-led Texas state House before his acquittal in the state Senate. Then there is the fact that his wife filed for divorce on \u201cbiblical grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of Republicans fear that Paxton was the inferior candidate compared to sitting Sen. John Cornyn, and they are believe that national GOP groups will now have to spend money in Texas that otherwise could have been used to boost Republican Senate candidates in other key states.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the pathway for Paxton is there, but it\u2019s more uphill,\u201d Sen Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., told reporters Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Democrats need a net gain of four seats to flip the Senate \u2014 a tall order but one increasingly seen as doable because of Trump\u2019s tanking approval ratings with independent voters.<\/p>\n

It leaves Democrats excited about their prospects of flipping the chamber.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the Texas GOP has been embroiled in a \u2018bitter,\u2019 \u2018costly intraparty war\u2019 that has fractured their base and left them drained of resources, Democratic enthusiasm has surged to its highest level in decades,\u201d said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokeswoman Maeve Coyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cJames Talarico is building the campaign to win, and Texans will send him to the U.S. Senate in November,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Read more Bahamas leaders want probe after plane crash off Florida linked to alleged drug trafficking<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The president unseated one of his biggest Republican foes Tuesday in Kentucky, while a Trump endorsement in Texas concerned GOP senators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump notches more GOP primary wins, but big midterm questions remain - Jacksonville Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=611\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump notches more GOP primary wins, but big midterm questions remain - 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