Latest news with #NationalRepublicanSenatorialCommittee
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump allies urge crackdown on Cabinet secretaries meddling in GOP primaries
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. — President Donald Trump's allies are fuming at Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for getting involved in Michigan's Senate primary, a race that now threatens to divide Republicans. Duffy is headlining a planned June 4 fundraiser for Rep. Bill Huizenga, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO — a move that puts Duffy at odds with the National Republican Senatorial Committee and 2024 Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita. Duffy has also been advising Huizenga, according to a person familiar with the race. Duffy, according to the two people close to Trump, never cleared his political engagement with the White House political shop, and has now drawn the ire of Trump's top political hands. The transportation secretary's move to fundraise for Huizenga has now prompted threats of a crackdown on Cabinet secretaries' political activities ahead of the midterms, POLITICO has learned. 'He did not ask for it to be approved,' a person close to Trump and granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive political matter told POLITICO of Duffy's decision. 'It would not have been approved. They are old friends and it's technically for the House so not going to embarrass him by standing it down, but the fact is administration officials are not free agents politically, even in their spare time. You never get ahead of the President.' Huizenga has told others that a second Cabinet official could fundraise for him but they're settling on a date. One of the people familiar with Trump's thinking said they would not allow that to happen. The White House declined to comment. A spokesperson for Duffy did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Rogers declined to comment. Trump hasn't decided who to endorse yet in Michigan's Senate race, according to two people close to the president, a contest that arguably represents Republicans' best chance to widen their majority. National Republicans have coalesced behind former Rep. Mike Rogers in the Republican's second run for the office, but Huizenga has been taking steps toward a run. Huizenga spent the week at a gathering of Michigan strategists and elected officials on Mackinac Island preparing a run against Rogers and courting prominent national donors, emphasizing in conversations that Rogers failed to beat Democrat Elissa Slotkin for an open Senate seat in the same year Trump won the state. 'I want to make sure we win,' Huizenga told POLITICO when he said he could announce a Senate bid as early as this summer. 'The question is: Are we going to run the same play and expect a different result?' Huizenga's plans undermine the National Republican Senatorial Committee's plans to clear the field for Rogers, a former Trump critic. Rogers hired LaCivita as his senior adviser. The Republican establishment — including the top echelons of Trump world — have started to coalesce around Rogers as the Wednesday, NRSC political director Brendan Jaspers reposted a poll on X showing Rogers outperforming Huizenga against potential Democratic rivals and suggesting that 'the numbers point to one candidate' who can flip the seat for Republicans: Rogers.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP Rep. Bill Huizenga is preparing to run for Michigan's open Senate seat
MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan — Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga has been preparing a run for Michigan's open Senate seat and plans to make a final decision this summer. If he does enter the primary, he would defy national Republicans, who have been aiming to clear the field for former Rep. Mike Rogers' second attempt at the office. 'I want to make sure we win. I want to make sure we've got the right candidate to do that,' Huizenga said Thursday. 'I personally think it should have been won last election. It didn't. And the question is: Are we going to run the same play and expect a different result?' Huizenga has been assembling a team, including fundraisers, for a potential bid. He recently traveled to West Point to discuss his candidacy with Donald Trump during the president's visit last weekend. Trump endorsed Rogers, a former critic, in last year's crowded Senate primary; he has not endorsed in this race. Republicans' Senate campaign arm has been pressuring Huizenga to stay out of the contest, aiming to avert a potentially messy primary as they try to flip retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters' seat. National Republican Senatorial Committee political director Brendan Jaspers on Wednesday reposted a poll on X showing Rogers outperforming Huizenga against potential Democratic rivals with the message, 'If Republicans want to flip Michigan's Senate seat red in 2026, the numbers point to one candidate' — Rogers. Democrat Elissa Slotkin defeated Rogers in Michigan's open Senate race last year even as Trump won the state.
Politico
4 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
GOP Rep. Bill Huizenga is preparing to run for Michigan's open Senate seat
MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan — Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga has been preparing a run for Michigan's open Senate seat and plans to make a final decision this summer. If he does enter the primary, he would defy national Republicans, who have been aiming to clear the field for former Rep. Mike Rogers' second attempt at the office. 'I want to make sure we win. I want to make sure we've got the right candidate to do that,' Huizenga said Thursday. 'I personally think it should have been won last election. It didn't. And the question is: Are we going to run the same play and expect a different result?' Huizenga has been assembling a team, including fundraisers, for a potential bid. He recently traveled to West Point to discuss his candidacy with Donald Trump during the president's visit last weekend. Trump endorsed Rogers, a former critic, in last year's crowded Senate primary; he has not endorsed in this race. Republicans' Senate campaign arm has been pressuring Huizenga to stay out of the contest, aiming to avert a potentially messy primary as they try to flip retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters' seat. National Republican Senatorial Committee political director Brendan Jaspers on Wednesday reposted a poll on X showing Rogers outperforming Huizenga against potential Democratic rivals with the message, 'If Republicans want to flip Michigan's Senate seat red in 2026, the numbers point to one candidate' — Rogers. Democrat Elissa Slotkin defeated Rogers in Michigan's open Senate race last year even as Trump won the state.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Are Republicans having trouble recruiting Senate candidates?
After major potential Republican candidates for key U.S. Senate races in 2026 passed on running, some Republicans are split on whether their party is struggling to recruit competitive Senate candidates. There are 35 Senate seats up for election in 2026 -- 33 in regular elections and two in special elections. Two of them, in Georgia and Michigan, could be a toss-up, while seats in Minnesota and New Hampshire being vacated lean Democratic, and two seats from incumbents in Maine and North Carolina lean Republican, according to the Cook Political Report. Republicans currently hold 53 seats to Democrats' 45. Two independents caucus with Democrats. "My goal is to stay in the majority; my stretch goal is to add seats. … I'd like to be at 55," Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, recently told Axios. MORE: Raja Krishnamoorthi launches bid for open Illinois Senate seat The seat up for election in Georgia -- held by incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is running for reelection -- has received close attention from Republicans, who hope they can flip what is widely viewed as a vulnerable seat. But Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who had been seen as a major contender for the seat, took himself out of contention, saying he would not run for the seat. "I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family," Kemp wrote in a statement on X in early May. Senate Republican leaders, including Scott and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and even President Donald Trump had spent several months attempting to convince Kemp to launch a bid against Ossoff. Kemp wrote that he informed Trump of his decision not to run the morning he posted. "Brian Kemp, being the most popular Republican moderate in Georgia history, was the ideal candidate to take [Ossoff] on," Ryan Mahoney, a Georgia-based Republican strategist and former communications director for the Georgia Republican Party, told ABC News on Monday. In New Hampshire, Republicans faced a similar situation when the popular former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican who had been mulling a run for Senate for the seat being vacated by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. D-N.H., said in early April that he had decided not to run. "I kept the door open a little bit, and I thought about, is it right for me and my family? It's just not right for us," Sununu told a radio station in April. Sununu has said he still thinks the seat will be in play for Republicans. Some Republicans have pointed to Kemp's decision, and to a lesser extent Sununu's, as signs that Republicans are having challenges recruiting centrist candidates who would appeal to voters statewide. Some have also felt that candidates who appear too tied to Trump or too right-wing will struggle in statewide races even if they clear the primary, if the White House and Trump continue to face backlash toward policies and federal government cuts. "I think it's a problem. I think that Trump has put a damper on that for the party in general. … Trump demands absolute loyalty and nothing else matters but fealty to him. And that makes people who want to talk about issues and things that their particular state or constituents care about -- [it] makes it very difficult," said ABC News contributor Barbara Comstock, a Republican who formerly represented Virginia in the House. But other Republicans are saying they don't believe Kemp and Sununu not running indicate any sign of challenges with recruiting candidates. A national Republican working on major Senate races told ABC News that Kemp's decision came as no surprise, arguing that the governor made a decision based on wanting to be present with his family after a long tenure as governor. As for concerns over public opinion of Trump, the operative also pointed to Trump's win in Georgia in 2024 and enthusiasm among Republicans in New Hampshire and noted that both the White House and candidates will continue to engage voters in the midterm elections to motivate them to turn out regardless of candidate. Mahoney, separately, pointed to how even though the party in power usually performs worse in a midterm election, news around the economy and other issues is constantly shifting and no one can predict yet if Trump's presidency and agenda by 2026 will be popular or "an albatross." "It's too early to know, and I think it would be really foolish for Democrats to assume, that just because history tells a story, that that is going to continue in 2026," Mahoney said. Since Kemp's decision, one member of Georgia's congressional delegation has since launched a bid, while a second just announced she won't run for the seat. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents Georgia's 1st Congressional District, announced last week that he is entering the 2026 Senate race. In his announcement video, he branded himself as a "MAGA Warrior," showing multiple pictures of him alongside Trump and a clip of Trump praising him. He later told ABC News that he had been in touch with the White House about his Senate candidacy and that Trump will make an endorsement decision in the primary in the future. Georgia insurance and safety fire commissioner John King separately announced a bid for the seat on Monday. But questions swirled for weeks over whether Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene -- a firebrand conservative and one of Trump's most loyal allies in the House -- would run for Senate. She told reporters on Wednesday she was considering either that or running for governor of Georgia. (Kemp is term-limited.) But on Friday, in an essay posted on X, Greene announced that she had decided not to run for Senate. "I love my home state of Georgia so much. The people here may not be rich with the world's riches, but they are overflowing with kindness, love, family values, and a deep sense of joy, whether they're sitting on the front porch or the tailgate of a pickup truck. … These are the people I fight for," she wrote, before turning to criticize reports about donors and "elites" who are advocating candidates besides her. "Can I deliver for the people of Georgia in the Senate? Can I fulfill my promises? Can I actually save this country from the inside? Here's the hard truth: the Senate doesn't work," she wrote. "It's designed to obstruct the will of the people and protect the Uniparty's grip on power." After criticizing Senate leadership and senators who, she said, "sabotage Trump's agenda," Greene was forthright: "Someone once said, 'The Senate is where good ideas go to die.' They were right. That's why I'm not running." There were some early mixed signals over how Greene would have performed if she indeed ran against Ossoff. A recent poll from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that Ossoff and Kemp would be in a dead heat in a hypothetical general election matchup but that Ossoff would lead some other hypothetical candidates, including Greene, if the 2026 election were held today. (Like any poll about an election over a year out, much can still change.) And at least some Republicans may be privately applauding her decision. "I think for most Georgia Republicans -- they were excited to see that [announcement]. They know that she has general election issues because of being a firebrand and because of her public persona," Mahoney said, adding that Georgia Republicans are likely looking for a candidate who can net endorsements, raise money, and consolidate the base. "I think for the slate of candidates now, there's a lot more comfort that they would be able to win a nomination, to win the general, which is the most important here -- there's no real prize for being the nominee. You have to win the general election to become senator." Greene had brushed off any concerns that she could win in a primary but not a general statewide election in Georgia. "They said the same thing about Donald Trump when he ran in 2016, and they said the same thing about it in 2024. People back in Georgia, they know that's a lie," Greene told reporters on Wednesday. She added in her post on Friday, "Beating Jon Ossoff? That would be easy." The NRSC has indicated it'll consider getting involved in Senate primaries on a case-by-case basis. Scott, who chairs the NRSC, told Fox News in February, "Whatever is in the best interest of the voters in each state, I will make a state-by-state decision on how we play and where we play." "Republicans are working as one team with President Trump to deliver for the American people, protect our Majority in 2026, and hold Senate Democrats and candidates in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire accountable for their radical, out-of-touch priorities," NRSC Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement to ABC News. MORE: Trump's first 100 days tests future of both Republican and Democratic parties: ANALYSIS On the other side of the aisle, Democrats have been celebrating Kemp's decision, thinking that it puts them in a strong position to take on whoever challenges Ossoff. Democrats have also said they think they can expand their Senate map, and that they intend to play in as many seats as they can. But the Democratic Party, as it faces low approval ratings and continues to digest its heavy losses in 2024, faces a very challenging Senate map in 2026. Many of the Senate seats up for election are in solidly Republican-leaning states, and the Democrats face the prospect of defending Ossoff's seat in Georgia, as well as seats in Michigan and New Hampshire where Democratic incumbents are retiring. MORE: Florida, Wisconsin races are a possible glimpse into how Dems and GOP could approach midterms: ANALYSIS "Senate Democrats are positioned to win seats in 2026 as midterm backlash driven by rising costs and threats to Social Security and Medicaid drags down Republican Senate candidates and puts their majority at risk," Maeve Coyle, communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told ABC News in a statement. But some Democrats are less bullish. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate in 2024, said recently that he does not feel confident Democrats will be able to win the Senate in 2026. "I think we will take back the House. I am very pessimistic about the Senate, just to be honest with you," he said during a talk in April at the Harvard Institute of Politics. ABC News' Brittany Shepherd, Lalee Ibssa and Jay O'Brien contributed to this report. Are Republicans having trouble recruiting Senate candidates? originally appeared on
15-05-2025
- Politics
Are Republicans having trouble recruiting Senate candidates?
After major potential Republican candidates for key U.S. Senate races in 2026 passed on running, some Republicans are split on whether their party is struggling to recruit competitive Senate candidates. There are 35 Senate seats up for election in 2026 -- 33 in regular elections and two in special elections. Two of them, in Georgia and Michigan, could be a toss-up, while seats in Minnesota and New Hampshire being vacated lean Democratic, and two seats from incumbents in Maine and North Carolina lean Republican, according to the Cook Political Report. Republicans currently hold 53 seats to Democrats' 45. Two independents caucus with Democrats. "My goal is to stay in the majority; my stretch goal is to add seats. … I'd like to be at 55," Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, recently told Axios. The seat up for election in Georgia -- held by incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is running for reelection -- has received close attention from Republicans, who hope they can flip what is widely viewed as a vulnerable seat. But Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who had been seen as a major contender for the seat, took himself out of contention, saying he would not run for the seat. "I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family," Kemp wrote in a statement on X in early May. Senate Republican leaders, including Scott and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and even President Donald Trump had spent several months attempting to convince Kemp to launch a bid against Ossoff. Kemp wrote that he informed Trump of his decision not to run the morning he posted. "Brian Kemp, being the most popular Republican moderate in Georgia history, was the ideal candidate to take [Ossoff] on," Ryan Mahoney, a Georgia-based Republican strategist and former communications director for the Georgia Republican Party, told ABC News on Monday. In New Hampshire, Republicans faced a similar situation when the popular former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican who had been mulling a run for Senate for the seat being vacated by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. D-N.H., said in early April that he had decided not to run. "I kept the door open a little bit, and I thought about, is it right for me and my family? It's just not right for us," Sununu told a radio station in April. Sununu has said he still thinks the seat will be in play for Republicans. Some Republicans have pointed to Kemp's decision, and to a lesser extent Sununu's, as signs that Republicans are having challenges recruiting centrist candidates who would appeal to voters statewide. Some have also felt that candidates who appear too tied to Trump or too right-wing will struggle in statewide races even if they clear the primary, if the White House and Trump continue to face backlash toward policies and federal government cuts. "I think it's a problem. I think that Trump has put a damper on that for the party in general. … Trump demands absolute loyalty and nothing else matters but fealty to him. And that makes people who want to talk about issues and things that their particular state or constituents care about -- [it] makes it very difficult," said ABC News contributor Barbara Comstock, a Republican who formerly represented Virginia in the House. But other Republicans are saying they don't believe Kemp and Sununu not running indicate any sign of challenges with recruiting candidates. A national Republican working on major Senate races told ABC News that Kemp's decision came as no surprise, arguing that the governor made a decision based on wanting to be present with his family after a long tenure as governor. As for concerns over public opinion of Trump, the operative also pointed to Trump's win in Georgia in 2024 and enthusiasm among Republicans in New Hampshire and noted that both the White House and candidates will continue to engage voters in the midterm elections to motivate them to turn out regardless of candidate. Mahoney, separately, pointed to how even though the party in power usually performs worse in a midterm election, news around the economy and other issues is constantly shifting and no one can predict yet if Trump's presidency and agenda by 2026 will be popular or "an albatross." "It's too early to know, and I think it would be really foolish for Democrats to assume, that just because history tells a story, that that is going to continue in 2026," Mahoney said. Since Kemp's decision, one member of Georgia's congressional delegation has since launched a bid, while a second just announced she won't run for the seat. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents Georgia's 1st Congressional District, announced last week that he is entering the 2026 Senate race. In his announcement video, he branded himself as a "MAGA Warrior," showing multiple pictures of him alongside Trump and a clip of Trump praising him. He later told ABC News that he had been in touch with the White House about his Senate candidacy and that Trump will make an endorsement decision in the primary in the future. Georgia insurance and safety fire commissioner John King separately announced a bid for the seat on Monday. But questions swirled for weeks over whether Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene -- a firebrand conservative and one of Trump's most loyal allies in the House -- would run for Senate. She told reporters on Wednesday she was considering either that or running for governor of Georgia. (Kemp is term-limited.) But on Friday, in an essay posted on X, Greene announced that she had decided not to run for Senate. "I love my home state of Georgia so much. The people here may not be rich with the world's riches, but they are overflowing with kindness, love, family values, and a deep sense of joy, whether they're sitting on the front porch or the tailgate of a pickup truck. … These are the people I fight for," she wrote, before turning to criticize reports about donors and "elites" who are advocating candidates besides her. "Can I deliver for the people of Georgia in the Senate? Can I fulfill my promises? Can I actually save this country from the inside? Here's the hard truth: the Senate doesn't work," she wrote. "It's designed to obstruct the will of the people and protect the Uniparty's grip on power." After criticizing Senate leadership and senators who, she said, "sabotage Trump's agenda," Greene was forthright: "Someone once said, 'The Senate is where good ideas go to die.' They were right. That's why I'm not running." There were some early mixed signals over how Greene would have performed if she indeed ran against Ossoff. A recent poll from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that Ossoff and Kemp would be in a dead heat in a hypothetical general election matchup but that Ossoff would lead some other hypothetical candidates, including Greene, if the 2026 election were held today. (Like any poll about an election over a year out, much can still change.) And at least some Republicans may be privately applauding her decision. "I think for most Georgia Republicans -- they were excited to see that [announcement]. They know that she has general election issues because of being a firebrand and because of her public persona," Mahoney said, adding that Georgia Republicans are likely looking for a candidate who can net endorsements, raise money, and consolidate the base. "I think for the slate of candidates now, there's a lot more comfort that they would be able to win a nomination, to win the general, which is the most important here -- there's no real prize for being the nominee. You have to win the general election to become senator." Greene had brushed off any concerns that she could win in a primary but not a general statewide election in Georgia. "They said the same thing about Donald Trump when he ran in 2016, and they said the same thing about it in 2024. People back in Georgia, they know that's a lie," Greene told reporters on Wednesday. She added in her post on Friday, "Beating Jon Ossoff? That would be easy." The NRSC has indicated it'll consider getting involved in Senate primaries on a case-by-case basis. Scott, who chairs the NRSC, told Fox News in February, "Whatever is in the best interest of the voters in each state, I will make a state-by-state decision on how we play and where we play." "Republicans are working as one team with President Trump to deliver for the American people, protect our Majority in 2026, and hold Senate Democrats and candidates in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire accountable for their radical, out-of-touch priorities," NRSC Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement to ABC News. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats have been celebrating Kemp's decision, thinking that it puts them in a strong position to take on whoever challenges Ossoff. Democrats have also said they think they can expand their Senate map, and that they intend to play in as many seats as they can. But the Democratic Party, as it faces low approval ratings and continues to digest its heavy losses in 2024, faces a very challenging Senate map in 2026. Many of the Senate seats up for election are in solidly Republican-leaning states, and the Democrats face the prospect of defending Ossoff's seat in Georgia, as well as seats in Michigan and New Hampshire where Democratic incumbents are retiring. "Senate Democrats are positioned to win seats in 2026 as midterm backlash driven by rising costs and threats to Social Security and Medicaid drags down Republican Senate candidates and puts their majority at risk," Maeve Coyle, communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told ABC News in a statement. But some Democrats are less bullish. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate in 2024, said recently that he does not feel confident Democrats will be able to win the Senate in 2026. "I think we will take back the House. I am very pessimistic about the Senate, just to be honest with you," he said during a talk in April at the Harvard Institute of Politics.
