Some Republican lawmakers who will not be sworn in next January, when the 120th U.S. Congress convenes, are being accused of not being team players by conservatives trying to avoid a complete "beat down" next week.
According to Politico, a growing number of "retiring or ousted GOP incumbents," from Nevada to North Carolina, are sitting out the races for their seats. Some are openly bucking their own party.
Outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has raised money for other Republican Senate candidates, but not for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who beat him in the primary with Trump’s support. For months, Cornyn has warned about Paxton’s vulnerabilities and said Democrats could flip Texas blue for the first time in decades.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who has criticized some of Trump’s Cabinet picks and broken with the White House on policy, has played little role in the campaign of Michael Whatley, the former RNC chair and Trump’s hand-picked Senate candidate. Whatley is "struggling to close the gap" with Democrat Roy Cooper.
In Nevada, Rep. Mark Amodei has repeatedly criticized David Flippo, the GOP nominee to replace him, and has now said he won’t vote for him, Politico is reporting.
“The bedwetting from outgoing moderate Republicans will define their legacy and only help socialists get elected,” David McIntosh, president of the Trump-aligned Club for Growth, which has endorsed Flippo and Paxton, told Politico before sneering, “People like John Cornyn and Mark Amodei need to get on board and support Republican nominees and stop posturing for an MSNOW contract.”
The infighting is "boiling over" as Election Day nears and the party’s prospects look dire, the report notes. Trump loyalists and outgoing Republicans are swiping at each other, especially in Senate battlegrounds where the GOP has begun to quietly pull back.
A person familiar with Tillis and North Carolina politics, speaking anonymously to Politico, said Tillis “doesn’t help sure winners or sure losers,” and that “Whatley has been a sure loser throughout 2026, running as Donald Trump’s ‘guy,’ and making zero effort to build his own brand.”
“All Whatley had to do was to keep this race competitive, but instead the party is facing a potential wipeout. This is an embarrassing effort by a former RNC chairman who only has himself and his consultants to blame for the completely avoidable beat down coming on Nov. 3,” the person told Politico.
RNC spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre pointed to Trump’s endorsement record and lamented, “Republicans who chose not to help elect other Republicans may as well be helping Democrats.”