Donald Trump is making Republicans uneasy with the primary candidates he's endorsed in Michigan.
The former president has already endorsed 10 state legislative candidates, more than any other state, and nearly half a cozen congressional races and two others for statewide office, but some Republicans expressed doubts about the quality of the loyalist candidates he's backing, reported Politico.
“This is going to be a big year for Republicans, and the only way it won’t be is if we nominate candidates who are looking back, not forward,” said John Engler, a former three-term Michigan governor. "[He is] endorsing a lot of candidates who I think are going to lose.”
Michigan has emerged as the MAGA movement's proving ground, where Trump will test his influence over Republican voters and his own standing in the battleground state he'll need to flip back in 2024, assuming he runs again.
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“Obviously he sees the importance of Michigan as a swing state,” said Matt Marko, president of the North Oakland Republican Club in suburban Detroit. “He’s trying to maintain his support.”
But his support was already shaky in Michigan, which he won in 2016 but lost to Joe Biden by more than 3 percent in 2020, and the GOP lost the governor's office, attorney general, secretary of state and majorities on the state Board of Education and state Supreme Court during his presidency.
“We don’t have a strong Republican political infrastructure here to stand up to him, or to compete with his influence over the grassroots,” said Jason Roe, the state GOP's former executive director. “It’s a no-man’s land, and you know, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
