A new report from Politico claims that Republican leaders are done sitting back and letting former President Donald Trump pick unelectable candidates in races throughout the country.
During a midterm election in which the GOP underperformed due in no small part to the failures of Trump-backed candidates, including several who in the past expressed a belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory.
According to Politico's sources, "several governors said the party was determined to engage aggressively in Republican primaries to ensure that the most electable candidates won the nomination."
In particular, the governors are singling out failed Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who got blown out Pennsylvania Governor-elect Josh Shapiro by nearly 15 points, as a particularly damaging Trump endorsement.
“We want winners in November, that’s all that matters — winning, when you’re talking about the political aspect of it,” said New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, whose own state saw Trump-backed candidate Don Bolduc crash and burn against Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts similarly hinted that he believed the GOP left points on the field by blowing winnable races.
“We do think we had opportunities to be able to do more,” said Ricketts. “We’ve been talking about how we can do better in the future.”
