Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri’s announcement that he will retire next year opens the door for former President Donald Trump to further consolidate his control over the Republican Party.
Blunt becomes the fifth Republican senator to decide not to run for re-election in 2022, while the Republican Party tries to win back the majority in the Senate it just lost in the 2020 election cycle.
Senators Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio and Richard Shelby of Alabama also announced in the past two months that they would not launch reelection campaigns. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina said during his 2016 re-election that he would not run again in 2022. Another old Senate bull – 87-year-old Senator Chuck Grassley – is considering retiring.
TRUMP A PROBABLE FACTOR IN THE RETIREMENT FLURRY OF SENATE GOP
Mike Biundo, a longtime Republican consultant and veteran of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, told Fox News that retirements “certainly allow” the former president to potentially increase his influence over the Republican Party.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Sunday, February 28, 2021, in Orlando, Florida (AP Photo / John Raoux)
((AP Photo / John Raoux))
Trump may have left the White House, but he still casts a big shadow over the party he reshaped and ruled during his four years as president. Trump’s influence on Republicans in Congress remains formidable, as his poll numbers among Republican voters remain astronomical. Trump has promised to support key opponents of Republicans for re-election in 2022 who voted to impeach or condemn him or other Republicans who opposed him, and he is flirting with a 2024 Republican presidential candidacy to try to return to the White House.
Another veteran Republican strategist noted that pensions “certainly open the door for a new generation of Republican candidates.”
“You have people like Sens. Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton, who embrace Trump’s principles, but in the end they are seen as trusted lawmakers, or you end up with people like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is running for a reality show. ? ” asked the strategist, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely. “I think it will be one of the most interesting developments in this cycle.”
GOP CANDIDATES IN THE OHIO SENATE RACE COMPETE FOR WHAT IS MORE PRO-TRUMP
The trend seems to be most evident in Ohio, where the Republican race is taking place to succeed Portman in a state where Trump won eight points in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Republican state chairman Jane Timken and former state treasurer and former Senate candidate Josh Mandel – supported Trump as central to their campaigns.
“As his senator, he would move forward on Trump’s agenda without fear or hesitation,” emphasized Timken when announcing his candidacy. And Mandel emphasized that “I’m going to Washington to fight for President Trump’s First Agenda of America” as he entered the race.
Another big supporter of Trump, Ohio businessman and 2018 Senate candidate Mike Gibbons, seems close to launching a campaign in the coming weeks. And Congressman Warren Davidson, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, is considering an offer.
In Alabama, where the 2020 Republican Party primaries, instead of the general election, were the key dispute in deciding who the next state senator would be, Trump’s endorsement was crucial in helping former college football coach Tommy Tuberville to defeat former US Attorney General and former Senator Jeff Sessions – who had clashed with the then President.
Representative Mo Brooks, a staunch ally of the former president, is considering a Senate run. And Lynda Blanchard, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Slovenia during the final two years of the Trump administration, has already launched a campaign.
OLD TRUMP AMBASSADOR LAUNCHES LAUNCH FOR SENATE IN ALABAMA
“We will give the Swamp a heckuva dose of the common sense and conservative principle it needs to really ‘Make America Great Again’ – just like President Trump did,” she promised in announcing her candidacy.
In Missouri, former Republican governor Eric Greitens – who resigned amid several scandals in 2018 – was launching a primary Trump-style challenge against Blunt before the senator’s retirement announcement. And Congressman Jason Smith, a big supporter of Trump, is being singled out as a possible candidate.
The Senate is currently divided by 50-50 between the two parties, but Democrats hold a minimal majority, due to the tiebreaker vote by Vice President Kamala Harris, who serves as the Senate president. This means that the GOP only needs a pickup from a seat to regain the majority. But Republicans are defending 20 of the 34 contested seats in 2022. And the growing number of Republican Party pensions in the Senate means more Republican primaries in the next year and a half.
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Biundo noted that “the overwhelming majority of Republicans running for these positions will sing a similar message. I don’t see anyone who is standing up against Trump because there is no way to do it now. You may have disagreements with Donald Trump, but you cannot be seen as an anti-Trump candidate. “
But Biundo warned that he thinks the ex-president “needs to be very careful and very smart in making his endorsement”.
And he suggested that “if they came up with some kind of political agenda that everyone who got an endorsement from Trump had to sign, Trump would have all of these candidates signing the same songbook and be his songwriter, and that is even bigger to win for him. “