Factbox-Power of Trump's endorsements tested in 12 U.S. midterm
primaries
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[August 16, 2022]
(Reuters)
- Donald Trump's influence over the
Republican Party will be tested in two more U.S. midterm primaries on
Tuesday, the last of a dozen high-profile races where the former
president weighed in.
Here is a list of 12 prominent Trump endorsements, among the more the
more than 200 picks he has made ahead of the Nov. 8 elections that will
determine control of Congress for 2023 and 2024.
TUESDAY'S PRIMARIES
Harriet Hageman
* Seeks to defeat incumbent U.S. Republican Representative Liz Cheney
* Aug. 16 Wyoming at-large-district Republican primary
Trump threw his backing behind Hageman, a lawyer, in September 2021,
looking to punish Cheney, who was stripped of her role as the No. 3
House Republican for voting to impeach the former president on a charge
of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Cheney, the daughter of
former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, also served as the vice chair of
the House committee investigating the Capitol attack. A Casper
Star-Tribune poll from mid-July showed Hageman with a 52% to 30% lead
over Cheney.
Kelly Tshibaka
* Seeks to defeat incumbent U.S. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of
Alaska
* Aug. 16 open primary contest
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/16/images/ads/current/hopedaleag_sda_FAIR_2022.png)
Trump is backing Tshibaka, a former Alaska state administration
commissioner, to unseat Murkowski, one of seven Republican senators who
voted to convict Trump in 2021 on impeachment charges. Both Murkowski
and Tshibaka will likely advance from Tuesday's primary contest, which
under new state election rules will send four candidates to the November
contest regardless of their political parties. The state's new rules,
however, could give Murkowski a boost in the general election. Voters
will be asked to rank their candidates by preference, and Murkowski - a
moderate who won re-election in 2010 as a write-in candidate after
losing the Republican primary - could win if she garners more
second-choice votes than Tshibaka.
WINNERS IN PRIMARIES
Joe Kent
* Seeks to win Washington state's 3rd congressional district, which
leans Republican, on Nov. 8.
Kent, a former special forces officer endorsed by Trump, narrowly won
Aug. 2 Republican primary over incumbent U.S. Representative Jaime
Herrera Beutler, who voted to impeach Trump last year. Kent could be the
frontrunner in November for the newly-drawn district, which Trump would
have won by four percentage points in 2020. But he faces the risk his
hard right views could galvanize Democrats. Kent has campaigned with
far-right U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida and told Oregon
Public Broadcasting he held a social media strategy call with white
nationalist Nicholas Fuentes, though he said he disagreed with Fuentes'
"ethno-nationalism."
John Gibbs
* Seeks to win Michigan's 3rd congressional district on Nov. 8.
Gibbs is a former housing official under Trump with a history of
inflammatory tweets, including references to baseless conspiracy
theories about Democrats and Satanism. He beat U.S. Representative Peter
Meijer in the Aug. 2 Republican primary after a Democratic Party group
spent heavily on television ads touting the former leader's endorsement
of Gibbs. Meijer slammed the ads as a ploy to help his "far-right
opponent" get on the ballot and make it easier for Democrats to win the
moderate district in November. Meijer was one of the few Republicans who
voted to impeach Trump last year.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/16/images/ads/current/prescott_angus_sda_FAIR_2022.png)
Mehmet Oz
* Seeks U.S. Senate seat for Pennsylvania vacated by retiring Republican
Senator Pat Toomey
Oz, a celebrity doctor whose endorsement by Trump divided Republican
leaders in Pennsylvania, beat former hedge fund executive David
McCormick in a primary by a margin of 951 votes.
Oz will face Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman in what is
expected to be among the tightest races of the November election.
Fetterman took a break from the campaign trail after suffering a stroke
in the days before the May 17 primary, and on Aug. 12 held his first
rally since the life-threatening health event.
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![](../images/081622PIX/news_u47.jpg)
Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump
takes the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)
in Dallas, Texas, U.S., August 6, 2022. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/16/images/ads/current/atlantabank_lda_FAIR_2022.png)
Herschel Walker
* Will face incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of
Georgia
A retired football star, Walker easily won the May 24 Republican
nomination contest and opinion polls point to a close race in
November against Warnock, a pastor. But Trump-endorsed Walker, who
has never held elected office, has vulnerabilities including past
allegations of domestic abuse.
Ted Budd
* Seeks U.S. Senate seat for North Carolina vacated by retiring
Republican Senator Richard Burr
A rank-and-file member of the House of Representatives, Budd had
little statewide name recognition before he sought the Republican
nomination for what is expected to be a tight race in November.
Following Trump's endorsement, he surged in opinion polls and easily
defeated former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory in the May 17
primary.
In November, Budd will face Democrat Cheri Beasley, a Black woman
who formerly served as the state's chief justice.
J.D. Vance
* Seeks U.S. Senate seat for Ohio vacated by retiring Republican
Senator Rob Portman
The Trump-backed Vance triumphed in a crowded May 3 Republican
primary and is favored to win in November against Democrat Tim Ryan,
currently a U.S. representative for Ohio, although some political
observers expect a stiff challenge from Ryan.
Vance is best known as the author of best-seller "Hillbilly Elegy,"
which documented the descent of factory towns in states like Ohio
into poverty and drug abuse. He has styled himself as an angry
populist in the Trump mold, shedding his prior reputation as a Trump
critic.
Russell Fry
* Expected to win South Carolina's 7th congressional district, which
is strongly Republican, on Nov. 8.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/16/images/ads/current/heritagepackaging_sda_FAIR_2022.png)
Fry, a state representative, won Trump's endorsement after U.S.
Representative Tom Rice joined Democrats and a handful of
Republicans in voting to impeach the former president for inciting a
deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Fry easily
defeated Rice in the June 14 Republican primary, telling supporters
afterward he would work hard to make Trump proud.
LOSERS IN PRIMARIES
Loren Culp
* Lost to incumbent U.S. Republican Representative Dan Newhouse
Former small-town police chief Loren Culp won Trump's endorsement to
take on Newhouse, who had stoked Trump's ire by voting to impeach
him last year. But it was Newhouse who advanced in the Aug. 2
Republican primary, with Culp blaming his loss on a crowded field of
Republican candidates who were similarly pro-Trump.
David Perdue
* Went up against Georgia's incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp
Former U.S. Senator David Perdue, despite getting Trump's
endorsement, did not come close to upsetting Georgia's incumbent
Republican Governor Brian Kemp. Perdue, who repeated Trump's
falsehoods about losing Georgia in the 2020 presidential election
due to widespread voter fraud, conceded to Kemp shortly after polls
closed in the May 24 Republican primary. Kemp had angered Trump by
dismissing the former president's false statements about election
fraud.
Katie Arrington
* Challenged Republican U.S. Representative Nancy Mace
Arrington, a former South Carolina state lawmaker, won Trump's
endorsement after incumbent Mace publicly criticized Trump for his
role in his supporters' assault on the U.S. Capitol. Mace, who voted
against Trump's impeachment, defeated Arrington in the June 14
Republican nomination contest. Newly drawn district boundaries have
made her seat safely Republican in November.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Additional reporting by Joseph Ax;
Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)
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