Donald Trump’s revenge tour begins Tuesday in South Carolina. He will be weighing another White House bid in 2024.
Nevada is where Trump’s influence will be tested. The former president and his associates spent the week in Nevada trying to support his endorsed Senate candidate, Adam Laxalt (ex-state Attorney General), against the late momentum of Sam Brown, the GOP primary opponent.
The polls in South Carolina are open between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET. The polls in Nevada are open daily from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Pacific Time is used for most of the state.
Trump intends to challenge two South Carolina House Republicans, Rep. Tom Rice from the 7th Congressional District, and Rep. Nancy Mace from the 1st District. After the January 2021 riot at U.S. Capitol, Rice was surprise vote for Trump’s impeachment. She was one of 10 Republicans. Mace didn’t vote for impeachment, but she did criticize Trump for the frenzy that he created in his 2020-denying supporters before they stormed the halls and rioted through Congress.
Former president backs state Rep. Russell Fry and ex-state Rep. Katie Arrington in their fight against Rice. Trump-endorsed opponents have been outspent by incumbents. Independent polling is scarce. Surveys last month by conservative Trafalgar Group showed Fry leading Rice and Mace, while Arrington was in second.
“It’s nice looking at other people’s actions, but we are very much our own state with the same mind,” Barbara Nielson, a Beaufort County GOP activist, said last week to NBC News. I know that all of the news media tried to look at Trump’s endorsements and try to incorporate it into their reporting. I believe that this will likely factor in. It all comes down to the personality of the candidate and whether they are able to close the deal.
Trump’s explicit attempts to punish anyone who crosses him in 2022 have not worked.
In Georgia last month, for example, Gov. For example, in Georgia, Governor Mo Brooks, Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger won their GOP primaries against the challengers that the former president had endorsed. In Alabama’s Senate primary, Rep. Mo Brooks advanced into a runoff even though Trump withdrew his endorsement. Brooks stated that Brooks wanted to continue the 2020 election. Trump supported Brooks’ Republican opponent in the runoff election, Katie Britt, over the weekend.
Trump’s endorsement success has been better in open races with fewer revenge narratives, such as the Ohio and Pennsylvania Senate primaries. He has also bolstered his endorsement record by supporting many candidates on the verge of winning before he became involved.
Trump’s Nevada decision was more about loyalty. Laxalt was a Trump campaign cochair in 2020 and was involved in several unsuccessful legal challenges of the election results in a state Joe Biden narrowly lost. Laxalt raised doubts about the integrity of the election, just like Trump. However, official investigations proved that there was no widespread fraud.
Brown, a former Army captain who has won straw poll victories as well as a knack for collecting small donations, has fought back against Laxalt. This has shown that grassroots voters are in favor of Laxalt. Although Laxalt leads in polls, and has the support of most of the national GOP establishment, some surveys show that the race is tightening. Trump called Laxalt last week to hold a rally. His son Donald Trump Jr. also traveled to Nevada for an event.
In what is expected to be one the most competitive races for control of the chamber, the winner of the Senate primaries will likely face Catherine Cortez Masto, the Democratic incumbent.
Trump Jr. ran last week for Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. His father is the preferred candidate in Nevada’s crowded GOP primary to governor. Lombardo has been voted the front-runner by polls, which also include Joey Gilbert (retired professional boxer) and former Senator Dean Heller. The Democratic Governor is expected to be the winner of this primary. Steve Sisolak will be running in the general election.
It is worth paying attention to Nevada’s GOP primary election for secretary of state. Jim Marchant is a former legislator who supports election conspiracy theories and is the leading candidate for the position of chief elections officer. Marchant stated that he wouldn’t have certified Biden winning in the state if Marchant was secretary of state in 2020. Trump has not supported the race. Recent polls showed that more than three quarters of likely primary voters were undecided. Marchant and Jesse Haw are the top two candidates.
There are a few other primaries on Tuesday, including the South Carolina race to be the governor. In this race, Henry McMaster, the GOP incumbent, faces a primary challenge by Harrison Musselwhite (a truck driver who is campaigning as “Trucker Bob”). Democrats will choose a nominee from the five-candidate field that includes Joe Cunningham (ex-US Rep.) and Mia McLeod (State Sen.).
South Carolina’s Spartanburg County Democratic party chair Angela Geter and state Rep. Krystle Matts, as well as author Catherine Fleming Bruce, are all vying to win the Democratic nomination to face U.S. Senator Tim Scott this autumn. Scott is considered a possible presidential candidate in 2024, as he is unopposed during the Republican primary.
