Not content simply to deliver endorsements, former President Donald Trump has made a habit out of granting the anti-endorsement.
The latest Republican in a key race to get frozen out by Trump is Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a favorite of movement conservatives in the race for the party’s nomination for Senate in the Grand Canyon State. The former president, insisting his loss to President Joe Biden in Arizona in 2020 was fraudulent, is angry with Brnovich for not acting aggressively to reverse the outcome of that contest — despite lacking evidence for his claims.
No matter. In Arizona, where the Republican base is particularly supportive of Trump, his so-called non-endorsement could have an impact on the Senate primary. Indeed, according to one GOP operative in Arizona, the former president’s seal of approval will “definitely” make a difference, good news for Republican Senate contenders Jim Lamon, Blake Masters, and Mick McGuire.
“Trump’s endorsement is worth at least 20 [percentage] points,” this Arizona Republican said.
The Arizona primaries are scheduled for Aug. 2, so there is still plenty of time for this race to develop. But Trump’s attack on Brnovich came just days after another public opinion poll showed the state attorney general leading the field of GOP Senate candidates. Brnovich, who led in this latest survey with 21% of the vote, has led in polls for months and is atop the RealClearPolitics average, although his advantage has slipped.
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“It looks like he is just going to ‘kick the can down the road’ and stay in that middle path of non-controversy. He wants to be politically correct,” Trump said in a lengthy statement as he accused Brnovich of ignoring election irregularities in Arizona in the last election. “The good news is Arizona has some very good people running for election to the U.S. Senate. I will be making an Endorsement in the not-too-distant future!”
Mike Noble, a pollster in Phoenix who has been studying Arizona voters for years and conducted the most recent available survey gauging preferences in the GOP Senate primary, said Trump’s announcement is a major problem for Brnovich.
“This recent revelation is a huge blow to Brnovich’s U.S. Senate aspirations and provides an opportunity for one of his opponents to gain momentum,” Noble told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.
Amid the scores of endorsements in key Republican congressional primaries Trump has awarded as the midterm elections approach, he has also tossed some reverse endorsements. These have amounted to declarations of opposition to a particular candidate in a particular GOP primary as he continues to mull which contender to back for House, Senate, governor, or other office in a specified nominating contest.
A few days before knocking Brnovich, Trump issued one of his anti-endorsements in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Pennsylvania, announcing that contender Bill McSwain, a former U.S. attorney, was on his naughty list. Like Brnovich, McSwain’s sin was not acting to reverse the 2020 election in Pennsylvania, where Trump argues his loss to Biden was based on faulty votes.
McSwain brushed aside the former president’s declaration with a declaration of his own. “We are surging,” he said in a Twitter post, pointing to a public opinion poll that showed him in third place and not far behind the two candidates at the top. “One month away from victory on primary day.”
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Other recipients of an anti-endorsement from Trump include Republican Senate contenders Matt Dolan in Ohio and Pat McCrory in North Carolina.
Dolan always appeared to be a long shot for the nomination in Ohio, and that does not seem to have changed ahead of the May 3 primary. McCrory, although he trails in most polls, was briefly ahead in the race and is running a vigorous enough campaign that supporters of Trump-endorsed Rep. Ted Budd had to redouble their efforts to push the congressman across the finish line in North Carolina’s May 17 primary.
