As the country heads into the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans are facing a potential “nightmare” scenario as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former President Donald Trump are gearing up to go to war with each other in key Senate primaries.
The two Republican leaders have divergent interests in the primaries and The USA Today is predicting that “the most intense political contest of 2022 might be one that’s not on any ballot: Donald Trump versus Mitch McConnell.
The news outlet points out that “Trump hasn’t been shy about ripping into McConnell and has made no secret of his desire to see Republicans demote the Senate minority leader. Their extended feud now threatens to stoke bruising primary fights ahead of the midterms, potentially leaving Republican candidates weakened for the general elections and undermining GOP efforts to retake the Senate.”
As a result, “many Republicans fear open warfare will lead to the nomination of too-Trumpy extremists who would lose general elections to Democrats,” The newspaper noted before highlighting some of the most contentious races among Republicans.
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“In Alaska, a McConnell-backed political action committee, the Senate Leadership Fund, is supporting incumbent senator and Trump critic Lisa Murkowski. Trump, meanwhile, has pledged to campaign against Murkowski, one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump of the Jan. 6 impeachment charges over the Jan. 6 insurrection Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka says she would oppose McConnell’s continuation as party leader,” the USA Today reported.
In Arizona, McConnell endorsed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey as an “ideal” Senate candidate, but Trump effectively blocked the effort by saying “will never have my endorsement or the support of MAGA Nation!” according to the report.
Many Republicans fear the unfolding clash between Trump and McConnell will lead to preventable losses in the midterms.
“As the Trump factor hovers over 2022, some Republicans are haunted by the specter of elections past,” the USA Today reported. “In the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, for example, the Republicans lost four winnable Senate races because voters regarded their nominees as too extreme: Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada in 2010; Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana in 2012. Republicans fear something similar in 2022 – in a cycle in which every race counts as the GOP and Democrats vie for control of the Senate.”
