On Tuesday, the primary vote results came in, and the candidates endorsed by Donald Trump won their races. A week before the red state of Indiana ousted Republican lawmakers who refused to change their congressional maps, which would match what Democrats are doing in their blue states. Candidates in Indiana endorsed by Trump swept those elections as well.
In Kentucky, the fourteen-year Congressman Thomas Massie, who drew the ire of the President in his recent insistence on the release of the Epstein files and his opposition to the Big Beautiful Bill and the Iran war. He lost to Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, farmer, and avowed MAGA supporter.
In Georgia, Brad Raffensberger, the Secretary of State and candidate for governor, lost his primary run. Raffensberger became a household name by defying Trump in the 2020 election amid reports of voting irregularities. Raffensberger was obtrusive during those days and never conceded there could be a problem, even after the DOJ subpoenaed the documents from Fulton County for further investigation. Obviously, Trump did not endorse him to be the Governor of Georgia.
In Louisiana, Bill Cassidy, a senator since 2015, lost his seat after Trump endorsed one of his competitors. Cassidy was known to be one of the Republican Senators who voted to impeach Trump. After his loss, he said, “I voted to uphold the Constitution. It may have cost me my seat, but who cares?” What a disingenuous response. Of course, he cares; otherwise, he would not have decided to run again, this time to lose.
In Texas, the long-awaited Senate endorsement went to former Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn. The election will take place next week, and all indications are that Paxton will win. Rumors were swirling that Trump might have gone with Cornyn until he failed to work with the President to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.
A plausible explanation for the recent electoral events is that Trump has political sway among Republican voters. Undoubtedly, he is the leader of the party, and those politicians who oppose or are subversive to his leadership are no longer in step with what the voters want.
There seems to be more to it than just arresting a party’s power. What Trump has successfully done in his time in politics is what many voters have long wanted. He has given the public a third political party, MAGA, without having to create it from scratch. Even Trump admitted it is impossible to start a viable third party because the political process in this country makes it impossible.
What he did do is create MAGA, a political entity within the Republican Party. There are now three choices for the public: the Democrats, the Republicans in Name Only (RHINOs), and MAGA. The latest elections are proving that Republicans who are not on board with Making America Great Again are summarily being dismissed by the electorate.
Nothing in the country’s political history has even come close to this seismic shift in the political landscape. The endorsement of MAGA candidates and their success in the Republican primaries show there is finally a choice instead of accepting the managed decline the RHINOs campaign on.