President Donald Trump on Wednesday celebrated Texas Republican Ken Paxton’s Senate runoff victory over Sen. John Cornyn as a sign of momentum for the November midterm elections, even as Republican operatives told The Associated Press that his growing control of the party may backfire with a broader electorate that has soured on his presidency and the economy.
Paxton, the Texas attorney general, defeated Cornyn in the May 26 runoff after Trump endorsed him ahead of the vote. Trump told his Cabinet the next day that Paxton’s romp “was a prelude” for the party’s success in the fall, according to the AP.
But Republican operatives, speaking on condition of anonymity to the AP, warned that Trump’s tightening grip on the GOP could make it harder to fend off Democratic advances in the general election. The operatives pointed to voters’ dissatisfaction with Trump’s second term and the economy, which has been battered by his trade policies and the ongoing war with Iran.
Trump added to those concerns, the operatives said, when he signaled that midterm anxieties are playing no role in his negotiations with Tehran. “The president gave them new material to worry about,” the AP reported, after Trump said he would not let November’s electoral stakes influence his approach to Iran.
The AP report noted that Trump’s recent primary endorsements have produced a run of wins, but the party’s immediate challenge is whether candidates shaped in his image can hold the coalition together when facing a broader and more skeptical general electorate.