Like old President Donald Trump approaches the Republican presidential nomination, some outside conservative groups and donors opposed to his candidacy say they must now redouble their efforts to win the Senate in November.
And some worry about Trump topping the list — an increasingly likely scenario with his decisive back-to-back victories in 2017. Iowa And New Hampshire – the task of holding the House and flipping the Senate will become increasingly difficult, even in a year when the Senate’s electoral map heavily favors the Republican Party.
“If Trump is ultimately nominated, the threat of a repeat of the last three elections and a Democratic victory increases significantly, making the Senate and House even more important,” said Bill Riggs, a spokesman for the Democratic Party. Americans for Prosperity Action.
The group, aligned with billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, has spent millions promoting former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as the top GOP candidate to defeat Trump in the primary, since approving it at the end of November. AFP Action leaders, who will discuss their policy plans with the network’s donors at a meeting in Southern California this weekend, say they continue to support Haley – despite her bruising defeat Tuesday in the New Hampshire and the “steeper road” she faces in her home state. Polls give Trump a wide lead in the Feb. 24 primary in the Palmetto State.
But Koch officials say the group’s biggest investment in 2024 will be in Senate races, with the primary focus on flipping Democratic-held seats in six states: Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He has already been approved in three of these primaries and more announcements are coming.
