Morning Digest: Trump endorses Michigan candidate he begged not to run for governor

The GOP wanted John James to seek reelection. He had other ideas.

Republican Rep. John James, candidate for governor of Michigan. (Credit: John James Facebook.)

Leading Off

MI-Gov

Despite expressing his displeasure with Republican Rep. John James for running for governor instead of seeking reelection to the House, Donald Trump endorsed James’ campaign to lead Michigan on Monday.

State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, who badly lagged in the polls, responded to the news by dropping out of the primary and endorsing James.

Wealthy businessman Perry Johnson and former Attorney General Mike Cox, however, both affirmed they’d forge on to the Aug. 4 primary. The winner will likely take on Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the favorite to secure the Democratic nomination.

Trump’s seal of approval gives James some welcome news after a difficult stretch for the former frontrunner.

The congressman has been on the receiving end of heavy spending from Johnson, who has criticized James for running statewide rather than defending his competitive 10th Congressional District.

“President Trump did not endorse John James,” Johnson said in an ad just last week. “He didn’t even want him to run for governor.”

At least until Monday, Johnson’s take was accurate.

“You know, he’s running for governor, but I’m not sure I’m happy about that, John,” Trump himself told James last June. “Do we have somebody good to take your seat?” The congressman quickly answered in the affirmative, to which Trump responded, “Cause, otherwise, we’re not letting him run for governor. We can’t.”

Trump, however, seemed unassuaged by James’ answer and remained neutral for the following year as the congressman, who had initially enjoyed a decisive polling lead in his quest for the nomination, faced unwelcome news coverage.

The unflattering headlines included stories of local party activists in the Detroit suburbs griping that James was “abandoning” his House seat, as well as TMZ’s coverage of James’ infamous vacation to the Turks and Caicos even as the Department of Homeland Security remained shut down.

While most surveys still showed James ahead after this difficult stretch, Johnson released internal polls showing him in a close race against, and sometimes even leading, the frontrunner.

And Johnson isn’t James’ only obstacle in this summer’s primary. An outside group funded by members of the wealthy DeVos family and allied to James began airing ads last week attacking both Cox and Johnson. Cox reacted to the offensive by portraying James as disloyal to Trump, including for having “ignored him when asked to stay in Congress.”

Trump, however, finally blessed James with his endorsement on Monday and assured Republicans, “HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”

But it’s a good bet Trump’s chief hope is that his new pick won’t let him down.

While Trump’s endorsement remains the most sought-after commodity in GOP politics, his support wasn’t enough to get Rep. Randy Feenstra across the finish line in the June 2 primary for governor of Iowa.

Feenstra, who lost to wealthy investor Zach Lahn, was criticized by Republicans for refusing to campaign and skipping debates. James has been similarly hard to find, with columnist Nolan Finley writing in April that he was “mounting a defensive campaign, running not to lose rather than to win.”

Trump got another black eye last week in Georgia when his endorsement wasn’t enough to carry Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to victory against billionaire Rick Jackson. The GOP’s supreme leader also found a way to distance himself from Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette’s poor polling numbers in South Carolina by announcing Friday he was also endorsing Attorney General Alan Wilson in addition to Evette.

If Trump’s new gamble on James goes badly, though, he already has some excuses ready for what went wrong.

“The man running against him was all Trump, and the only one out of hundreds of races, hundreds,” Trump said on June 11 when he was asked if he regretted backing Feenstra. He also expressed some doubts about picking Jones over Jackson before Georgia’s primary even took place.

“There’s a gentleman in Georgia that I endorsed who was much less Trump than the other man that won as you know,” he continued, “and had I been given the proper information which I don’t think I was I probably would have endorsed the other person or not endorsed at all but I would have endorsed the other person. The other person was much more Trump, as you know, than Randy.”

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Don’t miss our comprehensive guide to tonight’s primaries—more than 20 races in total, across four different states:

Mamdani’s 'team' takes on the old guard in a trio of key primaries

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Georgia gives Trump a black eye

Governors

OK-Gov

The hardline anti-tax Club for Growth on Monday endorsed former state Sen. Mike Mazzei ahead of the Aug. 25 Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma’s open governorship.

Mazzei, whom Donald Trump unexpectedly backed last month, faces Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who was targeted by the Club’s network before the first round of voting. Drummond ultimately finished first last week with 26.3%, with Mazzie just behind with 26.0%.

WI-Gov

Former state cabinet member Missy Hughes announced Monday that she was dropping out of the Aug. 11 Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor and endorsing Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. Hughes, who is the first notable Democrat to leave the race, made her plans known about two weeks after the deadline to remove her name from the ballot.

Rodriguez is now one of six Democrats campaigning to succeed Gov. Tony Evers, who is not seeking reelection. She faces former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Rep. Francesca Hong, and state Sen. Kelda Roys.

The Republican nominee will almost certainly be Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has only minor intraparty opposition.

House

AL-01, AL-02

Donald Trump on Monday endorsed a pair of Alabama Republicans who, until recently, had been running against one another: former Rep. Jerry Carl, who’s seeking a comeback in the open 1st District, and state Rep. Rhett Marques, who’s running in the 2nd.

Carl is the favorite to win the GOP nod over several lesser-known candidates in the race to succeed Rep. Barry Moore, who’s running for Senate. Marques faces somewhat stiffer competition in the Aug. 11 primary from Army veteran Joshua McKee, but a recent poll had Trump’s new choice up 30-10. Notably, these do-over primaries will not feature runoffs.

Carl and Marques were set to square off in the conservative 1st District when Alabama Republicans passed a new gerrymander following the Supreme Court’s recent decision to gut the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais. That made the previously blue 2nd District much redder, prompting both Marques and McKee to run there instead.

Despite the major overhaul to his district, Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures has said he’ll seek reelection.

FL-24

Retiring Rep. Frederica Wilson has endorsed Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert in the race to succeed her in Florida’s 24th Congressional District. Gilbert is one of several Democrats seeking their party’s nod in the Aug. 18 primary.

MI-08, MI-10

In addition to his foray into the governor’s race, Donald Trump endorsed two candidates running for the House in Michigan on Monday: Navy veteran Amir Hassan, who has minimal opposition in his quest to take on Democratic Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet in the 8th District; and Army National Guard officer Mike Bouchard, who faces a tougher GOP field in the open 10th District.

Bouchard’s rivals for the Republican nod in the race to succeed Rep. John James include former prosecutor Robert Lulgjuraj, who’s outraised the rest of the pack, and attorney Justin Kirk.

Democrats also have a contested primary in the 10th between former prosecutor Christina Hines, former Commerce Department attorney Eric Chung, and former Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel.

Poll Pile

• IA-Sen: Global Strategy Group:

  • Josh Turek (D): 47, Ashley Hinson (R): 45.

• KS-Sen (D): Change Research for Civic Clarity:

  • Adam Hamilton: 18, Christy Davis: 10, Patrick Schmidt: 7, other candidates 4% or less, undecided: 55.

• KS-Gov (D): Change:

  • Cindy Holscher: 37, Ethan Corson: 10, Curt Skoog: 7, undecided: 44.

• AZ-06: Normington, Petts & Associates for House Majority PAC:

  • JoAnna Mendoza (D): 47, Juan Ciscomani (R-inc): 45.

• FL-27 (D): Bendixen & Amandi International for Eliott Rodriguez:

  • Eliott Rodriguez: 54, Robin Peguero: 28.

• NY-17 (D): Public Policy Polling for Majority Democrats (pro-Cait Conley):

  • Cait Conley: 33, Beth Davidson: 19, Effie Phillips-Staley: 14, Mike Sacks: 5, John Cappello: 1.