Senate GOP fears another Trump disaster in Georgia runoff
by Alexander Bolton - 11/11/22 6:00 AM ET
Senate Republicans are worried that former President Trump may derail their chances of winning the runoff election in Georgia next month if he announces his 2024 presidential campaign in the next few weeks, and again thrusts his unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud into the spotlight.
Trump’s critics in the GOP establishment are blaming him for their disappointing performance in Tuesday’s election, in which Republican candidates lost key races across the country and Republican turnout fell short of expectations.
Republican strategists worry that if the Dec. 6 Georgia runoff between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and GOP candidate Herschel Walker turns into a referendum on Trump, it will likely result in a loss that could cost them control of the Senate.
“Hopefully Trump will stay out of the race as much as he possibly can and if that means holding off announcing his campaign for the White House, that would be smart move not just for Republicans’ chances in Georgia but Trump’s hopes to win the nomination for president,” said one GOP aide, who requested anonymity to discuss concerns about Trump’s impact on the Georgia race.
“If you talk to Georgia election strategists, they believe Trump was a huge drag on Walker in suburban Atlanta and there’s just no reason to risk repeating that,” the source said. “If Trump injects himself into the race somehow and Walker comes up short, that’s really bad for Trump too.”
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3730275-senate-gop-fears-another-trump-disaster-in-georgia-runoff/