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There and elsewhere, state party presidents have been at the center of a series of resolutions aimed at censoring or berating GOP lawmakers deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump.
In Red States, Blue States, and Swing States, these leaders – almost all of whom were elected during or shortly after Trump’s presidency – are redefining the traditional role of the state party president. They are emerging not only as custodians of the former president’s political legacy, but as the main perpetrators of the application of Trumpism within the GOP.
It seems like a boon to him if he runs for a new term in 2024, but also carries the risk of tying the party’s fortunes too tightly to a former president whose political brand is toxic to many voters.
“These are purity tests, 100%,” said Landon Brown, a lawmaker for the Republican state of Wyoming whose party state chairman Frank Eathorne has obtained public approval from Trump for his. re-election this year after the state party censored Representative Liz Cheney for her vote to impeach Trump. . “As far as the party is concerned, what I’ve started to see, especially over the last four to five years… it’s much more of a hard line, defined: ‘If you don’t vote that way, you don’t. you’re not a Republican. ‘”
Open wars by state presidents against elected officials were once rare, and disagreements were generally kept low in the interest of party unity. Major party leaders were responsible for party building and fundraising efforts, and were accustomed to showing deference to home state senators and governors, or working diligently to advance their political interests.
But Trump’s penchant for intra-party conflict and demands for absolute loyalty changed the equation. As president-elect, he personally intervened in an attempt to overthrow a president of the state of Ohio who had criticized him. In approving Eahorne’s re-election in April, Trump cited Eathorne’s role in censoring Cheney. In his March endorsement of David Shafer, Chairman of the Georgian Party, Trump said: “No one in Georgia has fought harder for me than David!
Shafer had gone so far as to join a lawsuit challenging the November election results, suing his own state’s Republican Chief Electoral Officer. The state party formally berated Brad Raffensperger, Republican Secretary of State for Georgia, at his convention last month.
Between Trump’s still dominant hand on the party and a GOP base that remains intensely loyal to the former president, the imperative for state party presidents is to interweave his interests with those of the party – lest failing to do so alienates its supporters. This despite Trump’s failure to win a second term and the loss of Republican majorities in Congress during his tenure.
“The party has been taken over by people who have been elected since he became president who actually said, ‘Be part of the team or shut up,'” said Allen Weh, former Republican Party chairman. of New Mexico and Trump’s ally. .
This dynamic has served to elevate the importance of party presidents as political actors – competing in some cases with those who are actually on the ballot. Presidents have a lot of latitude in their states – from recruiting candidates to choosing who to invite for speaking engagements, to how to allocate funds for voter registration and other programs. Several state Republican parties canceled their 2020 presidential nomination contests entirely, isolating Trump from longtime challengers, including in South Carolina. There, the former two-term governor of the state, Mark Sanford, couldn’t even get a hearing.
Bill Weld, a two-term former Massachusetts governor who ran for president in 2020, has also hit a wall in his home state. The state party changed the way it assigned delegates to presidential candidates to ensure that Trump in 2020 would not lose even a single delegate to the former state governor, who was re-elected in 2020. ‘a landslide in the 1990s.
Jim Lyons, the state party’s pro-Trump president, had a bitter argument with moderate GOP governor Charlie Baker, who made it clear he was not a fan of Trump. Baker – one of the country’s most popular governors – has not announced his intentions for 2022, but Lyon ally and former Trump campaign co-chair in Massachusetts, Geoff Diehl, has already announced his intention to run. as governor.
John Thomas, a Republican strategist who works on House campaigns across the country, said the pro-Trump disposition of the vast majority of state party presidents across the country will likely have a “direct impact” on the recruitment of party candidates and the allocation of resources before the midterm elections.
“Party presidents is one of their main jobs in recruiting candidates, so often party presidents will recruit them in their own image or ideological worldview,” Thomas said, “So I think ‘it’s safe to say, like in Oklahoma, recruiting candidates who look like [Utah Sen.] Mitt Romney. “
Also, he said, “party presidents can decide where to invest in things like voter registration and all that. So if they have a particular incumbent they don’t like that doesn’t fit Trump’s worldview, they can also penalize incumbents and potential challengers. “
Ultimately, the biggest beneficiary of the party’s shifting makeup could be Trump himself, if he runs for a new term in 2024. Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel pledged neutrality when she took over. was re-elected to her post after Trump’s defeat. But that’s a different story outside of Washington.
“It’s a huge advantage to have a support network of state party presidents,” said Matt Moore, former Republican Party chairman of South Carolina. “Presidents of state parties have huge megaphones. They choose speakers for the annual dinner, which are highlighted in little things like weekly newsletters. They have a lot of power. “
Drew McKissick, the current South Carolina GOP chairman, who has been approved for re-election this year by Trump not once or twice, but three times, has said that Trump “is certainly able, because of his experience and the new people and manpower he brought into the party, that an incredible number of people are supporting him.
McKissick said: “He understands the importance of the actual structure of the party.”
The pro-Trump constellation of GOP state party presidents largely reflects the sentiment of a Republican electorate that remains extremely loyal to Trump. And strong support for the president has benefited parties across the country, with increased participation at the local level. Georgia Republicans saw record crowds at local organizing meetings earlier this year, with many newcomers excited about Trump and furious at the election results. The number of activists and volunteers registered with local parties in South Carolina has roughly doubled since McKissick was first elected in 2017, he said, to around 10,000 today. hui.
Although GOP registration in Massachusetts is declining, Lyons said Trump galvanized Republicans locally.
Locally, dozens of activists leading local GOP operations held district or county positions long before Trump’s election. This has led some presidents to say that the idea that the party has drastically changed under Trump is overstated. Jennifer Carnahan, president of the Minnesota Republican Party, said the party within her has remained largely unchanged since before Trump’s election. Although Trump “brought new people” into the party, she said, “A lot of these people have been around for decades, haven’t they? … I would say the heart of the Minnesota GOP grassroots activist base is largely these real, committed individuals who just have a love for our party, our values.
But public criticism of Trump is almost unheard of at all levels within the state’s party leadership – and is largely not tolerated as part of a party operation that Trump has spent over four years to shape. The attention that Oklahoma GOP Chairman John Bennett is now receiving to support a primary challenge to U.S. Senator James Lankford is just the most recent example.
In Alaska over the weekend, state party officials approved a main challenge to Senator Lisa Murkowski, who criticized Trump. Before that, it was Kelli Ward, the bombastic state party president, undermining Ducey in Arizona. Eathorne, the Wyoming party chairman, was in Washington on the day of the Jan.6 riot on Capitol Hill, although he said he only participated in peaceful protests.
Brown, the Wyoming state legislator, opposed the state party’s censorship of Cheney and called for Eathorne’s resignation after the state party’s president pitched the idea of secession earlier this year.
“I will not attend State Party meetings while he is still in office,” Brown said. “It is an echo chamber in our State Party.”
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