(Washington) Republican voters vote Tuesday in two US states to select their candidates for the November election, a process that should once again give an idea of the real influence of Donald Trump on the conservative party.
Posted at 2:54 p.m.
These two sparsely urbanized states, Nebraska and West Virginia, lean frankly on the Republican side and the candidates who emerge as winners from these primaries will have every chance of being elected in the fall.
And therefore to strengthen the support that Donald Trump already enjoys in Congress or in local executives, he who will need to count his forces if he wants to set out again to conquer the White House in 2024.
In Nebraska, Donald Trump is officially behind the candidacy of Charles Herbster, a sixty-something who made his fortune in breeding. The man, who is running for governor, has been accused of sexual assault by eight women, including a local elected official, charges he denies en bloc.
Opposite him is Jim Pillen, a senior conservative university official who enjoys the support of current governor Pete Ricketts, himself deprived of the possibility of standing for re-election after having served two terms.
In West Virginia, where a primary resulting from a redistricting is being held on Tuesday, the former Republican president has decided to support Representative Alex Mooney against another Republican Representative, David McKinley. Again, the choice of Donald Trump is not to the taste of the governor of the state, Jim Justice, who offered his support to Mr. McKinley.
The latter irritated the former president by voting for the major infrastructure renovation program wanted by Joe Biden and by supporting the creation of a commission of inquiry into the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
In total, a dozen American states organize primaries in May to determine who will be their Republican candidate for the “midterms”, the midterm legislative elections.
Donald Trump has already won a victory in Ohio, with the victory of JD Vance, who was not originally his foal, but had the flair to seek and obtain the support of the billionaire converted into politics.
If the septuagenarian transforms the test in Nebraska and West Virginia, the thesis of his stranglehold on the party of Abraham Lincoln will be reinforced. If his nominees fail, other Republicans might think twice before seeking the former White House master’s anointing.