Trump-backed Candidates Face Critical GOP Runoffs Amid Party’s Rightward Lurch in Georgia and Alabama
Republican primaries in Georgia and Alabama highlight the ongoing grip of Donald Trump’s endorsements on a party increasingly defined by extremism, as candidates scramble for gubernatorial and Senate nominations.
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President Donald Trump’s endorsements are once again under scrutiny in two high-profile Republican runoffs on Tuesday, exposing the party’s continued submission to his divisive influence. In Georgia, Trump has thrown his support behind U.S. Rep. Mike Collins for the U.S. Senate, signaling the former president’s relentless efforts to shape the GOP in his own image. Meanwhile, former football coach Derek Dooley, backed by establishment figure Governor Brian Kemp, also appears on the ballot, reflecting the internal power struggle within the party. Collins, eager to capitalize on Trump’s backing, claimed the endorsement demonstrates confidence in his ability to win, adding that Trump’s timing is never “too late”—a telling sign of how candidates must pay homage to Trump’s whims.
The Georgia gubernatorial runoff further exposes the party’s rightward drift, pitting Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, another Trump loyalist, against billionaire Rick Jackson, who received a last-minute nod from Sen. Ted Cruz. Governor Kemp’s continued support for Jones underscores the GOP’s fixation on fielding candidates who toe the Trumpist line, regardless of broader public interest or democratic norms.
In Alabama, Rep. Barry Moore, yet another Trump-endorsed candidate, faces former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson in the Senate primary runoff. Trump, never missing an opportunity to meddle, appeared in a video urging voters to support Moore, describing him as a “great guy” who will not let voters down—a familiar refrain that ignores the real needs of working families.
Other races include a Republican challenge to a Democratic incumbent in New York, where former state assembly member Mike LiPetri boasted about a union endorsement, and local officials such as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Georgia Rep. Clay Fuller encouraging voter turnout, striving to counteract the GOP’s anti-democratic maneuvers.
The outcomes of these races will reveal just how deeply Trump’s toxic brand of politics has infiltrated the GOP, as the party desperately clings to its narrow majority in Congress at the expense of democracy and progress.
