Bulwark political reporter Joe Perticone says it doesn’t pay to be a former lawmaker minion for President Donald Trump.
Perticone and his associates have covered the high number of House Republicans retiring or seeking statewide positions back home after the “historically ineffective” speakership of Rep. Mike Johnson (R–La.) and Trump.
“Unfortunately for the candidates looking to move on up from the federal kiddie table, voters seem unimpressed by their claims to be ready for a seat among the adults,” Perticone reported. “Of the 21 House Republicans running for statewide office this cycle, eight have lost or abandoned their primaries. Just four have won their respective races — several of whom ran in non-competitive primaries or received a hefty assist from President Donald Trump.”
The future of more former GOP House members is still in question, but Perticone said at least one more loss is waiting because Reps. David Schweikert and Andy Biggs are competing against one another for the Republican nomination in Arizona governor.
“What gives? Well, for starters, the stench of currently being in office,” said Perticone, citing a recent interview with Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), who made the leap from House to Senate in 2024.
“It’s a tough climate,” said Curtis describing this year’s election.
“… I think it always has been [toxic],” he added of Republican incumbency in primary races. “I mean, it has its advantages, obviously. But people love the new, shiny things.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who just lost his primary to be Texas’s next attorney general, is another failed lawmaker still trying to figure out how he got here.
“I think people like to come up with all sorts of reasons for why individual campaigns work or don’t work,” Roy told Perticone. “I just ran a race, in Texas, against $30 million, and against a bunch of ads saying I’m ‘not Trump enough.’”
“I didn’t have to do it,” Roy added of his bid for Texas AG. “I could’ve stayed [in the House] and kept doing my thing and been here for a long time. I wanted to enter the fray to try to fight back in Texas.”
But Roy said candidates with all the on-paper credentials keep falling short this year, citing Ralph Norman’s failed bid to win the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary. In fact, two GOP U.S. House members with good credentials both failed to make the runoff.
“Nancy Mace had a whole bunch of name ID,” he added.
Trump endorsed both Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and winner Alan Wilson.
“Every race is unique, but so far, the GOP candidates attempting to leave the House to pursue state-wide ambitions are frequently running into unexpected walls,” said Perticone, suggesting maybe “it’s because they’ve lost the ability to create real legislative results.”