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Seven endorsements that will test Trump’s influence

by Julia Manchester - 07/20/22 6:00 AM ET

The strength of former President Trump’s endorsement will face yet more high-profile tests in the coming months as the midterm primary season wraps up.

Trump’s endorsement has seen mixed results so far, though most of the major candidates he supported have won their races.

Still, the former president’s endorsed candidates are facing some contentious final GOP primary battles. Here are seven Trump-endorsed candidates to watch as the primary season comes to a close.

Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters

Trump threw his support behind venture capitalist Blake Masters in Arizona’s Republican Senate primary last month, calling Masters a “great modern-day thinker” and “one of the most successful businessmen and investors in the Country.”

Trump also pointed to Masters’s support of his false claim that he won the 2020 presidential election.

Trump and Masters have since appeared together in an ad. The former president was also scheduled to stump with Masters last weekend, but the rally was postponed in the wake of his former wife Ivana Trump’s death.

Masters is one of five candidates running in the GOP primary to take on incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D) in November. The crowded field includes Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, businessman Jim Lamon, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Mick McGuire and former state Rep. Justin Olson. When he endorsed Masters, Trump labeled Brnovich a “disappointment” and accused him of not doing more to reverse his 2020 loss in Arizona.

Arizona’s primary is slated for Aug. 2.

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake

In Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 presidential election have created a proxy battle between the former president and the state’s GOP establishment.

Trump endorsed former TV news anchor Kari Lake, who has touted his 2020 election claims. Gov. Doug Ducey (R), on the other hand, has backed attorney Karrin Taylor Robson.

Ducey characterized Lake’s allegations about the 2020 election as an act meant to please Trump’s base during an interview on Sunday with CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The primary has also showcased the divisions between Trump and his former vice president, Mike Pence, who endorsed Robson on Monday.

Many Republicans have warned that a focus on relitigating the 2020 presidential election will not play well with voters in swing states like Arizona as the Biden administration and Democrats grapple with issues like inflation and rising gas prices.

Arizona secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem

Trump’s endorsement of Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem for secretary of state also highlights his focus on the 2020 election results.

Finchem, who was endorsed by Trump in September, is a prominent supporter of the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election. As secretary of state, Finchem would play a major role in how Arizona’s elections are conducted going forward. He is one of a number of Trump-backed candidates running to be the top elections official in states across the country.

Finchem is facing off against three others in the Republican primary, including ad executive Beau Lane, who is backed by Ducey.

Arizona state House candidate David Farnsworth

Trump is backing former Arizona state Sen. David Farnsworth in his race against Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers for a state Senate seat.

Trump endorsed Farnsworth in the wake of Bowers’s public testimony last month before the House Jan. 6 committee, in which Bowers said Trump tried to pressure him to subvert the 2020 presidential election results.

The former president has, in turn, called Farnworth a “true patriot.”

The race comes as the Jan. 6 committee continues its series of public hearings investigating the attack on the Capitol last year.

Alaska Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka

Trump has also been involved in Alaska’s Senate primary, endorsing incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R) primary challenger, Kelly Tshibaka.

The former president held a rally with Tshibaka earlier this month in Anchorage, where he criticized Murkowski for voting to convict him during his second impeachment trial in the Senate last year.

Tshibaka has touted Trump’s unfounded claims that the election was stolen from him, pointing specifically to the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Yet Murkowski has a cash advantage in the race as an incumbent. The senator raised close to $1.7 million during the second quarter, and a political action committee supporting Murkowski raked in $2.4 million during the period.

Tshibaka, on the other hand, raised $587,000 during the same period.

Alaska House candidate Sarah Palin

Trump’s rally in Anchorage earlier this month was also meant to boost Sarah Palin, the former GOP vice presidential nominee and former governor of Alaska, who is running in the special election for the state’s at-large congressional seat.

The winner of the special election will finish out the remainder of Rep. Don Young’s (R) term. The primary for the seat’s full term will also be held at the same time, on Aug. 16.

Like Trump, Palin has positioned herself as an outsider. She is running against Nick Begich, who has said he voted for a Democratic Anchorage mayoral candidate in 2015. Palin has branded him a RINO, or “Republican in name only.” Begich has also said he voted for Trump in 2016 and in 2020.

Palin led Begich and Democratic candidate Mary Peltola in fundraising, bringing in $200,000 during the second quarter. Peltola raised $162,000 during the period. And while Begich trailed Palin and Peltola in fundraising, he has the most cash-on-hand in the race at $700,000.

Wyoming House candidate Harriet Hageman

Perhaps the most well-known Trump-backed primary challenger this cycle is Harriet Hageman, who is looking to oust incumbent Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

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Hageman has continuously touted Trump’s claims about the 2020 presidential election results as Cheney plays a starring role on the House Jan. 6 committee as its vice chairwoman.

Cheney is a staunch conservative and has represented the district since 2017. However, her criticism of Trump in the wake of the attack on the Capitol and her move to impeach him has led to backlash from GOP leaders. In March 2021, she was voted out of her position as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.

The incumbent congresswoman has led the cash game against Hageman. However, Hageman has held a substantial lead over Cheney in recent polling.