With the 2018 primaries about to end, all but two of the 37 Republicans Mr. Trump has endorsed for House, Senate and governor during their primary campaigns have won.
The president’s supporters say the policies and candidates he is advancing bring the party more in line with what GOP voters want.
“ Donald Trump’s views are a reflection of what rank-and-file Republican voters have already believed for many years,” said Andy Surabian, a Republican strategist and former Trump White House official.
“Republican voters across the country have been ignored by Republicans in Washington, D.C.” Some GOP leaders say the president’s endorsements could hurt their chances in the general election by advancing candidates who could alienate swing voters or mobilize Democrats to even more vigorous opposition.
Trump Bump In many of his endorsements, President Trump has backed candidates who were already front-runners.
In Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial runoff, Mr. Trump backed Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a self-described “politically incorrect conservative,” over the lieutenant governor.
“Almost all their candidates for governor have shackled themselves to the…Titanic, which is the Donald Trump party,” he said.
“That makes it easier for us to defeat them.” Only two candidates have lost a primary so far after being endorsed by Mr. Trump.
Mr. Putnam had backed former Florida Gov.
Tim Pawlenty, a Trump critic in the 2016 election who unexpectedly lost his bid for a comeback in his state’s Aug. 14 GOP gubernatorial primary.