The possibility that Trump will cost the GOP the Senate is coming into focus

The possibility that Trump will cost the GOP the Senate is coming into focus

President Donald Trump might well have cost Republicans the Senate majority in both 2020 and 2022.

In the former, even Trump himself has allowed that his stolen-election crusade might have damaged turnout in the decisive Georgia runoffs. And in the latter, Trump saddled his party with a number of shoddy MAGA candidates he endorsed who went on to lose very winnable seats.

Could it happen again in 2026?

It’s certainly looking possible. And recent developments make this specter loom larger.

The biggest example is the Senate race in Texas. But Trump has also made things more difficult for his party to hold seats in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

It’s not clear that Trump’s involvement will have changed the ultimate result of any of them. But if the battle for the majority is tight, the party could certainly be ruing some of Trump’s maneuvers — again.

The big one: Texas
Trump said this week that he had “no regrets” about backing state attorney general Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn in their May runoff. But the same probably can’t be said for many in his party.
North Carolina
Cornyn isn’t the only Senate Republican that Trump nudged aside, of course.

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has spoken openly about how Trump’s attacks pushed him towards the exits. In his new book, he recalls how he decided to retire right after Trump attacked him on social media and said he was looking for other candidates.

“Ack Mr. President,” he texted Trump, according to the book. “Now would be a good time to start looking for my replacement.”

Trump responded: “I am! DJT.”

That hasn’t worked out so well for the GOP. Tillis got out, and then popular Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper got in. Today, it looks like the GOP might be giving up on North Carolina, despite Trump having carried it in all three of his elections.

Georgia
Back in June, Trump decided to back Georgia Rep. Mike Collins over former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley in the GOP Senate runoff. And it made sense, given Collins was the more MAGA candidate, and Dooley was backed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who has at times tangled with Trump.
South Carolina
The latest addition to this list is one that Republicans likely won’t actually lose. But South Carolina is proving an unnecessary headache all the same.