Trump racks up May primary wins in Republican retribution campaign

President Donald Trump went on a winning streak in May primaries as he ousted several Republicans who had dissented from his party line, further tightening his grip on the GOP.

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

Trump endorsed 10 candidates against incumbent Republicans in primaries this month, and all but two of them won their races, with one of the contests still too close to call.

Defeating sitting lawmakers, who often have advantages in name recognition and fundraising, is no easy feat . Many of Trump’s preferred candidates got boosts from the president’s political team and millions of dollars in outside help.

Meanwhile, some of Trump’s detractors could still use their final months in office to push back on the president’s agenda, even though they lost their races.

But Trump’s winning streak over the last four weeks makes one thing clear: It’s still Trump’s party, and he can take you down if he wants to.

Trump’s biggest target

Trump’s biggest target this month was Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a persistent thorn in Trump’s side in Congress who has bucked the president on spending, the Iran war and the Epstein files in recent months.

Massie lost last week’s primary to Trump-backed Navy veteran Ed Gallrein by 10 points, 55%-45%. Still, Massie saw a silver lining in his performance.

“Look, I got 45% of the vote in spite of this tremendous headwind. That means 45% of the party still believe in the ideals that I believe in and have espoused in Washington, D.C.,” Massie told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” o n Sunday.

Massie blamed his loss on the millions of dollars that was spent against him. More than $33 million worth of ads swamped the airwaves in his district, making Massie’s race the most expensive House primary in history, according to AdImpact.

Trump and his allies cheered Massie’s loss as another as another sign that his endorsement remains a powerful force in the party.

“We knocked out everybody,” Trump said at New York rally last week.

An impeachment backer goes down

Trump was also referring to GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost his primary just a few days before Massie.

Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators — and one of three still in office today — who voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

In his first election since that vote, the two-term senator won just 25% in his primary, failing to advance to the June 27 runoff as he ran behind Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming. Letlow won 45% of the vote, falling short of the majority threshold to win the primary outright, while Fleming won 28%.

Cassidy did not mention Trump by name as he accepted defeat on May 16, but he appeared to reference the president’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

“When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout, you don’t whine, you don’t claim the election was stolen, you don’t find a reason, you don’t manufacture some excuse,” Cassidy said. “You thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you’ve had that privilege, and that’s what I’m doing right now.”

Victories in Indiana

Trump’s first victories this month came in Indiana, where he backed seven primary challengers against GOP state senators who defied a push to redraw the state’s congressional lines and boost Republicans in the midterms.

Five Trump-backed challengers prevailed , helped by outside groups aligned with the president. One race, between Sen. Spencer Deery and Fountain County GOP Chairwoman Paula Copenhaver, remains too close to call. They have been separated by just 3 votes, and the race is headed for a recount .

State Sen. Greg Goode was the only GOP senator to defeat his Trump-backed challenger.

State Sen. Greg Walker, who lost to Trump-endorsed state Rep. Michelle Davis, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press NOW” that he did not regret opposing the redistricting effort.

“I made the right choice,” Walker said. “My very first words when I heard of this was, this is ridiculous and this will backfire. Clearly on the national level, it has been a backfire.”

Walker said the primaries sent “a clear message of retribution.”

“I have to ask folks that voted here in District 41 or anyone in the nation, do you think that Indiana serves better when we’re under coercion and threat? Or do you think we serve better as legislators when we’re allowed to have our own cognitive abilities and reason things out and use our best judgment?” Walker said.

Last-minute Texas triumph

Fresh off of his wins in Indiana and Louisiana, and on the cusp of a win against Massie, Trump decided to take on one more Republican incumbent.

Last week, he endorsed state Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican Party’s Texas Senate primary runoff, picking him over longtime Sen. John Cornyn. Cornyn was the top vote-getter in the initial March 3 primary, but failed to win a majority of the vote in a multi-candidate field, pushing the race to a runoff against the controversial attorney general.

Trump’s decision to endorse Paxton drew sharp pushback from some Republicans, including several of Cornyn’s Senate colleagues, who argued that Paxton could put the seat at risk if he became the GOP nominee. Paxton was impeached in 2023 on bribery and corruption charges, though he was acquitted, and his wife filed for divorce last year on “biblical grounds.”

Trump’s last-minute endorsement came as Paxton’s team made the case that he was likely to win. The Paxton campaign shared polling with Trump showing him ahead in the primary, according to longtime Trump ally and Paxton supporter Steve Bannon, and a person close to the president said Paxton’s polling advantage factored into Trump’s endorsement decision.

Paxton went on to trounce Cornyn by nearly 20 points, 64%-36%.

Some Texas Republicans said Wednesday that Trump’s endorsement helped hand Paxton a decisive victory.

“I think it made it from a likely Paxton win, even though those of us who’ve been lifelong friends of John Cornyn were hoping for the opposite result, to an overwhelmingly likely win,” said George Seay, a longtime Cornyn friend and donor.

“Clearly the president has an impact on the base that’s has not been seen in our lifetime,” Seay added.