(FiveNation.com)- Yet another Republican candidate who has aligned himself with former President Donald Trump won a surprise primary victory earlier this week, despite serious financial backing from the Republican establishment.
This week, Don Bolduc won the GOP primary for a Senate seat from New Hampshire, taking down Chuck Morse, who received millions in support from a super PAC that’s aligned with Mitch McConnell, the minority leader in the Senate.
Trump actually didn’t officially endorse or support Bolduc — or any candidate in New Hampshire. However, the Bolduc embraced many of Trump’s campaign claims, such as the 2020 presidential election being stolen.
During a debate in August, Bolduc, who is a retired brigadier general of the Army, said:
“I signed a letter with 120 other generals and admirals saying Trump won the election, and damn it, I stand by [it].”
Bolduc is the latest Trump-inspired candidate to win a surprising victory in a GOP primary. Others include Blake Masters from Arizona, Mehmet Oz from Pennsylvania, J.D. Vance from Ohio and Herschel Walker from Georgia.
All of these victories surely have pleased Trump and his camp. However, many political pundits believe that all of these candidates might have a much tougher time winning a general election against a Democrat than they did unseating an establishment-backed GOP candidate in a primary.
These fears led New Hampshire’s own Republican Governor Chris Sununu to officially endorse Morse in the race against Bolduc. His reasoning was that Morse presented the best opportunity to take down Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan in the general election.
Sununu wrote an op-ed piece in the New Hampshire Union Leader recently that read:
“The Republican candidate who Maggie Hassan is most afraid to face in this election is small-business owner and Senate President Chuck Morse.”
Then, he gave a radio interview in which he specifically discussed Bolduc, saying:
“He’s not a serious candidate. If he were the nominee, I have no doubt we would have a much harder time trying to win the seat back. So, I don’t take him seriously as a candidate. I don’t think most people do.”
Unfortunately for Sununu and the GOP establishment, enough New Hampshire voters did take Bolduc seriously in the state’s primary.
Not even the more than $4 million ad spend that a super PAC initiated was enough to convince voters to support Morse. That super PAC is aligned with McConnell, and purchased the ad spend close to the end of the primary election run-up.
This Senate seat in New Hampshire has long been a target of Republicans as one they could flip from Democrat to their side in the November primaries. However, Sununu shocked the political world when he announced he wouldn’t be the one opposing Hassan in the race, as he would seek another term as governor instead.
When he announced his plans last November, Sununu said:
“I’d rather push myself 120 miles an hour delivering wins for New Hampshire than to slow down, end up on Capitol Hill debating partisan politics without results. That’s why I am going to run for a fourth term [as governor].”
