The primary election in Ohio stood as the first real test this midterm election season of former President Donald Trump's status as the Republican Party kingmaker — and he passed
, who in 2016 said the celebrity businessman could become"America's Hitler" but has since become an avid supporter.
But Ohio's Republican primary still shows the power that Trump's election lies have on his party's base. An AP-NORC poll last year found two-thirds of Republicans believe Biden was not legitimately elected, even though the contest was free of any significant voter fraud and repeated investigations, audits and court cases have disproved Trump's claims.he began to echo some of Trump's talking pointsTrump endorsed LaRose, a longtime supporter.
Ohio is not the only place where a GOP governor is well positioned against a primary challenger. Idaho's Brad Little has a strong fundraising advantage against his conservative opponent, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin. In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp is a strong favorite against former Sen. David Perdue, whom Trump recruited to punish Kemp for not supporting his election lies and for certifying Biden's victory in the state.
Turner co-chaired Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential primary campaign and lost to Brown in last year’s special election for the seat after its previous occupant, Marcia Fudge, became Biden’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Turner ran again, hoping that the district might be more amenable to her approach after it was redrawn to include more Democratic areas.