Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is eyeing a return to power, hasn’t had much luck recruiting the kinds of Senate candidates who will support his bid to remain the top Senate Republican next year.
Instead, the Kentuckian faces a potential freshman class of Republican senators more aligned with former President Donald Trump, who wants Mr. McConnell to be pushed out of party leadership.
Mr. McConnell has struck out numerous times this election cycle in his quest to persuade formidable Republican candidates outside of Mr. Trump’s loyalty circle to run for the Senate.
On Thursday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey confirmed he will not challenge vulnerable Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in November.
Mr. Ducey is the third Republican governor to rebuff Mr. McConnell’s recruitment efforts.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu have also indicated they will not run for the Senate.
If elected to the Senate, the three governors would have helped Mr. McConnell create a wider buffer zone against party lawmakers who align with Mr. Trump. The former president attacks Mr. McConnell and other Republicans for refusing to support him and his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged to defeat him.
Mr. Trump is endorsing candidates who support him and embrace his “America First” agenda, which Mr. McConnell and other Republicans are essentially ignoring. He is particularly interested in candidates who say they won’t back Mr. McConnell when the conference elects Senate leaders.
Among sitting senators either returning or running to return to the Republican conference next year, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina suggested he won’t vote to reinstate Mr. McConnell or support any other Republican for leader unless “they can prove to me that they can advocate an ‘America First’ agenda and have a working relationship with Donald Trump because if you can’t do that, you will fail.”
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who is running for a third term and has Mr. Trump’s endorsement, has told CNN that a vote from him to elevate Mr. McConnell to majority leader is “not on the table.”
Mr. McConnell failed to recruit the three popular Republican governors.
Mr. Hogan has spoken out in opposition to the former president and agrees with Mr. McConnell that Mr. Trump incited the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
Despite internal polling that showed Mr. Hogan had a path to defeating Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Mr. Hogan said he was not interested in becoming a senator.
“He’s by far the most electable Republican in Maryland and would have had the best shot of beating Van Hollen,” said Maryland pollster Patrick Gonzales.
Mr. Ducey, who refused to overturn Joseph R. Biden’s narrow election victory in Arizona, also declined.
Mr. Trump pledged to endorse another candidate if Mr. Ducey ran for the Senate. Late Thursday, Mr. Trump said of Mr. Ducey’s decision, “Smart move, Doug—there’s no room for RINO [Republicans in name only].”
In January, Mr. Trump said in a statement, “Rumors are that Doug Ducey, the weak RINO Governor from Arizona, is being pushed by Old Crow Mitch McConnell to run for the U.S. Senate. He will never have my endorsement or the support of MAGA Nation!”
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told “The Howie Carr Show” last month that Mr. Trump is unhappy with Mr. Sununu because the new Hampshire governor “has never been loyal to him.”
The former president has endorsed a slate of candidates and incumbents who vocally back him and his agenda and have joined Mr. Trump in questioning the 2020 election results.
Some candidates have pledged to at least consider opposing Mr. McConnell’s bid to serve as majority leader.
Trump-backed Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka, who is challenging Trump opponent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska’s Republican Senate primary race, said she won’t back Mr. McConnell for majority leader if she is elected and Republicans back the majority. Still, she trails Ms. Murkowski by 20 points in the most recent poll, taken in October.
Ms. Tshibaka said Mr. McConnell does not work hard enough to block Mr. Biden’s agenda or fight runaway spending and the exploding national debt.
She called Mr. McConnell and Ms. Murkowski “political elites pitted against real Americans.”
Mr. Trump is now weighing an endorsement in the Missouri Republican Senate primary and is in talks with former Gov. Eric Greitens, who was forced to resign from office in 2018 over accusations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations. Mr. Greitens, who is leading in primary polls, has pledged to oppose Mr. McConnell if he is elected to the Senate.
Mr. Greitens is a fierce Trump advocate. In a statement last year, he said he is “committed to finding new leadership in the Senate when Republicans win back the majority in 2022.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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