Republican senators from Super Tuesday states who are remaining neutral in the 2024 GOP primary declined to reveal who they voted for.
Despite the fact that former President Donald Trump has secured the endorsements of more than half of the Senate Republican Conference, a number of members have maintained that they won’t weigh in before the general election. Of those representing states that vote on Super Tuesday, none of them were willing to reveal who they backed to the Washington Examiner.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), whose bipartisan border security deal was ripped to shreds by his party just last month, said he voted over the weekend. He burst into laughter when asked if he’d like to reveal who he voted for.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a centrist with a penchant for bipartisanship, said when pressed on who he supported in his state’s primary, “I voted for a good group of candidates all the way up and down the line.”
He declined to elaborate.
The Senate GOP conference has many centrist and establishment Republicans known for their bipartisan deal-making. Several of Trump’s GOP skeptics, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) included, were able to develop decent working relationships with the former president while in office, though several of those have since deteriorated.
Trump’s refusal to accept his 2020 election loss and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that ensued left his standing with most Senate Republicans in near disrepair. Republicans went on to blame Trump for the party’s incumbents losing runoff races in Georgia, handing Democrats control of the Senate.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The former president’s GOP detractors grew more critical after Republicans underperformed in the 2022 midterm elections, only retaking the House by a slim margin and failing to regain Senate control.
McConnell and several of his GOP colleagues, such as Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Todd Young (R-IN), have said they won’t endorse Trump unless he secures the party’s nomination. Advisers to McConnell, the outgoing Senate GOP leader, and Trump have been negotiating in hopes of securing an endorsement before the latter secures the nomination.
