Trump misses in key Georgia state races: ANALYSIS

Despite many months of attacks and millions of dollars invested to bolster his picks, former President Donald Trump endured critical losses in his attempt to give Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger the boot.

Both Kemp and Raffensperger earned spots on Trump's political hit list by resisting pressure of the then-president's notorious call to "find" votes to swing the election in his favor.

In what could properly be described as a shellacking, Kemp came out on top of former Sen. David Perdue. Perdue’s unshakable loyalty to Trump and espousal of false claims about the 2020 election didn’t win him the support of primary voters. A gulf of hundreds of thousands of votes separate Kemp from Perdue.

Kemp had establishment Republican muscle behind him through the finish. Former Vice President Mike Pence took a stand for Kemp and against Perdue and Trump. Other prominent GOP governors, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all made stops in the Peach State for Kemp.

It’s just the latest gubernatorial loss for Trump. In Nebraska’s gubernatorial primary, Trump's endorsement failed to carry businessman Charles Herbster, who had been accused of sexual assault by eight women, to victory. Instead Republican leaders in the state rallied around the eventual winner, Jim Pillen. In Idaho, Trump’s pick, Janice McGeachin, lost in a landslide to incumbent Gov. Brad Little.

It hasn’t all been losses for Trump’s gubernatorial picks. As expected, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former White House press secretary, easily won her GOP primary for Arkansas governor. Though it’s arguable that it had less to do with Trump and more to do with Sanders’ deep roots in the state and her father, Mike Huckabee, who previously held the role.

In Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano, who received Trump’s endorsement just days before the Pennsylvania primary, will head to the general election against Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro. It’s unclear just how much Trump’s endorsement mattered in that race, as Mastriano was a favorite to win before he received Trump’s blessing.

The other loss for Trump in Georgia was for secretary of state, where incumbent Raffensperger was able to fend off a challenge from Rep. Jody Hice, though the margin of victory was smaller than in Kemp’s case. Hice ran on his objection to the counting of Georgia's electoral votes and his pledge, even a year and a half after the 2020 election, try and decertify the results.

While Raffensperger made an enemy of Trump by refusing to bow to pressure to overturn 2020 election results, he hinged his campaign on ideas that the Trump base could support like keeping noncitizens from voting, arguably a pledge in search of a problem as a review in the state showed that no non-citizens voted in 2020 elections.

Where Trump's endorsement likely made the most difference was in the Republican Senate primary, where college football legend Herschel Walker is a step closer to a chance to head to Washington. Trump had publicly urged the Heisman trophy winner to pursue the office.

Some might interpret, from these races, that the the noise of national politics, namely Trump’s bluster, doesn’t weigh as heavily when voters are choosing leaders closer to home.