Republicans jump ship as Trump’s anchor weighs heavy on party

Republicans jump ship as Trump's anchor weighs heavy on party.

Key points

• Among them was Hinson, an Iowa Republican congresswoman who is trailing Democrat Josh Turek in Iowa's Senate race despite Trump carrying the state by double digits in 2024.
• In two key Senate races, Republican candidates Ashley Hinson in Iowa and Mike Rogers in Michigan are calling for an end to the Iran war.
• That compares to 59% who remarked they were more a supporter of Trump than the party when he took office for a second term in January 2025.
• With diesel rates at a record high and farmers feeling the pinch, Hinson, Rogers, Miller-Meeks and Alaska GOP Sen.
• In response to some Republicans breaking from Trump, White House spokesman Davis Ingle remarked the president remains the "unequivocal leader" and best messenger for Republicans.

Republicans jump ship as Trump's anchor weighs heavy on party. Zac Anderson, Joey Garrison USA TODAY.

Trump urges Republicans to vote as if he is on the ballot.

President Donald Trump asks Republican voters to turn out in the midterms.

WASHINGTON – Republican candidates facing increasingly dire prospects in the midterm election are starting to stiff-arm their unpopular standard-bearer, breaking with President Donald Trump as he threatens to drag down the party.

In Florida, Trump-endorsed Republican nominee for governor Byron Donalds wiped prominent mentions of the president from his website and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar is criticizing the administration's aggressive deportation push.

In two key Senate races, Republican candidates Ashley Hinson in Iowa and Mike Rogers in Michigan are calling for an end to the Iran war. And in historically Republican Kansas, Sen. Roger Marshall is raising reservations concerning Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the state.

Meanwhile, the growing GOP angst around running on Trump's record comes as polls show most voters disapprove of the president and plenty of of his core policies, including the U.S. War in Iran, sweeping tariffs on imports, and his hardline immigration crackdown.

More: Trump uses public funds for 'Love me' ad that promotes himself.

Republican candidates have fallen behind Democrats in a number of key races that will decide control of Congress. Trump's approval rating ‒ which sunk to a historic low of 32% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week ‒ is weighing on GOP candidates. This person often are closely tied to the president and now face an electorate that takes a dim view of his performance.

"You've got to show that you're different, " Republican pollster and Cygnal founder Brent Buchanan remarked of GOP candidates appealing to Trump voters who have soured on the president.

Notably, the Iran war and its economic fallout, particularly high gas rates, have put Republican congressional candidates in an especially challenging position as they navigate their allegiance to the president and voter dissatisfaction.

Trump has further complicated Republicans' midterm efforts by pushing controversial data centers that power artificial intelligence despite a nationwide backlash against the sprawling facilities, and angering ranchers in heavily Republican western states by working to expand imports of foreign beef to lower rates of the grocery staple.

Republican leaders have largely stood behind Trump as he pursed his aggressive second term agenda, offering little resistance in Congress or on the campaign trail. That wall of backing is starting to crack against the backdrop of signs that a potential blue wave is building, powered by opposition to Trump.

Yet GOP candidates could have a hard time distancing themselves from the president. This person has been eager to create the election a referendum on his leadership, urging voters to "pretend" he's on the ballot and pledging to be front and center on the campaign trail.

"This is way too little, way too late, " remarked David Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron, arguing Republicans were "all for" making the midterms a referendum on Trump before his unpopularity in polls became clear. "These Republican candidates and elected officials are superglued to Trump, whether they want to be or not." After 'Trumpapalooza, ' calls to end the war.

Taking the stage at the first-ever Republican midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month, Trump sought to rally his party around him ahead of the election. "On Nov. 3, the great American majority is going to stand up and continue to create America great again, " Trump stated.

Trump promised voters dividend checks of $5, 000 if Republicans retain control of Congress, a proposal that was met with immediate skepticism among core MAGA allies and accusations of bribery from Democrats. He had supporters raise their hands, pledge their allegiance to him and promise to vote.

Meanwhile, the event – dubbed "Trumpapalooza" by the Republican National Committee chair – was meant to project party unity and boost GOP voter enthusiasm, but even as Trump spoke there were signs within the arena of his party's struggles.

Plenty of seats were empty and some battleground candidates opted to skip the event.

Hinson kept her distance in Dallas, attending a campaign fundraiser but not stepping foot on the convention stage where Trump offered primetime speeches both nights. She put more daylight between herself and the president this week when she called far an "immediate end" to the Iran war. She isn't the only GOP lawmaker speaking out on the war as Election Day nears.

Earlier this month, two other Iowa Republicans locked in tight races, Rep. Zach Nunn and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, backed a measure aimed at ending military operations in Iran.

More: 'Pretend I'm on the ballot.' 5 takeaways from Trump's midterm convention.

Rogers, a former GOP congressman from Michigan and the state's Republican nominee for Senate, published an ad this week saying "the war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly." Sen. As did Wisconsin Rep, john Husted, R-Ohio, created similar comments. Tom Tiffany, the state's GOP candidate for governor.

"The president has final say in regards to this, but I just believe that we should be exiting Iran, that it's time to move on. Time to come home, take care of business here in America, " Tiffany remarked.

Tiffany and Hinson both voted repeatedly in Congress against directing Trump to stop the war, and Rogers has previously backed the president's efforts in Iran. The spike in fuel rates caused by the conflict has hit midwestern farm states particularly hard, though, and candidates there have been leading the rising GOP chorus to end the conflict.

With diesel rates at a record high and farmers feeling the pinch, Hinson, Rogers, Miller-Meeks and Alaska GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan all called this week for an embargo on selling the fuel abroad. Sullivan additionally skipped the convention as he faces a tough reelection campaign.

Buchanan remarked Republican candidates are struggling to win over Trump voters who are unhappy with the president's performance. His polling demonstrates 12% of those who cast a ballot for the president are now wavering on voting for a Republican congressional candidate.

"That's why you're seeing these candidates break with Trump, " remarked Buchanan, adding: "They've got to show that independent streak in order to pull as many of those 12% of voters back to them."

More: 'End the open-ended war.' GOP candidates push Trump on Iran.

There are some signs Trump is starting to lose his grip on the Republican electorate.

Meanwhile, a majority of Republican voters, 56%, in a poll from the opinion research firm Echelon Insights conducted last week remarked they consider themselves to be primarily a supporter of the Republican Party rather than a supporter of Trump. That compares to 59% who remarked they were more a supporter of Trump than the party when he took office for a second term in January 2025.

Yet Trump remains popular with his loyal MAGA base, creating a tough balancing act for GOP candidates. Hinson and Rogers didn't call out Trump directly in their statements. It don't mention the president.

"Republican candidates are in an extremely difficult position, " remarked Nathan Gonzales. This person runs the nonpartisan election handicapping firm Inside Elections. "If they try to distinguish themselves from President Trump in an effort to appeal to independent voters, they risk angering or alienating Republican voters who they also need to win."

"The choice has never been more clear: doubling down on President Trump's winning, commonsense agenda or the Democrats' extreme liberal policies and obstruction, " Ingle remarked. Red state panic for Republicans.

Trump's approval rating has dropped against the backdrop of the war ‒ which he stated would last a few weeks and is now nearing the seven-month mark ‒ and high gas rates triggered by the conflict.

Just 39% of voters approve of the president's performance in the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls, down from 43% at the start of the war and 50% when he took office last year.

Democrats are widely favored to win control of the House of Representatives, and they're becoming increasingly bullish regarding their chances to take the Senate.

Democrats need a net gain of four seats to erase Republican 53-47 seat advantage take control of the Senate, a bar that seemed improbable a year ago. But the backlash to Trump has supported Democrats go on offense in red states, expanding the map of battleground contests to include Senate races in Alaska, Texas, Ohio and Iowa, all of which Trump carried by double digits. Republicans trail in all nine of the most closely contested Senate battlegrounds. More: Trump keeps touting data centers as Republicans try to pivot.

For now, republicans jump ship as Trumps anchor weighs heavy on party remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.