Candidates who are either endorsed by 45th President Donald Trump or aligned with his America First agenda won in New York and Florida last night as Republican primary voters took to the polls.
In New York, Trump’s previous state of residence, Lee Zeldin won a convincing 43.9% of the vote, compared to nearest competitor Andrew Giuliani’s 22.8%. While Trump never endorsed a candidate for the New York gubernatorial primary, he helped raise money for the Zeldin campaign last week as as Zeldin’s status as the front runner became clear. Trump’s endorsed candidate Claudia Tenney will also hold her seat going into November.
Meanwhile in Trump’s adopted home state of Florida, candidates he endorsed were joined in victory by many who share his agenda.
Strident Trump ally Rep. Matt Gaetz won his primary in a landslide, securing nearly 70% of the vote despite a blackmail campaign aimed at Gaetz and his father that tarred his reputation in the media.
So proud of my love 🤍
Thank you FL-1 for sending @mattgaetz back to fight for 2 more years! ❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/4goPyehMlU
— Ginger Gaetz (@LuckeyGinger) August 24, 2022
Trump’s endorsed incumbents Vern Buchanan, Kat Cammack, Mario Diaz-Balart, Byron Donalds, Carlos Gimenez, Brian Mast, Greg Steube, and Michael Waltz all won their primaries.
Trump-endorsed candidate Anna Paulina Luna also won her campaign against incumbent Kevin Hayslett despite a super PAC spending over half a million dollars to push him over the finish line in the days before the election.
Elsewhere, Trump and DeSantis-aligned Tampa Bay businessman James Judge won his campaign against a candidate who nearly doubled his spending. He will advance to face Kathy Castor this November in Florida’s 14th House district, which pundits say may be flipped from Democrat to Republican.
“It’s a tremendous honor!” @jamespjudge said after his race was called for Congressional District 14. This is the republican’s first time running for office. @BN9 pic.twitter.com/KGAMJmIu2X
— Fadia Mayté Patterson, M.S. (@FadiaTVNews) August 24, 2022
Other races where Trump remained neutral saw the Trump-aligned candidates lose, however.
Florida Rep. Anthony Sabatini lost his race in District 7 to defense contractor and veteran Cory Mills, who will face the Democrat this November. Sabatini credited a $1.6 million ad buy aimed against him in the final days of the election.
Tonight the Swamp won (with a $1.6 million dollar influx of fake news pieces in the last 14 days)
Yet—I will never stop fighting for the America First movement
Proud of the work Team Sabatini put into this & my family for their support!
This is just the beginning—stay tuned 🇺🇸
— Rep. Anthony Sabatini (@AnthonySabatini) August 24, 2022
Project Veritas alum Laura Loomer appears to have lost her bid for Florida’s 11th House district as well, with results at press time showing her down at 44.2% to Dan Webster’s 51.1%.
Last night Loomer said she would not concede defeat, and appeared to accuse the Republican Party of rigging the election against her.
“I’m not conceding,” said Loomer in a video posted to Twitter, “the reality is our Republican Party is broken to its core.” Loomer said her campaign “further exposed the corruption” of the party.
“I’M NOT CONCEDING!” Laura Loomer attacks the Republican Party and alleges voter fraud after losing GOP primary to incumbent Florida congressman Daniel Webster. #news6 pic.twitter.com/qpuhJUIpyJ
— Mike DeForest (@DeForestNews6) August 24, 2022
Loomer secured Trump’s endorsement in the 2020 election, but Trump remained neutral in her 2022 race. If she is unable to pull off a win, she still came far closer to securing victory in her second ever run for public office compared to her first run.
