Republicans spurned by President Donald Trump aren’t interested in rescuing their would-be replacements.
Instead, a growing number of retiring or ousted GOP incumbents from Nevada to North Carolina are sitting those races out, and in some cases, openly bucking their own party.
Outgoing Sen. John Cornyn has raised money for various Republican Senate candidates — just not for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who ousted him in the primary with support from Trump. He’s been vocal for months about what he sees as Paxton’s vulnerabilities and how Democrats could flip Texas blue for the first time in decades.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis — who has frequently criticized some of Trump’s Cabinet and broken with the White House on policy — has played little role in the campaign of former RNC Chair Michael Whatley, Trump’s hand-picked Senate candidate. The distance between the two Republicans is particularly notable as Whatley struggles to close the gap against Democrat Roy Cooper.
Rep. Mark Amodei has repeatedly criticized, and now openly rejected voting for, the GOP nominee to replace him, David Flippo.
“The bedwetting from outgoing moderate Republicans will define their legacy and only help socialists get elected,” said David McIntosh, president of the Trump-aligned Club for Growth, which has endorsed Flippo and Paxton. “People like John Cornyn and Mark Amodei need to get on board and support Republican nominees and stop posturing for an MSNOW contract.”
But other Republicans defended their colleagues: “I never would question the loyalty to the party of Thom Tillis or John Cornyn. Both of them have contributed immensely to our party and our party’s successes in the past and I suspect will be going forward,” said North Dakota GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer. “But I also don’t begrudge them for their opinions and their right to be open about them.”
These outgoing Republicans, several of whom were explicitly pushed out by Trump or persuaded to retire given his hold on the GOP, are using the midterms as a test: whether the party will demand loyalty to the president or can return to a pre-Trump era.
“What [Trump’s] done is created a coalition that, in my opinion, will not stay with Republicans once we go back to traditional Republican platform priorities,” Tillis said in a recent interview with POLITICO. “A lot of the elements of the populism that Trump created to expand a base that made him successful running for president, I don’t think that stays with the party long-term.”
Some of those intraparty frustrations are starting to boil over, with Trump loyalist candidates and outgoing Republicans swiping at one another as Election Day barrels closer and the party’s overall fortunes look dire. The blame game is especially prominent in some of the Senate battlegrounds where Republicans have begun to quietly retreat in the final stretch of the midterms.
Tillis never followed through on his offers to help Whatley by reaching out to holdout donors in the North Carolina Senate race, said one person familiar with the campaign who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal matters.
“He was never part of our strategy because … I mean, if he could have been helpful to us, then he could have ran,” the person said, referring to Tillis’ decision not to seek reelection last year. “The Tillis of the past year ain’t the same guy who worked overtime to help elect Republican majorities here in NC back in 2010.”
One person with knowledge of Tillis and North Carolina politics, also granted anonymity to speak candidly, countered that the outgoing GOP senator “doesn’t help sure winners or sure losers” and “Whatley has been a sure loser throughout 2026, running as Donald Trump’s ‘guy,’ and making zero effort to build his own brand.”
“All Whatley had to do was to keep this race competitive, but instead the party is facing a potential wipeout. This is an embarrassing effort by a former RNC chairman who only has himself and his consultants to blame for the completely avoidable beat down coming on Nov. 3,” the person added.
Spokespeople for Tillis did not respond to a request for comment. Whatley’s campaign declined to comment.
Natalie Baldassarre, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, touted the president’s endorsement record in a statement. More pointedly, she said that “Republicans who chose not to help elect other Republicans may as well be helping Democrats.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
While the dynamic is less pronounced on the House side — Reps. Don Bacon and Elise Stefanik have been helpful to the Republicans running to replace them — there’s a clear exception: Amodei.
Flippo, who’s trying to replace him, has dealt with a host of scandals, from stolen valor accusations to carpetbagging to campaign finance issues, but Trump’s endorsement helped boost him through the Republican primary in June. Top Republican outside groups, including Club for Growth, have poured millions into his race in Nevada’s 2nd District to rescue a seat the president won by 14 points in 2024.
Amodei said in an interview that whoever was advising Trump to jump in and endorse Flippo gave “awful advice.”
“The only criteria shouldn’t be, ‘Well, they’re the Republican,’” said Amodei, who cast his ballot for a third-party candidate this week. “I mean, politics is a team sport. But when a member of the team turns out to be this way, clearly this is not a bright and shining moment for the vetting process.”
Asked about Club for Growth president McIntosh’s criticism of moderate “bedwetting,” Amodei scoffed: “At least this crowd is absolutely consistent. Forget fundamental factual and character messes that campaigns won’t and can’t respond to; and attempt to change the focus to party loyalty,” the retiring representative said. “Let me know when Club For Growth does a statement on campaign finance compliance, stolen Valor, and individual background transparency.”
Even as figures like Cornyn and Amodei catch the fury of more Trump-aligned Republican forces for not falling behind the party line, that doesn’t mean they’re abandoning fellow Republicans overall.
Cornyn has raised more than $1.1 million at events in Dallas and Houston last month for the campaigns of Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jon Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska — as well as for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and other Senate candidates: Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers and former New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu, according to a person familiar with the senator’s political operation who was granted anonymity to discuss private events.
He still clearly and explicitly draws a line against helping Paxton, telling reporters earlier this year, “Everything I said about him in the primary is true.”
A spokesperson for Paxton did not respond to a request for comment.
In Georgia, popular GOP Gov. Brian Kemp has been all-in on the governor’s race for Republican Rick Jackson — but he’s been comparatively quieter when it comes to Rep. Mike Collins’ Senate campaign to oust Democrat Jon Ossoff.
The governor had initially recruited, backed and supported a different candidate in the GOP primary, though he’s since helped the Collins campaign with a public endorsement and by headlining a major fundraiser in Atlanta and others. Still, some Collins allies want the governor to be more involved.
“Brian Kemp is someone who needs to be on the trail and someone who needs to help if Republicans are going to win,” said one GOP strategist working on races in Georgia who supports Collins and was granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. “But he did create some of this mess with the primary he ran against Mike who we all knew would be the nominee.”
Meyer Sigfried, a Collins spokesperson, in a statement dismissed any suggestion that Kemp isn’t fully supporting Collins: “He’s been on the trail rallying Georgians to get out and vote early for Mike and Republicans up and down the ballot, and his help behind the scenes has been just as important.”
A representative for Kemp referred POLITICO to Collins’ statement of support.
Across the map, other frustrated Republicans have more directly pointed the finger at Trump for his interference, lambasting the president’s tendency to prop up candidates whom they deem too weak for the role.
In South Carolina, Rep. Ralph Norman said this week he has refused to campaign with Sen. Darline Graham, who defeated him in the primary with Trump’s help. Graham has been under scrutiny for her lack of experience in elected office. Republicans still expect her to win in deep-red South Carolina, but they’ve also made late investments to shore up her campaign as Democrat Annie Andrews dominates in fundraising.
Norman blamed the president, saying, “What he did to South Carolina … it’s just not right,” but added he will still vote for Graham.
T.W. Arrighi, a spokesperson for Graham, thanked the representative for his support in a statement, before hammering other Republicans — like Norman’s son, Warren Norman — who will not be voting for the GOP nominee: “It is unconscionable for anyone who claims to be a conservative in South Carolina to not vote straight ticket Republican and therefore endorse a Chuck Schumer-led Senate.”
In many cases, GOP lawmakers are defending their disgruntled colleagues who have decided not to help Trump-picked candidates.
“Folks have to follow their conscience. If a guy ‘smells bad’ then I wouldn’t,” said Bacon, who is supporting Brinker Harding, an Omaha city councilmember, in the race to replace him in his blue-leaning Nebraska district. “I like Brinker. He’s a good person.”A
“I believe we all ought to do all we can to help the good guys win the election,” Cramer added. “But I also understand people that … feel aggrieved and want to maybe not be as enthusiastic about that as I am.”
Mia McCarthy, Meredith Lee Hill and Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.
