President Donald Trump is weighing in on key races ahead of the first major election night of his second term in office, as republicans look ahead to the midterms.
In New York City, Trump is endorsing former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who’s running as an independent, and criticizing Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump added that “it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required,” should Mamdani win.
The race could carry future implications for Trump and the Republican Party, according to a GOP operative.
After election night, Republicans say they expect to sharpen their messaging around Mamdani.
“Republicans have been missing out on a good foil to contrast with and Mamdani will provide that,” a republican operative said.
Messaging will focus, in part, on socialism and Mamdani following election night and Democrats tying themselves to him, according to a republican official.
“Mamdani will be the face of the Republican midterm campaign,” the operative added.
In New Jersey and Virginia, Trump is pointing to policies his administration frequently touts.
“Virginia and New Jersey, VOTE REPUBLICAN IF YOU WANT MASSIVE ENERGY COST AND CRIME REDUCTIONS. The Democrats will double and even triple your Energy Costs, and CRIME will be rampant. A vote for the Democrats is a DEATH WISH! VOTE REPUBLICAN!!!” He said on Truth Social.
The president took part in tele-rallies in each state on election eve, but has only endorsed Republican candidate Jack Ciatterelli in New Jersey, rather than Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia. Some republicans point to a belief in a “quality difference” between the candidates.
The RNC, meanwhile, has made investments in personnel, digital efforts and election integrity in each state. In both Virginia and New Jersey, an official said it invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in election integrity and provided a “first of its kind” get-out-the-vote platform called "VotePro" to create websites available to Earle-Sears and utilized by Ciattarelli. Virginia saw seven full-time staffers and nearly 20,000 volunteers, while New Jersey saw five full-time staffers and more than 15,000 volunteer leads, according to the official.
“In terms of the machine and operation that we're building, we feel like we're in a good groove heading into next year. We have a lot of staff on the ground. Our election integrity efforts are ramping up, and so we feel like we have built a good base heading into the midterms,” a Republican official said.
Republicans are not putting weight in what the outcome means for the midterms, though, according to a source familiar with Republican efforts.
“We’ll pull back the full layers of the onion and look at what the congressional races in these states look like. But we're also taking it all with a grain of salt,” an official said.
While some strategists expect Democrats to win in New Jersey and Virginia, some Republican operatives see the competition itself as a positive.
“The fact that it's as competitive as it is, we take that as a win like this is a state where Dems should be blowing it out of the water,” said the Republican official.
They believe that having conversations about off-cycle elections in deep blue states is a testament to Trump’s influence and change in the political landscape, according to the source familiar with republican efforts.
"Only 3 off-off year elections since the 1960s saw one party take both Virginia and New Jersey, then go on to sweep the following midterms —1993, 2005, & 2009. Since 1976, the party that loses the White House has won the Virginia governor's race every time but once. No grand conclusions to draw,” said Doug Heye, a longtime GOP strategist.
However, Trump is tying the midterms to his call for Republicans to abolish the filibuster as the government shutdown reaches record lengths.
“The Democrats are far more likely to win the Midterms, and the next Presidential Election, if we don’t do the Termination of the Filibuster (The Nuclear Option!), because it will be impossible for Republicans to get Common Sense Policies done with these Crazed Democrat Lunatics being able to block everything by withholding their votes.,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The White House has invited Republican senators to meet with Trump over breakfast on Wednesday, where he intends to discuss ending the filibuster, a White House official confirms.
