GOP heavy hitters stump for Republicans in midterm homestretch

Some of the GOP’s biggest stars are helping vulnerable candidates in the final weeks of the midterm elections — while helping themselves to national exposure ahead of 2024.

The list of marquee names is long. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who rose to fame rejecting COVID-19 restrictions in Florida, has September rallies planned in Wisconsin and Kansas. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, whose surprise win in blue Virginia propelled him to national prominence, visited Maine this week to campaign for the state’s GOP gubernatorial candidate.

The trips are part of a broader effort by Republicans ranging from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to crisscross the country to establish the political machinery and capital needed to launch a bid in 2024.

“It is critical for those with their eye on running in 2024 to get out on the stump in preferably battleground states to be seen and heard,” Brad Blakeman, a Republican strategist and former senior aide to President George W. Bush, told the Washington Examiner.

“There really is no risk to a potential candidate being on the stump, provided it is done for candidates that share your political philosophy and provided you don’t overstay your welcome too early in battleground states to the detriment of your own elected office,” Blakeman added.

Each GOP star has carved out his or her own path on the campaign trail.

DeSantis has rallied for Pennsylvania’s Trump-aligned gubernatorial candidate, Doug Mastriano, even though the state’s retiring GOP senator, Pat Toomey, and others have declined to get involved in Mastriano’s race.

The Florida governor is also helping Nevada Senate candidate Adam Laxalt and Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, both running to unseat vulnerable Democrats in swing states.

The assistance goes beyond headlining campaign rallies. DeSantis, for example, has lent his name to Laxalt and Mastriano in fundraising emails and texts to small-dollar donors. And DeSantis’s wife, Casey, even appeared at a “Ladies for Laxalt” event on Thursday.

Youngkin, too, has planned a visit to Nevada but is slated to do so for gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo, not Laxalt.

Pompeo, for his part, told CBS in June that the political infrastructure he has built to support candidates in the midterm elections would serve as the foundation on which a presidential campaign would be built over the next two years.

“We’re doing the kinds of things one might do, at least as we see it, to get ready for that moment,” Pompeo said at the time.

Pompeo has also formed a political action committee that lends financial support to Republicans, as have Republicans such as Haley. Her PAC, Stand for America, has raised more than $5 million for over 50 Republican candidates and groups.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has also waded into the elections as he navigates the prospect of challenging his former boss for the GOP nomination in 2024.

Earlier this year, Pence campaigned with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp as Kemp fended off a primary challenge from Trump-backed David Perdue in what was seen as a proxy war between Pence and the former president; Kemp won handily.

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Pence has turned his attention to Iowa as well, with his own PAC running ads in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District in support of Republican candidate Zach Nunn, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne.

Georgia, increasingly a swing state, has attracted significant attention as the election approaches. Haley campaigned for Kemp on Friday in his battle against Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams.

All told, Haley has headlined more than 50 campaign events nationwide.