GOP congressional candidates may dump Trump

Senate and House hopefuls in tough races are under growing pressure to abandon him.

By BURGESS EVERETT, SEUNG MIN KIM and RACHAEL BADE
10/08/16 11:03 AM EDT

Republicans locked in close Senate and House races may soon withdraw their endorsements of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, party officials involved in those elections said on Saturday.

The officials said they don't expect their candidates to be able to withstand a sustained defense of Trump after footage surfaced Friday of him making crass comments about his sexual exploits and seeming to make light of sexual assault. On Friday evening, every Senate candidate in a competitive race condemned Trump’s comments, first reported by The Washington Post, but none pulled their endorsement.

That’s increasingly likely to change as Republican candidates around the country wake up to face voters at events and Democrats accusing them of condemning a candidate that they still support for president. The Republican officials said most GOP senators and candidates in competitive races are now sending strong signals that they are “inclined” to disavow support of Trump.

“It’s going to start happening very soon,” said one Republican of rescinding endorsements of Trump. “People are going to wake up and say this is never going to end.”

“If you look at what all of our people have said I think the answer is pretty clear,” said a second Republican official, who added that it should be “obvious to everyone” that opposing Trump is Republicans’ strongest play.

Yet many in the GOP have resisted such a tactic because it could hurt their support in their own party. In statewide elections, Republicans viewed it as impossible to abandon their nominee because it would lead to bleeding support among conservatives.

But with the release of Trump talking about being able to grope and do anything to women because he’s a “star,” Republicans are under enormous pressure to cut bait — in anticipation that Democrats will release more damaging material on Trump over the next month.

That’s an untenable place to be for Republicans such as Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), whose reelection contests are among the most competitive in the country.

Officials said they are two of the most likely candidates to announce they won’t backTrump. Up to now, Ayotte has said she supports Trump but without explicitly endorsing him. Toomey has yet to say who he supports or opposes in the presidential race.

In Missouri, however, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told the Post on Saturday that he will still vote for Trump. Blunt is in a competitive race, but Trump has been favored to win Missouri.

House Republicans running in tough races began opposing Trump on Friday night, as Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) both explicitly announced their opposition to Trump’s candidacy after the release of the audio and video.

“Mr. Trump should step aside. His defeat at this point seems almost certain and four years of Hillary Clinton is not what’s best for this country. Mr. Trump should do the right thing and put country first,” Coffman said.

And some Republicans working on Senate races said Saturday that the Republican National Committee should consider shifting its attention to congressional races rather than pouring in millions to help elect a candidate with little chance of winning.

Even Republicans in deep-red districts were quick to cut the cord. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who had endorsed Trump before and is not in a competitive race, withdrew his support. And Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) released a statement Saturday morning announcing that she would not vote for Trump because his behavior “makes him unacceptable as a candidate for president.”

"As disappointed as I've been with his antics throughout this campaign, I thought supporting the nominee was the best thing for our country and our party,” Roby said. “Now, it is abundantly clear that the best thing for our country and our party is for Trump to step aside and allow a responsible, respectable Republican to lead the ticket.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/1...#ixzz4MVerm68k