RGA in Disarray: Trump Attacks Kemp, Baker Jumps Ship — Unpacking the RGA’s Brutal Week

It’s been a rough week for the RGA. In a span of a few hours, the organization lost one of its incumbents to their own chaos and infighting, and Donald Trump took his ongoing war against Republican governors to a whole new level.

Facing an inevitable brutal primary battle against a Trump-endorsed challenger, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced he’s jumping ship, and won’t run for reelection — despite the RGA’s best efforts to make him stay by hyping him up in social media videos and at their private conference.

While Baker is the first GOP incumbent to bite the dust, it’s unlikely he’ll be the last, given the RGA’s failure to protect its incumbent Republican governors across the country. 11 out of 15 GOP governors are facing primary challengers from within their own party, many with Donald Trump’s blessing.

One incumbent governor’s days who’s days are looking increasingly numbered is Brian Kemp, who is vulnerable like never before following Stacey Abrams’ announcement she’s running for governor. Trump took the opportunity to once again go after Kemp, saying, “the MAGA base will just not vote for [Kemp] … but some good Republican will run, and some good Republican will get my endorsement.”

The recent blows to the RGA were so brutal, they led to massive ratings changes in governor’s races by nonpartisan race analysts in favor of Democrats.

No incumbent governor is safe from Trump’s wrath — he’s gone after governors in Idaho, Ohio, and more. RGA Chair Doug Ducey is making matters worse, as his own terrible standing with Trump makes him powerless to defend his incumbents.

Despite primary challengers and escalating attacks, the RGA has made clear they’re standing by their incumbents. But with Trump tightening his iron grip over the Republican Party and no sign of a cease-fire, they’re in for a showdown. The DGA is tracking every battle in the ongoing civil war at RGAindisarray.com

“Charlie Baker is the first casualty in the GOP’s ongoing civil war, but with Trump mobilizing more and more primary challengers to go after sitting Republican governors, he won’t be the last” said DGA Communications Director David Turner. “Doug Ducey’s complete failure to protect GOP incumbents is one-of-a-kind, and we’re going to keep calling out how his feud with Donald Trump is making his governors extremely vulnerable.”