Republican candidates' paths to victory in key races in Virginia and New Jersey next week could depend on which candidates embrace President Donald Trump's agenda and can turn out his voting base, according to Trump 2024 campaign pollster Jim McLaughlin on Newsmax, Tuesday.
Speaking on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," McLaughlin praised New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli for running what he called a disciplined campaign against his Democrat challenger, Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
Ciattarelli's campaign, he said, connects Trump loyalists with independent voters, an approach that is critical for GOP success in this election cycle.
"Jack Ciattarelli has been a great candidate, run a really good campaign," McLaughlin said. "He's embraced the Trump voters and the Trump agenda, and then he's looking to expand upon that because Donald Trump did so well there."
McLaughlin contrasted Ciattarelli's strategy with that of GOP gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia, where polls show her trailing Democrat Abigail Spanberger.
He said Earle-Sears' campaign must do more to energize Trump voters who don't typically turn out in state races.
"If there's one thing I would tell her here at the end, turn out those Trump voters that came out for him in the presidential race that don't necessarily come out in the gubernatorial races in Virginia," he said.
McLaughlin also criticized Spanberger for not distancing herself from fellow Democrat Jay Jones, a former Virginia delegate running for attorney general who has come under fire for violent text messages that surfaced earlier this month.
Jones has faced bipartisan calls to withdraw after messages showed him fantasizing about shooting the state House speaker and harming his family.
"We all know what's happened with Jay Jones, where he was basically calling for the death of his political opponent," McLaughlin said. "And Abigail Spanberger has never really repudiated those comments, which were, quite honestly, defending the indefensible."
Turning to California's Proposition 50, a redistricting initiative, McLaughlin said Democrats have long benefitted from aggressive gerrymandering that Republicans are only now attempting to counter.
"The Democrats really — that's one of the untold stories — was, you know, they gerrymandered the heck out of these congressional races way before we tried to get a little bit of, for lack of a better term, a little bit of justice here to help Republicans," he said.
Still, he added, the state's strong Democrat majority makes it difficult for Republicans to gain ground.
"It's an overwhelmingly Democratic state," McLaughlin said. "People have basically gone into their corners on this one.
"The Democrats are voting yes, and the Republicans are voting no. So I think it's just sheerly a numbers game out in California."
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