GOP House members want to run in other races. Trump is telling them to stay in their seats

Source: Associated Press

GOP House members want to run in other races. Trump is telling them to stay in their seats

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and JILL COLVIN
Updated 5:38 PM EDT, July 23, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michigan Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga was ready to launch a U.S. Senate bid. All he needed was President Donald Trump’ s blessing.

But in a White House meeting last week, the president encouraged Huizenga to run for reelection rather than challenge former Rep. Mike Rogers for Senate in the battleground state, hoping to keep his west Michigan seat secure, according to three people with direct knowledge of the conversation.

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It’s the latest example of Trump’s increasingly heavy-handed efforts to keep incumbent House members in their seats and keep those seats in GOP hands as he and his political team try to avoid what happened in his first term, when Republicans lost the chamber after just two years. From Michigan to New York to Iowa, Trump has actively worked to reshape Republican primary fields, demonstrating the enormous influence he wields over a party that, by and large, answers to him.

Trump puts his thumb on the scale for the 2026 midterms

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-house-gop-primaries-huizenga-nunn-lawler-4132be40632415826f36c1a06221f4fd