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You are here: Home / 2026 Campaign / Trump Ties Hurt GOP Senate Candidates

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 188: Nothing to See Here

Trump Ties Hurt GOP Senate Candidates

September 23, 2026 at 5:14 pm ET By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republican Senate candidates in Georgia and North Carolina are struggling to create enough distance from Donald Trump to boost their prospects in the November midterm elections, as polls show rising voter frustration over the president’s inability to lower the cost-of-living,” Bloomberg reports.

“While an increasing number of Republicans across the country, including in several tight Senate races, are moving to distance themselves from the president less than six weeks before Election Day, that’s not an option all vulnerable GOP candidates can take.”

“North Carolina’s Michael Whatley and Georgia Representative Mike Collins are high on that list, with polls showing the two candidates consistently trailing their Democratic rivals. Yet they don’t have much of a choice but to align themself with the president because they are known essentially for one thing: their ties to Trump.”

The Guardian: Republican jitters grow as unpopular Trump fuels midterm “bloodbath” fears.

Filed Under: 2026 Campaign, Senate

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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