Trump is ‘significant drag’ on GOP Senate chances, poll finds

A recent poll commissioned by former Trump adviser John Bolton’s political action committee found that the former president’s name remains toxic among independent voters

Negative impressions of former president Donald Trump are dragging down Republican candidates for the US Senate in four key swing state races, according to a recent poll commissioned by a political action committee affiliated with a top former Trump adviser.

The survey of 1200 voters — 300 general election voters each in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Georgia — was commissioned by the John Bolton Super PAC. The PAC is run by Ambassador John Bolton, Mr Trump’s third national security adviser.

It found that Trump-endorsed candidates in three of the four states trail their Democratic opponents and have largely unfavourable ratings with “independent and undecided voters”.

Only Herschel Walker, the former football star, was found to be leading his Democratic opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock. Respondents preferred Mr Walker over the pastor turned politician by a 4 per cent margin, 46 per cent to 42 per cent.

Representative Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat being vacated by Ohio Senator Rob Portman, leads GOP nominee JD Vance by six points, 44 per cent to 38 per cent.

In North Carolina, general election voters surveyed preferred former state Supreme Court justice Cheri Beasley to GOP Representative and Trump endorsee Ted Budd by a margin of 43 percent to 40 per cent. In Pennsylvania, ex-television doctor Mehmet Oz is facing a six-point deficit in his race against Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman in the race to succeed retiring GOP senator Pat Toomey.

“Whatever Trump’s role in the nominating process, his role in the coming general elections can be fatal to GOP efforts to gain outright control of the Senate,” Mr Bolton said in a statement released along with the poll results.

“Trump’s fixation on himself and the 2020 election are poisonous to independent and undecided voters. Republican candidates who hope to win in November are risking political suicide if they stress their closeness to Trump, or allow their opponents to portray them as mini-Trumps”.