Trump gives last-minute nod in race that has GOP 'concerned': 'Nail-biter for Republicans'
President Donald Trump tossed an endorsement to a Republican state senate candidate ahead of a special election seen as a bellwether for the midterm elections.
The president backed GOP candidate Leigh Wambsganss in the Saturday special election runoff in the once reliably conservative suburbs of Fort Worth that has turned in to what the New York Times described Thursday as a "nail-biter for Republicans," who are reportedly worried that even a narrow win could be a bad sign for November.
"Leigh Wambsganss, a Republican running for the State Senate in the suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas, will be a GREAT Candidate and has my Complete and Total Endorsement," Trump posted Friday on Truth Social at 1:57 a.m. "Thank you for your attention to this matter!!! President DJT."
GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told a conservative radio host that he's "very concerned about this election," literally begging listeners to vote, after the surprisingly strong showing by Democrat Taylor Rehmet during the initial round of voting in November, when the local union leader picked up more than 47 percent of the vote in a district that Trump won by 17 points in 2024.
"I’ve had several people call this election the canary in the coal mine,” said Wambsganss, who was part of the post-2020 push to elect conservatives to school boards to root out supposed "LGBTQ indoctrination" and "critical race theory."
But the injection of national partisan politics into local races and the ensuing book bans provoked a backlash that chased many of those school board members out of office, and Rehment has linked his campaign to that issue – and highlighted Wambsganss' work for telecom company Patriot Mobile, and its Christian conservative political arm.
“People were really tired of the partisanship,” said Rehmet, who grew up Republican. “I’m a working person. To me it’s not red or blue. We have to pick between two identities that already have negative connotations.”
The winner of Saturday's election will serve the rest of the year, and both candidates are already registered to run in November's election.