The Republican establishment is scrambling to deny Donald Trump the nomination.
They thought they found an 11th-hour candidate to shake up the race.
But a last-minute establishment surprise to stop Donald Trump was crushed by this election.
The Republican establishment is in desperation mode trying to stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican Presidential nomination.
Trump is leading the Primary field by a commanding margin after none of the establishment’s alternatives gained any traction with voters.
The GOP establishment began to hatch a plan to recruit Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin as a late entry into the Primary.
Youngkin, a former private equity executive, burst onto the political scene in 2021 with an upset victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial race.
He became the first Republican to win statewide office in the Blue-leaning Old Dominion since 2009 and was seen as a leader for the post-Trump GOP.
Speculation about him making a late entrance in the Primary was being fueled by Republican mega-donors looking for a more viable Trump alternative.
Youngkin played coy on his Presidential ambitions and said his focus was the state legislative elections in Virginia.
His political operation raised record amounts of money for a Virginia Governor, often from the same mega-donors recruiting him, to help boost Republican State Senate and House candidates.
Republicans had a narrow majority in the House of Delegates, the state’s lower chamber, and were looking to flip the Democrat-controlled Senate in 2023’s off-year elections.
Glenn Youngkin’s Presidential dreams evaporate after GOP defeats
The Virginia Governor crisscrossed the Commonwealth in support of his handpicked candidates in the state legislative races.
Election Night brought a massive disappointment for Virginia Republicans.
Republicans lost their majority in the House of Delegates and failed to take control of the State Senate.
Youngkin’s dreams of having a Republican legislature pass his agenda evaporated, and his reputation as a winner in a Blue state was tarred.
A potential late entry into the GOP Primary crashed and burned with the losses by Virginia Republicans in the state legislature.
“I cannot see much talk anymore about him jumping into the Presidential race in 2024,” Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University told Newsmax. “He put his political capital on the line in the Virginia elections this year and lost.”
Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen agreed with that assessment.
“Youngkin will now not make a late entry into the GOP Presidential contest,” Olsen said.
The Virginia Governor crushed the hopes of the Republican establishment when he announced that he was staying put in the Governor’s Mansion after a disappointing Election Night.
“My name is not on the ballot in New Hampshire. I have not been in Iowa, I am not in South Carolina, I am in Virginia,” Youngkin said at a news conference on the Richmond State Capitol building steps. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
The Republican establishment has run out of options in their search for a last-minute candidate to challenge Donald Trump.
