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Texas Republican Morgan Luttrell won a contested House primary over an opponent backed by the GOPs far-right flank.

Luttrell, a formerNavy SEAL endorsed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthyMcCarthy-backed Republican wins contested Texas House primary Russia inflames political war over gas prices, oil drilling Lawmakers want House to stay in session to pass aid to Ukraine MORE (R-Calif.), bested several other candidates in the primary, including conservative activist Christian Collins, who was backed by Reps. Marjorie Taylor GreeneMarjorie Taylor GreeneGOP efforts to downplay danger of Capitol riot increase The Memo: What now for anti-Trump Republicans? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she's meeting with Trump 'soon' in Florida MORE (R-Ga.) and Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.). Collins had also previously worked for Sen. Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzMcCarthy-backed Republican wins contested Texas House primary Russia inflames political war over gas prices, oil drilling Senate Republicans oppose Biden's .5 billion COVID-19 relief request MORE (R-Texas).

Luttrells victory sets him up as the favorite to win the general election to replace retiring Rep. Kevin BradyKevin Patrick BradyMcCarthy-backed Republican wins contested Texas House primary Five takeaways from the Texas primaries Republican rep won't run for Senate, hopes to become Ways and Means chair: report MORE (R) in Texass deep red 8th Congressional District outside of Houston.

Collins and his allies had seized on Luttrells support for McCarthy and endorsements from people like Rep. Adam KinzingerAdam Daniel KinzingerMcCarthy-backed Republican wins contested Texas House primary Senate GOP shrugs off latest Trump revelation The Memo: Boebert's antics seen as new sign of politics' decline MORE (R-Ill.), one of former President TrumpDonald TrumpMcCarthy-backed Republican wins contested Texas House primary DHS grants temporary immigration status to all Ukrainians in the US Senate GOP shrugs off latest Trump revelation MOREs fiercest intraparty critics, to suggest that Luttrell is insufficiently conservative.

The race also underscored the divided bases of the GOP. Collins founded the Texas Youth Summit, which promoted speakers who tout the Judeo-Christian principles this country was founded upon, while Luttrell came from a more traditional military background.

The results of the primary could also reverberate in the battle for the speakership should Republicans retake the House this November. Luttrell has indicated that he would back McCarthy for the speakership, while Collins said he would follow the recommendations of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, which has grown closer to McCarthy but sunk his 2015 speaker bid.

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McCarthy-backed Republican wins contested Texas House primary | TheHill - The Hill

Further, the division he caused with his attacks on fellow Republicans in the state including the governor and secretary of state, whom he accused as not supporting his lie helped depress turnout. That Democratic control of the Senate meant that his new arch-rival, Senator Mitch McConnell, would have less power was something Trump almost seemed to relish.

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Indeed, ask any Republican why the party lost those races and the first answer you will hear Trump. And evidence is mounting that Trump might again be the reason why Republicans fail to win back Senate control in 2022.

The math on Senate control is simple. The 100 member chamber is evenly divided among the parties. Democrats only control the Senate now because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote.

But if Republicans flip just one seat held by a Democrat, then they will control the Senate, and with that, control whether Bidens nominees get confirmed, whether war can be declared, all the way down to whether bills to name post offices get a vote.

Here is the thing: Some of the most promising recruits Republicans eyed for key Senate races are passing. In each case, Trump was a complicating factor.

The latest came on Thursday as Arizona Governor Doug Ducey passed on running for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly. Ducey has been a particular target of Trump because, like Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Trump felt Ducey didnt do enough to try to overturn Bidens slim, but solid, win in his state.

Ducey didnt mention Trump in a statement on why he didnt run, but the implication was clear. As is the fact that Trump has ties to Republicans already running in the contest. Ducey may not have wanted to deal with Trump endorsing his primary opponent. Just look at the open Senate seat in North Carolina. Republicans got their top recruit in the race, a former governor, only for Trump to back his opponent and seriously complicate the race.

Ducey is the fourth Republican governor to pass on running against a Democratic incumbent, despite Republicans appearing to have poll numbers on their side this year.

Others who passed on Senate runs include Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, and Vermonts Phil Scott, who turned down the opportunity to compete for the open seat in his state.

Hogan met Trumps wrath as the two fought publicly on how to respond to the early days of the pandemic. As for Sununu, who opted to run for reelection instead, Trumps former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, claimed Trump told him to find someone to defeat Sununu in a primary.

This is not to suggest that these four Republican governors would have won. It would have been especially hard for a Republican to win in Vermont and Maryland, no matter how good of a Republican year.

Still, only one of them would have had to win for Republicans to have a very good chance at winning back Senate control. Republicans have other paths to victory, including by defeating Democratic incumbents in Georgia, Nevada, and Colorado, but the paths are becoming fewer for one familiar reason.

James Pindell can be reached at james.pindell@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamespindell and on Instagram @jameswpindell.

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Trump may have just cost the GOP Senate control (again) - The Boston Globe

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Former President Donald Trump has officially endorsed a plan, created by a man who has self-identified with the Oath Keeper militia, that aims to have Trump supporters consolidate control of the Republican Party.

The plan, known as the precinct strategy, has been repeatedly promoted on Steve Bannons popular podcast. As ProPublica detailed last year, it has already inspired thousands of people to fill positions at the lowest rung of the party ladder. Though these positions are low-profile and often vacant, they hold critical powers: They help elect higher-ranking party officers, influence which candidates appear on the ballot, turn out voters on Election Day and even staff the polling precincts where people vote and the election boards that certify the results.

Just heard about an incredible effort underway that will strengthen the Republican Party, Trump said Sunday in a statement emailed to his supporters. If members of our Great movement start getting involved (that means YOU becoming a precinct committeeman for your voting precinct), we can take back our great Country from the ground up.

Trumps email named Dan Schultz, an Arizona lawyer and local party official who first developed the precinct strategy more than a decade ago. Schultz spent years trying to promote his plan and recruit precinct officers. In 2014, he posted a callout to an internal forum for the Oath Keepers militia group, according to hacked records obtained by ProPublica.

Why dont you all join me and the other Oath Keepers who are inside the Party already, Schultz wrote under a screen name. If we conservatives were to do that, wed OWN the Party.

Federal prosecutors in January charged the leader of the Oath Keepers and 10 of its other members with seditious conspiracy in last years attack on the U.S. Capitol. One of them pleaded guilty, as have several members of the group in related cases who are cooperating with the investigation. The groups leader, Stewart Rhodes, pleaded not guilty.

There is no indication that Schultz had any involvement in the Capitol riot.

Schultz told ProPublica he never became a formal member of the Oath Keepers organization. I have taken oaths to support and defend the Constitution as a West Point cadet, as a commissioned U.S. Army officer and as a practicing attorney, Schultz said in a text message. Those oaths do not have expiration dates, by my way of thinking, and I have kept my oaths. In that sense, I am an oath keeper.

According to experts on extremist groups, the Oath Keepers recruit military and law enforcement veterans using the idea that their oath to defend the Constitution never expired. The group then urges people to resist what they say are impending orders to take away Americans guns or create concentration camps.

I dont ever want to be pulling the trigger on an AR-15 in my neighborhood, Schultz said in a 2015 conference call with fellow organizers, referring to the semi-automatic rifle. Oath Keepers, I love them for instilling the oath. But what they need to do also, I think, is spread the message that hey, we can do stuff politically so we never get to the cartridge box.

In more recent interviews on right-wing podcasts and internet talk shows, Schultz has repeatedly described his precinct strategy as a last alternative to violence.

Its not going to be peaceful the next go-round, perhaps, Schultz said in a June interview with the pro-Trump personality David Clements. But it ought to be, and the way to ensure that it will be is weve got to get enough of these good decent Americans to take over one of the two major political parties.

It was not clear whether Trump or his aides were aware that Schultz has self-identified with the Oath Keepers. Trumps spokesperson, Liz Harrington, did not respond to requests for comment.

Schultz has spent months trying to get his idea in front of Trump. Steve Stern, a fellow movement organizer, told ProPublica that he met a former Trump administration official for lunch at Mar-a-Lago, the ex-presidents private club in Palm Beach, in December. While there, Stern said, he got a chance to briefly mention the project to Trump.

Then, last month, Schultz and Stern landed an interview on a talk show hosted by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO who promotes conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Lindell said he would discuss the plan with Trump personally. Schultz and Stern followed up with a conference call with Harrington and Bannon, according to Stern. Harrington previously worked at Bannons War Room website.

I know the presidents very jacked up about it, Bannon said on his podcast, speaking with Schultz after Trump released the endorsement. Help MAGA, help the America First movement, right? Help the deplorables, help President Trump, help yourself, your country, community, your kids, grandkids, all of it. Put your shoulder to the wheel.

Bannon, who led Trumps 2016 campaign, originally lifted the precinct strategy to prominence in a podcast interview with Schultz last year. After the episode aired, thousands of people answered Bannons call to become precinct officers in pivotal swing states, according to data compiled by ProPublica from county records and interviews with local party officials.

As of last August, GOP leaders in 41 counties reported an unusual increase in sign-ups since Bannons first interview with Schultz, adding a total of more than 8,500 new precinct officers. The trend appears to have continued since then. New precinct officers started using their powers to remove or censure Republican leaders who contradicted Trumps election lies and to recruit people who believe the election was stolen into positions as poll watchers and poll workers.

Her Story Brought Down Alaskas Attorney General. A Year Later, She Feels Let Down.

Bannon received a last-minute pardon from Trump after the former adviser was charged with financial fraud. He has pleaded not guilty to contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Bannons spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

In addition to Bannon and Lindell, the precinct strategy has won support from pro-Trump figures such as former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who urged Trump to impose martial law, and lawyers Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, who led some of the lawsuits seeking to overturn the election results. Right-wing groups such as Turning Point Action, which organized buses to transport rallygoers on Jan. 6, also joined the effort to recruit precinct officers.

While Stern said hes thrilled about Trumps written statement endorsing the precinct strategy, he said he hopes to hear it from Trumps own lips at an upcoming rally. Stern said he plans to be there with tables to sign more people up.

Jeff Kao and Mollie Simon contributed reporting.

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Trump Just Endorsed an Oath Keeper's Plan to Seize Control of the Republican Party - ProPublica

Republicans have spent much of the last year trying to recruit competitive contenders for 2022 U.S. Senate races, but without much luck. There was, however, one more dream candidate the party hoped to convince: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

As Republican leaders saw it, the two-term governor would be the most competitive candidate to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in the fall, and so they gave Ducey the hard sell. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell helped lead the lobbying effort, though even George W. Bush got involved, as the party desperately hoped to persuade the Arizonan.

It didnt work. The Arizona Republic reported this morning:

Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey will not run for the U.S. Senate this year, he told donors in a letter obtained by The Arizona Republic, finally putting to rest whether he held aspirations for elected office this cycle. Duceys announcement to some of his closest financial allies ends the long-running effort by national and local Republican leaders and deep-pocketed donors to recruit him for the race against Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., whose reelection could decide which party controls the evenly divided chamber.

If the developments sound familiar, its not your imagination. A month ago, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan also announced he was rebuffing his partys overtures and would not launch a Republican Senate campaign. Before that, GOP leaders practically begged Gov. Chris Sununu to run in New Hampshire, and he also said no. Republicans also asked Gov. Phil Scott to run in Vermont, and he gave the same answer.

Now that Ducey has come to the same conclusion, the result is a rough tally for the National Republican Senatorial Committee: Four sitting governors were asked to run, and all four declined.

Remember, theres ample evidence to suggest this will be a very good year for GOP candidates up and down the ballot, so its not as if these governors rejected party overtures because they faced electoral headwinds.

But as we recently discussed, theres a problem Republicans have struggled to overcome: McConnell and his colleagues want to recruit the best possible candidates to run for Senate seats, but theyve also created a chamber that the best possible candidates dont want to be a part of. Sununu, in particular, very nearly launched a Senate campaign, right up until he talked to GOP senators about their governing plans at which point the New Hampshire governor quickly moved in the opposite direction.

It very likely doesn't help that the party's effective leader is a failed former president, from whom none of these governors want to take orders.

The result of these failed recruiting attempts will likely be a Republican Party stuck with several nominees in competitive races who are both far from the American mainstream and difficult to take seriously.

That doesnt necessarily mean theyll lose. It probably wouldnt be appropriate to name names, but the Senate already has some Republican members who are far from the American mainstream and difficult to take seriously, but they got elected anyway.

But GOP leaders hoped to improve the partys odds by recruiting governors whod be well positioned to succeed. That initiative hasnt worked.

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."

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Yet another GOP governor rejects Senate Republican overtures - MSNBC

It has been interesting to watch media and public commentators come to the realisation sometimes slowly that the siege of parliament was not simply an anti-vaccine mandate protest but something with more sinister elements.

While researchers and journalists have noted the toxicity of some of the politics on display, as well as the presence of extreme fringe activists and groups, it should have come as little surprise.

These politics have been developing for some time, heavily influenced by the rise of a particular form of conspiratorial populism out of Donald Trumps America, and by the networking and misinformation possibilities of social media.

Internationally, researchers noted a decisive shift in 2015-16 and the subsequent exponential growth of extremist and vitriolic content online.

This intensified with the arrival of conspiracy movement QAnon in 2017 and the appearance of a number of alt-tech platforms that were designed to spread mis- and disinformation, conspiracy theories (old and new), and ultranationalism and racist views.

While local manifestations developed slowly, there was evidence that some groups and activists were beginning to realise the potential. The Dominion Movement and Action Zealandia embraced these new politics white nationalism, distrust of perceived corrupt elites and media along with the relatively sophisticated use of social media to influence and recruit.

These anti-authority, conspiratorial views have been around in New Zealand for some time within the anti-1080, anti-5G and anti-UN movements.

But we began to see the formation of a loose political community around the 2020 general election. It was notable, for instance, that online material from the Advance NZ party had 30,000 followers and their anti-COVID material was viewed 200,000 times.

COVID gave new impetus to these movements, partly because the pandemic fed many of the now well-established tropes of those inclined to believe in conspiracies the role of China, government overreach, the influence of international organisations like the UN or WHO, or the malign influence of experts or institutions.

Read more: What are the rights of children at the parliament protest and who protects them?

COVID not only encouraged others to be convinced that conspiracies were at work, the lockdowns also meant more were online and more were likely to engage. QAnon proved to be a key influence.

The election saw Advance NZ (and the NZ Public Party), along with the New Conservatives, the Outdoor Party and Vision NZ all peddle versions of COVID scepticism, the distrust of elites or of ethnic and religious others.

Combined, they received 2.73% of the party vote and 3.01% of electorate votes. Not large, but related online activity was still troubling.

By mid-2021, when the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD, a UK-based research organisation) undertook a study for the Department of Internal Affairs of New Zealands extreme online activity, things had ramped up yet again.

The ISD looked at 300 local extremist accounts and 600,000 posts. In any given week, 192 extremist accounts were active, with 20,059 posts, 203,807 likes or up-votes and 38,033 reposts/retweets.

Read more: The NZ anti-vax movements exploitation of Holocaust imagery is part of a long and sorry history

When it came to far-right Facebook pages, there were 750 followers per 100,000 internet users in New Zealand, compared to 399 in Australia, 252 in Canada and 233 in the USA.

Those numbers should give us all pause for thought. The volumes, the relatively high density, the extensive use of QAnon and the mobilisation of a not insignificant part of the New Zealand community indicate the alt-right and its fellow travellers were now well and truly established here.

This is reinforced by the Department of Internal Affairs digital harm log. Not only are the numbers growing, but the level of hate and threats directed at individuals and institutions remains high.

In this context, its not surprising to see these ideologies surface at the occupation of parliament grounds, or the fractious and divided nature of those attending, and that their demands are so diverse and inchoate.

Nor should it come as a surprise that the protesters display a complete unwillingness to trust authorities such as the police or parliament.

For some time, the so-called sovereign citizens movement has been apparent in New Zealand, again heavily influenced by similar American politics. Laws and regulations are regarded as irrelevant and illegal, as are the institutions that create or enforce them.

Whats perhaps more surprising is that New Zealanders have generally not known more about these politics and the possibility they would produce the ugly scenes at parliament.

Read more: The occupation of NZs parliament grounds is a tactical challenge for police, but mass arrests are not an option

While there has been some excellent media coverage, there has been a sense of playing catch-up. The degree of extremism fuelling the protests and the various demands appeared to catch parliament and the police off guard.

Our security and intelligence agencies are devoting more resources to tracking these politics but they need to be more public about it. The Combined Threat Assessment Group and the SIS provide updates and risk assessments, but these often lack detailed information about local activists and actions. We need to be better informed.

Read more: What the 'freedom convoy' reveals about the ties among politics, police and the law

The police are enhancing existing systems to better record hate crimes and activities (Te Raranga), which should become an important source of information.

And the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet will be announcing some of the details of the new centre of excellence, He Whenua Taurika, that will provide evidence of local developments.

If many New Zealanders have been surprised and saddened about the extremist politics visible at the parliament protest, there is now little excuse for not understanding their background and momentum. The challenge now is to ensure further hate crimes or violence do not follow.

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The extremism visible at the parliament protest has been growing in NZ for years is enough being done? - The Conversation