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Jake Ellzey of Texas won a US House seat on Tuesday night over a fellow Republican rival backed by Donald Trump, dealing the former president a defeat in a test of his endorsement power since leaving office.
Ellzey’s come-from-behind victory over Susan Wright, the widow of the late Representative Ron Wright, in a special congressional election runoff near Dallas is likely to be celebrated by Trump antagonists who have warned against his continued hold on the GOP. Trump backed Wright from the start and had made one last attempt to give her a boost with a telephone rally on Monday night.
It is relieving to see that the former President does not have as much influence and control over today’s elections as he had back when he was President. Elections shouldn’t be decided based on the President’s, or any official’s endorsemen alone, and we saw Texas’s voters express their will here.