President Donald Trump suffered his most concentrated series of endorsement defeats of the 2026 primary cycle on Tuesday, when three Republican candidates he supported lost races in Florida and Wyoming. Representative Cory Mills was defeated in the Republican primary for Florida’s 7th Congressional District, Catalina Lauf lost the contest for the GOP nomination in Florida’s 19th District, and Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder fell short in the state’s Republican gubernatorial primary. The three losses do not erase Trump’s long list of successful endorsements, including several victories on the same night.
But they add to a run of August defeats that has exposed the limits of the president’s ability to carry candidates past local opposition, controversy or questions about their fitness for office. Former NBC News moderator Chuck Todd summarized the political moment in a post on X late Tuesday, writing: “August has been a cruel month for Trump politically.” Trump remains the dominant national figure in the Republican Party, and candidates continue to compete for his backing. Yet Tuesday’s results showed that an endorsement from the president does not necessarily override concerns Republican primary voters have developed about an individual candidate.
The three defeats accounted for one-third of the nine losses across House, Senate and gubernatorial contests, according to a Newsweek analysis of Ballotpedia data. In Florida's 7th District, Mills lost to former television journalist Ryan Elijah. The projected the result Tuesday night.
Trump had endorsed Mills in February, although the president did not include the congressman in a group of Florida endorsements he publicized shortly before the election. On Wednesday, in a post on Truth Social, Trump called Mills a friend but said he had urged him "to get out of the Race, but he wouldn’t listen." Mills’ campaign unfolded against a difficult political backdrop. Controversies and investigations shaped his reelection bid and gave Republican voters reasons to judge the race on more than presidential loyalty.
Mills has denied allegations against him. The loss was therefore not a straightforward rebellion against Trump. It was also a test of whether the president’s support could insulate an incumbent from problems attached to his own candidacy.
On Tuesday, it could not. In Florida’s open 19th District, conservative media executive Jim Schwartzel defeated Lauf in a crowded field to succeed Byron Donalds, who left the seat to run for governor. Trump endorsed Lauf late in the campaign.
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