As The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley have both argued the dynamics of the GOP primary are set to change in the coming months.
Republicans will hold their first debate in August and candidates are also poised to ramp up campaigning in the early voting states.
“I know that by mid-fall, this is going to be totally different. Once you pass Labor Day, the numbers start to shift. And you can look at history for that,” Haley told The New York Times in an interview. “That’s not me just hoping, that’s me knowing.”
DeSantis similarly predicted the fundamentals in the race are poised to change soon.
Referring to the first GOP debate Aug. 23, DeSantis told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo: “I think really, Maria, that’s when people are really going to start paying attention to the primary.”
“I think up to this point, a lot of that has been about some of these legal cases,” he said, a nod to the legal scrutiny facing former President Trump. “And I think a lot of the voters’ concern about that and understandably so.”
Still, some Republicans are unconvinced that Trump’s rivals can continue to wait out the primary, especially since the indictments against Trump have so far only boosted his momentum in the race.
“You cannot depend on the way things have always happened,” Doug Heye, a former spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, told Brett. “If you want to change the campaign, you have to go out and change it. You can’t depend on someone changing it for you.”
Of course, early frontrunners in GOP primaries have risen and fallen before. But Trump occupies a unique space as a former incumbent and a two-time GOP nominee, meaning that dethroning him will prove no easy feat for his Republican challengers.
Added to the mix is whether Trump will participate in the first primary debate at all, which would offer his rivals the opportunity to directly contrast themselves with Trump. But as The Hill’s Alex Bolton reports, while some Republicans argue he should attend, others concede he’s not beholden to going given his frontrunner status in the race.
“The best thing is to get the candidates and their ideas in front of Republican voters in this country, and that includes him. It’s a very deep field this year and a lot of good candidates, and a robust debate that highlights their views and their differences is good for the process,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told Alex. “I’m all for everybody being on the stage.”
