With his victory in Tuesday’s Virginia Republican Senate primary, Hung Cao received the party’s endorsement to challenge incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, in November.
Aside from Cao, the most well-known candidates in the Senate GOP primary were constitutional lawyer Jonathan Emord and former DeSantis assistant and Club for Growth employee Scott Parkinson.
In a post on Truth Social last month, the former president Trump praised Hung Cao, saying, “A combat veteran and highly decorated special operations officer, Hung Cao will be a tireless fighter to stop inflation, grow our economy, secure our border, strong support our incredible Military/Vets, and defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”
He went on, “Hung Cao has my complete and total endorsement.”
As his rival received the much-desired thumbs up from Trump, Parkinson had secured notable support from sitting Republican senators. Among his supporters are Sens. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Mike Braun, R-Ind., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
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Trump’s ability to endorse candidates varies by state, and his support does not ensure that a contender would emerge victorious in a primary.
In the March Republican primary in Virginia, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley garnered 35% of the vote while Trump secured 63%. Not long after the primaries, Haley halted her candidacy.
The Cook Political Report, an unbiased political handicapper, has rated the Virginia Senate race as “Solid Democratic.” Though it’s currently thought that Kaine will easily win the seat, the Democratic senator made it apparent that he isn’t taking anything lightly.
Kaine was reelected in 2018 and has been a member of the Senate since 2013.
