(AmericanProsperity.com) – Alaska Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy publicly endorsed former President Donald Trump as the candidate to support in the GOP presidential primary on August 22. Different reports said Dunleavy’s decision was unexpected as many Republican governors across the country have refused to make any presidential primary endorsement.
According to a Politico report, the Alaska governor’s endorsement came as the former commander-in-chief expands his lead in support from federal lawmakers and GOP governors over his rivals in the primary. It also comes at a moment when different polls show Trump keeps expanding his lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is the second-favorite to win the nomination.
So far, only five of the 26 GOP governors across the United States have formally endorsed in the primary race, while two of them are running themselves. These are DeSantis and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who some political analysts believe could exceed expectations.
The former president has received the endorsement from three governors. These are West Virginia’s Jim Justice, South Carolina’s Henry McMaster, and Dunleavy. The other two gubernatorial endorsements were split between former Vice President Mike Pence and DeSantis. The one who endorsed the Florida governor was Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt, while Indiana’s Eric Holcomb announced his support for Pence.
In addition to having received most endorsements from Republican governors, Trump has also received the endorsement of 80 members of Congress. This is over 16 times the total amount of lawmakers who have announced their support for DeSantis.
According to different reports, the former president had a phone conversation with Dunleavy a couple of minutes before the governor announced his endorsement. While Alaska isn’t one of the most important states in the primary cycle, it’s a Super Tuesday primary state.
The former commander-in-chief has publicly endorsed Dunleavy for governor on three occasions, as he has been one of his main political allies. These were in the 2022 midterms, as well as 2019 and 2018 when he was president.
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