Not a pretty sight: Trump’s ‘beautiful’ Republican men flop at midterms

Donald Trump spent weeks promoting several Republican midterm candidates by praising their looks, but most of those he singled out lost, and some winners secured narrower victories than expected. The results suggest that his unusual “handsome candidate” pitch did little to overcome wider electoral challenges, as Republicans suffered historic losses.

In Ohio, Jon Husted lost by 5%, despite Trump’s praise, in a state Trump had won by 11% in 2024. Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins lost to Jon Ossoff by 18%, while Rick Jackson lost the governor’s race to Keisha Lance Bottoms by about 8.5%, making her Georgia’s first Black female governor. Kentucky’s Ed Gallrein won 54% to 40%, and Tennessee’s Bill Hagerty retained his Senate seat, though with a smaller margin than in 2020; the article says the Iran war also contributed to Republican losses.