--- title: "Trump-backed candidates lose three 2026 Republican primaries in Florida and Wyoming" publication: "MediaBias News" url: "https://mediabias.news/politics/trump-backed-candidates-lose-three-2026-republican-primaries-in-florida-and-wyom" api: "https://mediabias.news/api/v1/stories/trump-backed-candidates-lose-three-2026-republican-primaries-in-florida-and-wyom" markdown: "https://mediabias.news/politics/trump-backed-candidates-lose-three-2026-republican-primaries-in-florida-and-wyom.md" audio: "https://mediabias.news/api/audio/trump-backed-candidates-lose-three-2026-republican-primaries-in-florida-and-wyom" category: "Politics" area: "United States" published: "2026-08-19T17:46:13.915Z" source_reported: "2026-08-19T17:10:15.353Z" updated: "2026-08-19T17:46:13.915Z" trust_score: 78 critic_score: 70 hype_score: 25 assessment_type: "coverage-and-source-reporting-analysis" fact_check_status: "not-performed" coverage_measured: "2026-08-19T19:45:18.480388+00:00" --- # Trump-backed candidates lose three 2026 Republican primaries in Florida and Wyoming *Cory Mills, Catalina Lauf and Megan Degenfelder all lost despite endorsements from the former president* **Scores for the source reporting** (0-100, assessing the original journalism this article was written from, not this write-up): - Trust 78 of 100, higher is better. Two full reports corroborate the losses; digests agree on the count. - Craft 70 of 100, higher is better. Quotes and figures are specific; context is provided. - Hype 25 of 100, lower is better. Headlines are lively but not exaggerated. Scored by MediaBias News; method at https://mediabias.news/methodology. **The short version** - Donald Trump endorsed Cory Mills, Catalina Lauf and Megan Degenfelder in 2026 Republican primaries, all of whom lost on 19 August. - Mills lost Florida’s 7th District to Ryan Elijah; Lauf lost Florida’s 19th District to Jim Schwartzel; Degenfelder lost Wyoming’s gubernatorial primary to Eric Barlow. - The Associated Press projected the results for Mills and Lauf, while Newsweek counted nine endorsement losses across House, Senate and gubernatorial contests in August 2026. - No right-rated outlet reported on the losses, though six left- and centre-rated outlets did. On 19 August 2026, three Republican candidates endorsed by Donald Trump lost their primaries in Florida and Wyoming. Cory Mills, a U.S. representative, was defeated in Florida’s 7th Congressional District by Ryan Elijah, a former television journalist. Catalina Lauf, a conservative media executive, lost Florida’s 19th District to Jim Schwartzel. In Wyoming, Megan Degenfelder, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, lost the gubernatorial primary to Eric Barlow, a state senator. The Associated Press projected the results for Mills and Lauf on the night of the election. Trump had endorsed Mills in February 2026 but later said on Truth Social that he had urged Mills to withdraw from the race. Lauf received Trump’s endorsement late in the campaign, after early voting in Florida had already begun. Degenfelder’s loss in Wyoming was part of a gubernatorial primary to succeed term-limited Governor Mark Gordon. Newsweek reported that the three losses accounted for one-third of the nine endorsement defeats Trump had suffered across House, Senate and gubernatorial contests in August 2026. Daily Kos counted 13 endorsement failures in total for 2026, including state legislative races. The losses followed earlier defeats in August for Trump-backed candidates in Minnesota, Michigan and Tennessee. ## Disagreement on the scale of Trump’s endorsement record Newsweek reported that a White House official told Politico before the 19 August primaries that Trump had a 98% success rate, with 233 wins from 238 endorsements. Daily Kos, however, reported that Trump’s endorsement failures totaled 13 in 2026, including state legislative races. The Washington Post’s digest stated that 10 Trump-endorsed candidates had lost their primaries by 19 August, nearly tying Trump’s worst year in 2022. ## What the coverage left out No right-rated outlet ran the story at all. None of the left- or centre-rated reports mentioned Trump’s statement on Truth Social urging Mills to withdraw from the race. The centre-rated reports did not include the total count of 13 endorsement failures in 2026 reported by Daily Kos. ## Who covered it Shares of the 7 covering outlets with a published leaning rating: - Left: 71% (5) - Centre: 29% (2) - Right: 0% (0) 0 of 7 covering outlets carried no usable leaning rating and were excluded from those percentages. Coverage measured 2026-08-19T19:45:18.480388+00:00. **Coverage watch:** developing. Checked 11 times; 0 checks found a material change. Most recently checked 2026-08-19T20:30:25.684Z. ## How the sides framed it ### Left - The left-rated reports led on the scale of Trump’s endorsement failures. Daily Kos’s full report described the losses as a humiliation for Trump and noted that his total endorsement failures in 2026 had reached 13, including state legislative races. The report framed the defeats as evidence of Trump’s weakening grip on the Republican Party and suggested they could limit his influence in his final two years in office. - Daily Kos used the phrase "right-wing lunatic" to describe Degenfelder and called Mills "scandal-tarred". The report also stated that Trump’s ability to "get away with both literal and figurative murder" could diminish if fewer Republican politicians feared his wrath. The Washington Post’s digest noted that 10 Trump-endorsed candidates had lost their primaries by 19 August, nearly matching Trump’s worst year in 2022. - NBC News’s digest described Trump’s endorsement record as having taken a "notable hit" in August, while The New Republic’s digest stated that Trump’s endorsed candidates kept losing "even in deep-red states". All four left-rated digests and reports carried the names of the losing candidates and the races they lost. ### Centre - The centre-rated reports focused on the immediate results rather than the broader implications for Trump’s influence. Newsweek’s full report described the losses as Trump’s "most concentrated series of endorsement defeats of the 2026 primary cycle" but noted that they did not erase his long list of successful endorsements. The report included a quote from Chuck Todd, who wrote on X that "August has been a cruel month for Trump politically." - Newsweek’s report also provided context for the losses, noting that Mills’ campaign had faced controversies and investigations, and that Lauf’s endorsement came late in the race, after early voting had begun. The report stated that Trump’s endorsement could still be highly valuable, even if it was not universally decisive. Political Wire’s digest simply noted that three Trump-backed candidates had lost their primaries on 19 August. ### Right No separate framing summary. **Provisional coverage gap:** right. The watch is not closed, so this is not yet a settled blindspot finding. ## Factuality profile of the covering outlets These are published factuality ratings of the outlets, not a verdict on whether this story or its claims are true. - mixed: 1 - high: 5 - veryHigh: 1 ## Verification scope This page compares coverage and scores the source reporting. It is not a ClaimReview verdict on whether the underlying event or claim is true. ## Original reporting this was written from - [The Washington Post](https://washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/19/three-more-trump-endorsed-candidates-lose-their-primaries) — Three more Trump-endorsed candidates lose their primaries - [NBC News](https://nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/trumps-endorsement-record-takes-hit-end-primary-season-rcna593351) — Trump’s endorsement record takes a hit at the end of primary season - [New York Magazine](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-endorsed-candidates-are-having-a-rough-go-of-it-lately.html) — Trump-Endorsed Candidates Are Having a Rough Go of It Lately - [Newsweek](https://newsweek.com/donald-trump-endorsement-losses-florida-wyoming-2026-12342353) — Donald Trump suffers worst night for endorsements of 2026 cycle - [Daily Kos](https://dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/19/800086460/elections/trump-humiliated-again-as-three-more-of-his-endorsees-are-losers) — Trump humiliated again as three more of his endorsees are losers - [The New Republic](https://newrepublic.com/post/214505/trump-losing-streak-primary-election-loss-florida-wymoing) — Trump’s Epic Losing Streak Continues With Three More Primary Flops - [Political Wire](https://politicalwire.com/2026/08/19/3-trump-backed-candidates-lost-their-primaries) — 3 Trump-Backed Candidates Lost Their Primaries ## Questions **Which Trump-endorsed candidates lost on 19 August 2026?** Cory Mills lost Florida’s 7th Congressional District to Ryan Elijah, Catalina Lauf lost Florida’s 19th District to Jim Schwartzel, and Megan Degenfelder lost Wyoming’s gubernatorial primary to Eric Barlow. The Associated Press projected the results for Mills and Lauf on the night of the election. **How many endorsement losses has Trump had in 2026?** Newsweek reported nine endorsement losses across House, Senate and gubernatorial contests in August 2026. Daily Kos counted 13 endorsement failures in total for 2026, including state legislative races. The Washington Post’s digest stated that 10 Trump-endorsed candidates had lost their primaries by 19 August. **Did any right-rated outlets report on the Trump endorsement losses?** No right-rated outlet reported on the losses of Trump-backed candidates in the 2026 Republican primaries. The story was covered by four left-rated and two centre-rated outlets. --- MediaBias News — https://mediabias.news. Reproduced from https://mediabias.news/politics/trump-backed-candidates-lose-three-2026-republican-primaries-in-florida-and-wyom. Please cite as: MediaBias News, "Trump-backed candidates lose three 2026 Republican primaries in Florida and Wyoming", https://mediabias.news/politics/trump-backed-candidates-lose-three-2026-republican-primaries-in-florida-and-wyom