The dominant narrative for most of the past decade that a Trump endorsement just about guarantees a Republican will win his primary, and that crossing the president is a political death sentence for most GOP lawmakers. And so far, that remains generally true.

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Eric Swalwell Reaps What He Sows

But back on April 6, Trump endorsed Steve Hilton to be the GOP nominee to be governor of California. For a while, Hilton and his chief rival, Riverside County, Calif., sheriff Chad Bianco, were the two frontrunners in the state’s jungle primary; if both finished in the top two, California would be guaranteed to elect a Republican governor this year.

But this weekend, California Republicans held their convention in San Diego........

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