The 2022 Mid-Term Elections were a nightmare for conservatives. The specter of Donald Trump and his MAGA candidates utterly failed the Republican Party. The nightmare was worsened by a severe messaging problem from pro-lifers who have probably spent too much time preaching to the choir and riding that Trump bandwagon into oblivion.

The only shining exception to this was the battleground state of Florida where Governor Ron DeSantis led his own conservative coalition to a landslide victory. Although I wasn't impressed by DeSantis' victory speech that election night; which I felt was far too self-serving; it was a nevertheless impressive and very important accomplishment.

When deciding on who to support in a primary, most of us ponder: "Which candidate do I trust to best represent my understanding of conservative values?"

There is another, perhaps just as important question we don't often ponder but should: "Which candidate will help conservatives win down ballot?"

It's for this reason that I refuse to even entertain the idea of supporting a candidate like Chris Christie, who managed impressive wins in New Jersey for himself, but never managed to get another Republican elected in the state, including his Lieutenant Governor who ran for Governor after Christie and lost by a landslide while he was still in office. Unlike Chris Christie, Donald Trump actually campaigned to help Republicans get elected. The problem Trump has is that a great majority of them turned out to be embarrassments and lost horrendously.

Nikki Haley has campaigned for and gotten some Republican candidates elected, but the feat is less impressive considering she was the Governor of the extremely Republican state of South Carolina.

Ron DeSantis, despite running a lousy campaign up to this point, impressed me a lot by building coalitions out of communities that used to vote Democrat and getting them to vote Republican down ballot. I don't think he's a dynamic candidate. I don't think he's very likeable. However, Ron DeSantis figured out how to carry the entire Republican Party of Florida to victory. If Donald Trump wins the Presidency but Republicans control neither house of Congress, he's not going to accomplish anything in his second term.

This isn't an endorsement of Ron DeSantis, but it is a reason for Republican voters to lean towards supporting him in their states' primaries.