Bad candidates or lack of money? GOP debates why it lost in 2022

DANA POINT, Calif. — The Republican Party is readying to release its review of why key candidates underwhelmed in last fall’s midterm elections by early spring.

But while Republican National Committee members agree on the need to wrap up the inquiry before the presidential primary moves full-steam ahead, there remains disagreement over a key part of the review — a focus on “candidate quality,” which is seen as a euphemism for former President Donald Trump’s failed endorsements in key swing state races.

The split played out during the panel’s meeting at this week’s RNC gathering, with Arizona committee member Tyler Bowyer arguing to Mississippi committee member Henry Barbour behind closed doors that the problem in 2022 was not candidate quality but a lack of resources offered to a series of high-profile nominees who lost last fall. Both men, who are part of the RNC team tasked with reviewing the midterms, confirmed the discussion to NBC News.

“We had a little bit of a debate between me and Henry Barbour over candidate quality versus candidate support,” Bowyer, who is also chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, a conservative group, said. “And I just take the position that we’re never going to be able to tell Donald Trump what he has to do. President Trump can support whoever he wants to support.

“It’s not our ability to influence that,” he continued. “The only thing we can influence are the things that we control. And what we control here at the RNC is money that comes in and money that goes out. And that’s the predominant force.”

Barbour —  whom Ronna McDaniel, the newly re-elected RNC chairwoman, tapped to co-chair the review alongside California committee member Harmeet Dhillon, Kansas committee member Kim Borchers and Delaware GOP Chair Jane Brady — said he and Bowyer “had a discussion along those lines.” 

Earlier this month, Barbour said in an interview with NBC News that the committee would closely examine what role Trump had played in the party’s underwhelming 2022 midterm results as part of its audit, which he said which would also probe myriad other topics, such as turnout and ticket-splitting.

“What we intend to do is get into the weeds, to have data to confirm or certainly to give weight to the assessments that we make,” he said at the time. “This has got to be a candid effort. We can’t gloss over things. Or it’s just not worth doing.”

Their debate echoes a broader schism in the…