In a gold-plated ballroom in Greenville, the South Carolina Republican spurned by President Donald Trump admitted defeat.
Seven hundred miles away, in a half-empty Staten Island hotel ballroom, another Republican rejected by Trump took the stage and, over groans and an expletive from the audience, also conceded.
“Our people didn’t come out,” former Rep. Michael Grimm of New York acknowledged offstage, taking a break from bear-hugging distressed supporters, some of whom were in tears. “I think, I guess the president’s endorsement meant more than I thought it was.”
Trump waded into two marquee Republican primary contests that unfolded Tuesday, two races that tested his pull with distinct yet equally powerful voting groups -- southern evangelicals and working-class whites. In South Carolina, Trump endorsed Gov. Henry McMaster in his primary runoff against businessman John Warren. And in New York, he threw his weight behind Rep. Dan Donovan over Grimm.
During the New York race, Trump tweeted his endorsement for Donovan, while his son, Donald Trump, Jr., released a robocall for him, and his presidential campaign team offered a video and other pro-Donovan messaging, seeking to transfer Trump’s deep popularity with conservatives to the Republican congressman.
Diehard Grimm supporters gathered at the candidate’s watch party at a Hilton Garden Inn on Tuesday night said they were Trump fans. But as they snacked on cheese, olives and antipasti, they insisted the president must have gotten bad advice or misjudged the situation when he vouched for Donovan.
“I love Trump,” said one attendee, Cookie Taormina, 77. “But I think this was wrong.”
Grimm, who pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud and briefly spent time in jail, is still beloved in corners of this district, especially for his constituent work after Hurricane Sandy.
“My daughter lost her house,” said Kenneth Cole, 75, as he awaited results. “Michael Grimm couldn’t do enough for her. I would go to the moon and back for a man who works like that. We love this man. We’re forgiving of his misdeeds.”
Polls closed at 9 P.M., and some in the room had expected a late evening and a close race—but only minutes later, Donovan jumped to a significant lead and the room quieted as some attendees worriedly parsed precinct results on their phones.
By about 9:30, it was over, and Grimm and his team were taking the stage to concede.
Ominous signs for Grimm were evident even earlier in the day at his quiet campaign headquarters, where around 12:30 p.m., only seven people were working the phones, some sitting below a navy blue T-shirt pinned to the wall that read, “2018: all aboard the Trump train,” along with Grimm’s name.
At his campaign headquarters, Grimm worked the room. “How you doing, young lady, you doing OK?” he asked one older woman, as he doled out embraces, cheek kisses and warm greetings to supporters in the room.
But as he took questions from a handful of reporters, Grimm shed a touch of his usual bravado, acknowledging the Trump endorsement had swayed some votes in favor of his opponent.
“I do think it’s helped my opponent a little bit,” he said. “I think I see it more in the undecideds, people that were on the fence, I think it helped them a little bit.”
Certainly, for what they lacked in numbers, Grimm’s supporters made up in passion by Tuesday night: “No!” some in the audience cried as he conceded and pledged to support Donovan. “F*** Dan Donovan!” one man yelled. “Recount!” came another cry.
But Donovan, who embraced Trump at every turn and touted his endorsement on yard signs bearing his name, nearly doubled Grimm’s vote total.
In South Carolina, the mood at Warren’s watch party, fueled by cocktails, beer and sweet tea, was decidedly more optimistic.
“We started a movement in South Carolina. And that movement is bigger than any one election," Warren told a raucous crowd of supporters.
Warren supporters reveled in the fact that a political newcomer who was largely unknown to South Carolina voters in February when he entered the race was able to surge in the polls, pushing McMaster -- a 35-year veteran of state Republican politics -- into a runoff.
"John ran a remarkable campaign," said state Rep. Dan Hamilton. “He came out at the right time with the right resources and the right message. He's got the resume that backs up everything he talked about ... but couldn't overcome the force of the president of the United States come out against you."
On Monday, Trump parachuted into South Carolina to campaign for McMaster, embracing him onstage and acknowledging the risk he took by engaging in a competitive race, as he admonished the crowd, “They will say Donald Trump suffered a major, major defeat in the great state of South Carolina, it was a humiliating defeat for Donald Trump, so please get your asses out tomorrow and vote.”
And vote they did.
MaryAnn Riley, a Warren supporter decked out in both a Trump 2020 pin and hat, shrugged off the loss.
"Well, the voters spoke and that's the way it's going to be. We'll all be working together to beat the Democrats. ... And I'm going to be there right there with Henry,” she said, adding, “Sit here and look around, and people are still upbeat. There's not crying and wailing or anything like, and I think there's a future” for Warren.
Back on Staten Island, Grimm tried to reassure distraught supporters that there was a future for him—and for Republicans in the district—too, emphasizing his support for Donovan and for Trump, and in one-on-one conversations with supporters, he tried to laugh off the defeat or chalk it up to God’s plans.
But that did little to cheer the crowd.
“Staten Island lost big time,” one supporter grumbled.
Another chanted as she walked out of the event, “Dan Donovan is a lowlife.”
Tom Barton reported from Greenville, South Carolina.
Katie Glueck: 202-383-6078, @katieglueck