May 13--Stepping into the role of Republican leader, Donald Trump faces a party that is profoundly divided -- not just among Washington elites, but across the country.
Supporters of the pugnacious political outsider, and sometimes the candidate himself, openly feuded with the GOP chairmen in a number of states, including several -- Colorado, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia -- that will likely be strongly contested this fall.
While those party chiefs now profess their support for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, the depth of their commitment remains to be seen, as well as how readily they can marshal the donors, volunteers and other activists Trump will need to boost his chances in November.
In several key battleground states, prominent Republicans continue to resist Trump's candidacy, questioning his electability, doubting his party loyalty and vowing to expend their energies on races other than the presidential campaign.
"Everybody I know has their 'I would rather,'" said Laura Carno, a conservative activist in Colorado Springs, Colo., who cited state and congressional contests as a higher priority than seeing the Manhattan business mogul and reality TV star sitting in the White House.
In Florida, "my sense is the Trump campaign has its work cut out for it," said state Sen. Tom Lee, whose district sits on the Interstate 4 corridor, the swing part of the nation's most populous swing state.
Feelings are still raw, he said, from Trump's battering of rivals Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, the state's former governor and its junior U.S. senator, who remain highly respected among donors and activists whose loyalties, in Bush's case, go back a generation.
"They didn't just lose, they were insulted," said Lee, who plans to vote for Trump, but is uncertain what, if anything, he might do to help his candidacy. "It left a bad taste in a lot of the loyalists' mouths."
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Personal taunting aside, many state and local party leaders have been put off by Trump's generally harsh tone and belligerent attitude, as well as his many inflammatory remarks.
When Trump called for a ban on Muslim immigrants to the United States, the Republican Party chairmen in three of the earliest-voting states -- Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina --were among those who joined House Speaker Paul Ryan in condemning the remarks, though all three endorsed Trump once it became clear he would be the party's nominee.
Ryan, the highest-ranking Republican leader in the country, has declined to endorse Trump but offered kind words after a peacemaking session Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Others feel no such obligation.
Art Pope, a major Republican donor and conservative activist in North Carolina, said he has never supported Trump and that will not change now that he is the nominee-apparent. (Nor, he stressed, will he back the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.)
Instead, Pope said, he will focus on down-ballot races, including the state's contests for governor and U.S. Senate.
Asked if he was concerned that his lack of engagement would make it harder for Trump to carry North Carolina, a prime target of both parties, Pope replied: "Trump is going to have a hard time carrying a lot of states."
Ohio may be the most important battleground of all; no Republican has ever won the White House without carrying the state.
When Trump visited ahead of March's hard-fought primary, the GOP chairman greeted him with sarcasm and a mocking impression of the brash businessman.
"Only winners will be allowed to attend this Yuge, beautiful event," Matt Borges wrote. "If any losers, basket cases, choke artists, sweaty people show up, they will be deported."
Borges was a strong backer of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who won his home-state primary but nowhere else. Now that Trump is the presumed GOP nominee, Borges supports his effort to win the White House, said a spokeswoman, who described the chairman's earlier, sardonic statement as satirical.
But asked how important Trump's candidacy would be for the state party, the spokeswoman, Brittany Warner, demurred. She cited a number of significant races in Ohio this November, including a tough reelection fight for GOP freshman U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.
"At this point," Warner said, "I don't think it's fair to say or to prioritize what's going to be No. 1."
There are, of course, state party leaders eager to embrace Trump and promote party unity.
"We're all marching to the same drummer here," said Jeff Kaufmann, the chairman of Iowa's Republican Party, who acknowledged some hard feelings at the grass-roots level, but expressed confidence those would heal in plenty of time for the fall campaign.
Besides, he pointed out, Bernie Sanders is still battling Clinton, and many of his ardent supporters insist they will stay home in November rather than support Clinton as the Democratic nominee. "They've got some wounds to heal, too," Kauffman said.
Still, Trump faces the more serious breach -- a political revolt with few parallels in modern times -- and has the more critical task of party-building, essentially from scratch.
Lacking the long-term relationships and campaign infrastructure of previous GOP nominees, Trump will be heavily reliant on state parties, their voter contacts and the phone-bank and door-knocking support they muster to bolster what has largely been a Twitter- and national-media-driven campaign.
"That's where the workers come from," said Saul Anuzis, a former Michigan Republican chairman, who worked for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the primaries and is not ready to embrace Trump. "They do that grunty work that most people don't want to do. They're the ones having cold pizza and Diet Coke for breakfast because they were out late doing a [mail] drop the night before.
"It's a unique role that he clearly doesn't appreciate," Anuzis said. "He's never had to do it. He hasn't been a part of it."
In some instances, Trump was not just indifferent but outwardly hostile toward state party leaders whose enthusiastic backing he could now use.
In Colorado, Trump's complaints about the state's arcane delegate selection process unleashed such an outcry that Republican Chairman Steve House received death threats.
House said he does not blame Trump personally for the invective, but still plans to bring a local sheriff with him to the national convention to ensure the safety of Colorado's delegation.
It would be nice, House said, for Trump to make a gesture of goodwill toward the state, which could be one of the most competitive in November if Trump can improve his standing with women and Latino voters.
"He needs to come here," said House, who recently invited Trump and top aides to meet with state party leaders and activists to discuss strategy. "The sooner that happens, the better off we're going to be."
mark.barabak@latimes.com
melanie.mason@latimes.com
Follow @markzbarabak and @melmason on Twitter for national and California politics.
