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But while the embrace of the president could pay off for these candidates in the primary, should they get the nomination it could cost them votes in the general election.

Jonathan Ladd, an associate professor of public policy and government at Georgetown University, told ABC News that some Republican candidates have to walk a tightrope: embrace the president too closely in the primary could cost votes in the general. But if they don’t tout him enough in the primary, his supporters won’t turn out for them.

“There's no easy solution to the dilemma,” he said.

Dowd agreed that the support the candidates could get from Trump in the primary could hurt them when they try to run a wider-appeal campaign in the general election.

\"President Trump has become a two-edged sword for GOP candidates,\" Dowd said. \"He has high approval ratings among GOP voters and very low ones among Democrats and Independents.\"

ABC News' Alisa Wiersema and Jeffrey Cook contributed to this report.

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