Kelly Ayotte said she "wanted to be able to support her party's nominee" but can't. | AP Photo Congressional candidates stampede to ditch Trump Kelly Ayotte and Joe Heck were among the first vulnerable GOP Senate contenders to cut bait.

Republicans locked in tight congressional races went on an historic stampede Saturday away from their own presidential nominee, as top GOP officials deemed it untenable to run for reelection in battleground states while still supporting Donald Trump.

After standing aside Trump during months of bombastic remarks aimed at Muslims, Latinos and women, Trump's sexually predatory remarks, caught on tape in 2005 and reported Friday, were the breaking point. The most prominent defection was Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Vietnam War POW who stuck by his Trump endorsement despite repeated slights, starting with the candidate's barb last year that he prefers "people who weren't captured." New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte was the first vulnerable Senate GOP incumbent to withdraw her support on Satuday. Joe Heck, a Republican running in Nevada, quickly followed suit.


And those were just a few of the several dozen lawmakers who joined an anti-Trump exodus on Saturday.

"I wanted to be able to support my party’s nominee, chosen by the people, because I feel strongly that we need a change in direction for our country. However, I’m a mom and an American first, and I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women. I will not be voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton and instead will be writing in Governor Pence for president on Election Day," Ayotte said.

Heck, running for the Nevada Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), also officially denounced Trump and called on him to drop out of the race -- a move that Democratic operatives predicted would sap conservative support from Heck and hand him a major disadvantage in his bid against Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto. Nevada, like New Hampshire, is one of the most competitive Senate races nationwide, and Heck has generally led in public polling against Cortez Masto.

"I accept that none of us are perfect. However, I can no longer look past this pattern of behavior and inappropriate comments from Donald Trump," Heck said Saturday to scattered boos in a Nevada crowd. "Therefore, I cannot, in good conscience, continue to support him nor can I vote for Hillary Clinton."

McCain, who's up for reelection in November, likewise said the Trump recording was his last straw.

"Donald Trump’s behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy," McCain said in a statement.

Even Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who has soared far ahead of Democratic challenger Ted Strickland and is consistently running double-digits ahead of Trump in the presidential battleground state, revoked his endorsement and said he would write in Pence for president. “While I continue to respect those who still support Donald Trump, I can no longer support him," Portman said.

Still, not everyone was ready to ditch the GOP nominee. Asked about whether he will disavow Trump, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said that he is "going to watch his level of contrition over the next few days to determine my level of support."

Others were conspicuously quiet: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) never mentioned Trump at an event in Wisconsin with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker. Another prominent senator up for reelection — Marco Rubio of Florida — declined to say on Saturday where he stood on Trump.

But Republican officials said they don't expect their candidates to be able to withstand a sustained defense of Trump after footage surfaced Friday of him making crass comments about his sexual exploits and seeming to make light of sexual assault. On Friday evening, every Senate candidate in a competitive race condemned Trump’s comments, first reported by The Washington Post, but none pulled their endorsement.

That’s rapidly changing as Republican candidates around the country woke up to face voters at events and Democrats accusing them of condemning a candidate that they still support for president. The Republican officials said most GOP senators and candidates in competitive races are now sending strong signals that they are “inclined” to disavow support of Trump — and the expectation was that Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who never endorsed Trump, would be the next to disavow his candidacy.

“It’s going to start happening very soon,” said one Republican of rescinding endorsements of Trump. “People are going to wake up and say this is never going to end.”

“If you look at what all of our people have said I think the answer is pretty clear,” said a second Republican official, who added that it should be “obvious to everyone” that opposing Trump is Republicans’ strongest play.

It wasn't just vulnerable candidates jumping ship on Saturday. No. 3 Senate GOP leader John Thune of South Dakota called on Trump to withdraw. And GOP Sen. Mike Crapo, who's up for reelection in the conservative state of Idaho, revoked his Trump endorsement. The fact that Republicans in safe seats are so willing to pull the plug on Trump puts additional pressure on GOP candidates in swing states to follow suit.

Many in the GOP have resisted abandoning Trump because it could hurt their support within their own party. In statewide elections, Republicans viewed it as impossible to disavow their nominee because it would lead to bleeding support among conservatives.

But with the release of Trump talking about being able to grope and do anything to women because he’s a “star,” Republicans are under enormous pressure to cut bait — in anticipation that Democrats will release more damaging material on Trump over the next month. That’s an untenable place for Republicans like Toomey who are running in Democratic states. A campaign spokesman did not return a phone call and email seeking comment on Toomey's view on Trump in light of the new audio.

In Missouri, however, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told the Post on Saturday that he will still vote for Trump. Blunt is in a competitive race, but Trump has been favored to win Missouri. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), up for reelection in a safe seat, announced Saturday afternoon that Trump "has forfeited the right to be our party’s nominee."

On Friday night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) released an unusually pointed criticism of Trump, calling his recorded remarks “repugnant.” That was taken as a signal by Republican candidates that they were free to do what they need to do when it comes to their nominee, even revoke their support.

“As the father of three daughters, I strongly believe that Trump needs to apologize directly to women and girls everywhere, and take full responsibility for the utter lack of respect for women shown in his comments on that tape,” McConnell said.

One GOP operative working on Senate races said it may be too early to decide whether Republicans would switch course and begin running as a check on Hillary Clinton. Republicans will be watching polls closely after Trump's Friday debacle and his debate performance on Sunday, and the fallout will determine campaign strategy for the last month of the election.

“As bad as this is, I think there is that other underlying fear that there’s more to come,” the operative said. “We don’t yet have the data from the top of the ticket that would reflect this. I suspect next week, we’ll see the collapse if that’s going to happen.”

Meanwhile in the House, GOP leadership sources said Republican leaders are telling lawmakers to do what they need to do.

“We basically said to handle Trump the way you need to handle him from the very beginning: Do what’s best for your constituents and your race,” one told POLITICO. Another House source said donors will demand that House Republican candidates separate themselves from Trump, who vowed Saturday to stay in the race despite growing calls from the GOP establishment to drop out.

House Republicans running in tough races began opposing Trump on Friday night, as Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) both explicitly announced their opposition to Trump’s candidacy after the release of the audio and video. Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) also said Saturday she is opposing Trump, as did endangered Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.). Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), in an uphill reelection battle, called for him to be replaced on the ballot by Pence.

Later on Saturday, Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Steve Knight (R-Calif.) followed suit, adding two more at-risk lawmakers to the anti-Trump movement.

"While I've never before endorsed a presidential candidate, I've felt compelled to strongly condemn many of Mr. Trump's previous outrageous remarks. And after serious consideration, I have decided that I cannot support either candidate for president," Knight said.

And some Republicans working on Senate races said Saturday that the Republican National Committee should consider shifting its attention to congressional races rather than pouring in millions to help elect a candidate with little chance of winning.

Even Republicans in deep-red districts were quick to cut the cord. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who had endorsed Trump before and is not in a competitive race, withdrew his support. And Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) released a statement Saturday morning announcing that she would not vote for Trump because his behavior “makes him unacceptable as a candidate for president.” She, like a swelling number of Republicans, asked "Trump to step aside."

But Democrats battling House Republicans in competitive districts nationwide will continue to hammer GOP candidates by framing the defections as an act of self-preservation. Trump's recorded comments are also expected to show up in paid ads from House Democrats soon, one Democratic official said.

“To finally denounce Donald Trump — and still not vote for Hillary Clinton — is not bravery, it is not principled, and it is not worthy of the voters they're supposed to serve," said Meredith Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Elena Schneider contributed to this report.