Here’s what we learned on Tuesday in key primary elections.
Sam Brown will take on Jacky Rosen in a top-tier Senate race.
Republican Sam Brown, who was backed by the NRSC and former President Donald Trump (albeit belatedly), won the Nevada GOP Senate primary. Brown will face Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) in a closely watched general election that will see loads of spending.
Brown beat Trump’s ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter and a handful of other more hard-right candidates.
Mace wins her primary handily.
Despite former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s best efforts, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) easily defeated primary challenger Catherine Templeton and advanced to the general election. Mace was one of the eight Republicans to vote to oust McCarthy last year and had drawn the ire of the former speaker.
But Mace dispatched Templeton and avoided a runoff in the process. A big factor was Trump endorsing Mace.
Timmons beats back a Freedom Caucus-backed challenger.
Hardline members of the House Freedom Caucus poured a lot of political capital into unseating Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.). But Timmons survived a primary challenge from the South Carolina Freedom Caucus Chair Adam Morgan. Timmons’ victory was another race where Trump backed the winner.
Armstrong wins the N.D. GOP gubernatorial primary.
Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) won the North Dakota gubernatorial primary and will almost certainly be the state’s next governor. Julie Fedorchak won the House Republican primary to succeed Armstrong. Trump endorsed both winning candidates.
Rulli squeaks out a surprisingly close win in Ohio.
The race to succeed former Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) in a ruby-red House seat shocked many. Republican Michael Rulli won by less than 10 points, a huge underperformance in a seat that backed Trump in 2020 by roughly 30 points.
