Republican voters advanced strong Senate candidates in Maryland and West Virginia on Tuesday, giving the Republican Party a big boost in its effort to claim control of Congress’ upper chamber.
Former Gov. Larry Hogan won the Republican nomination in what will be a marquee race in Maryland against Angela Alsobrooks, a senior local official who could become the fourth black woman in U.S. history to serve in the Senate .
Meanwhile, another popular Republican, Gov. Jim Justice, won the Senate nomination in deep-red West Virginia, becoming the heavy favorite in the race that represents the GOP’s best pickup opportunity in the country.
In the two states, which share a border but feature antithetical politics, Republican candidates pose a stiff challenge to Democrats in the general election as they cling to a 51-49 Senate majority and defend seats in other states that former President Donald Trump won four years ago. There is.
At the same time, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden have sought to project strength in low-stakes presidential primaries. And further down the ballot, two people who were on opposing sides during the Jan. 6 insurrection lost their bids for the U.S. House of Representatives: a former Capitol Police officer running in Maryland and a former West Virginia state legislator who participated in the riot.
A total of three states held statewide primary elections on Tuesday – Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia – as Republicans and Democrats chose their candidates for the November elections that will decide the presidency and control of Congress.
In Maryland, Hogan gives Republicans a legitimate chance to win a Senate seat in the deep blue state for the first time in more than four decades.
Hogan overcame his years-long criticism of Trump, a stance that put him at odds with many Republican primary voters but will undoubtedly help him in this fall’s general election. Maryland voters gave Biden a 33-point victory over Trump four years ago.
On the other hand, in the Senate race, Democratic voters nominated Alsobrooks. The 53-year-old African-American executive had been endorsed by many top state officials, including Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Steny Hoyer.
Alsobrooks prevailed after a contentious and costly primary against U.S. Rep. David Trone, a liquor store magnate who had invested more than $61 million in his unsuccessful bid.
Race was an issue in the Democratic primary and could be an issue in the general election in the coming months. Alsobrooks is trying to become the first black senator from a state in which about one in three residents identify as African American.
On the social media site »
Alsobrooks, also posted on X, promised to “defeat Larry Hogan, keep Maryland blue, and keep our Senate under Democratic control.”
Justice won his primary against U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney. With Manchin gone, it’s almost guaranteed the seat will turn red in November.
The Trump-backed judge, a former billionaire with a popular personality, is very popular in the state. He also gained support from Trump. A former Democrat, Justice joined the Republican Party in 2017, announcing his switch at a Trump rally.
Despite his ties to the former Republican president, Justice doesn’t pander to Trump as much as most state Republican officials. And he largely avoids focusing on some of the Republican Party’s favorite culture war issues, like transgender rights.
Mooney had tried to win over conservatives by calling Justice a “RINO” — meaning “Republican in Name Only” — who would support Democratic policies. Justice backed Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, saying West Virginia couldn’t afford to turn down the money proposed in the bill.
At a polling place in West Virginia’s capital, voter Steve Ervin said his votes Tuesday were directly tied to Trump.
“I really did an exhaustive study of the poll sample to find out who I believe supported Trump and Trump supported them,” said Ervin, who works in the state unemployment office. “That’s the basis on which I made my entire decision.”
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican nominee in the 2018 Senate race against Manchin, won the West Virginia gubernatorial nomination.
Biden and Trump have already gathered enough delegates to claim the presidential nominations at their respective national conventions this summer. And they added to their total Tuesday with wins in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia.
Still, voters on both sides were hoping to register a meaningful protest vote Tuesday that would demonstrate their displeasure with the Biden-Trump rematch.
Progressives in Maryland, particularly unhappy with the Biden administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas, had encouraged voters to select “no presidential candidate” instead. Results released Tuesday evening suggest the “uncommitted” vote lagged behind similar movements in Michigan and Minnesota.
There were no options available in West Virginia or Nebraska.
Everett Bellamy, a Democrat who voted early in Annapolis, said he voted “non-committal” instead of Biden to protest the killing of women, children and noncombatants in Gaza.
“I wanted to send a message,” Bellamy, 74, said after leaving an early voting center.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Republican critics can’t choose “uncommitted,” but they can choose his former Republican rival Nikki Haley, who will appear on the ballot in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia despite the formal suspension of his campaign more than two months ago.
Derek Faux, an independent voter from Charleston, West Virginia, said he supports Haley and in other Republican races he said he voted for candidates he thought were least like Trump .
“I would rather see moderate, reasonable Republicans than some others,” said Faux, the librarian.
Tuesday’s election also included two candidates intimately involved in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In Maryland, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn was among about 20 Democrats running in the state’s 3rd Congressional District. The 40-year-old Democrat lost to state Sen. Sarah Elfreth.
In West Virginia, former House of Delegates member Derrick Evans lost his bid to oust Republican incumbent Carol Miller in the 1st Congressional District. Evans, 39, served a three-month prison sentence after live-streaming himself participating in the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
In Nebraska, Republican Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts both won their primaries, one of the rare occasions when both senators from a state were on the ballot at the same time. And in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon fended off a challenge from his right flank.
In North Carolina, voters finalized their choice for Trump-backed Brad Knott in what had become a one-person Republican primary in the state’s 13th Congressional District.
The Republican and Democratic parties held primaries in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
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