It was the biggest primary night since Super Tuesday, and the results brought few surprises.
Bernie Moreno won the Republican Senate primary in Ohio and, with the strong support of former President Donald J. Trump, became the Republican nominee in perhaps the most consequential Senate race this November.
Incumbents also fought off primaries in Illinois, and the results of a special primary in California will ultimately decide who finishes the term of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was impeached last year and left Congress shortly thereafter left.
Here are four takeaways.
With Trump’s power, Moreno prevails in Ohio.
Bernie Moreno, a wealthy former car dealer and political newcomer, emerged victorious in a three-way brawl in Ohio’s Republican primary over who would take on Sherrod Brown, the Democratic incumbent, in an increasingly Republican state.
The closely contested primary proved once again how strong Mr. Trump’s support is, especially in a state like Ohio. The former president gave early support to Mr. Moreno as the Republican establishment tried hard to push through its chosen candidate, Matt Dolan, a wealthy state senator.
But the star power of Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, and its former moderate senator, Rob Portman, has been decisively eclipsed by Mr Trump. Mr. Moreno cruised to victory, securing a narrow majority of votes in a three-way race.
Democratic incumbents claim victory in Illinois.
Two Democratic incumbents in Illinois faced significant challengers in Tuesday’s primary election and survived, a testament to the power of the incumbent.
Rep. Danny Davis won the Democratic primary for the Seventh Congressional District by a wide margin. He has represented part of Chicagoland for nearly 28 years. He is also 82 and faced a series of younger opponents who were ultimately swept aside after the Democratic establishment in Illinois rallied around Mr. Davis.
Rep. Jesús García, a progressive Democrat named Chuy, won the Democratic primary in Chicago’s Fourth Congressional District by a wide margin, defeating his opponent Raymond Lopez in a landslide. Part of the race was about immigration issues. Mr. García, who has described himself as a “proud immigrant,” criticized President Biden when he called an illegal immigrant an “illegal” in his State of the Union address. Mr. Lopez has been more conservative on immigration.
Another race with an incumbent, the Republican primary in the 12th Congressional District, was still undecided early Wednesday morning. Rep. Mike Bost is not someone who imagines himself to be a moderate Republican, and he had the support of Mr. Trump but was still challenged from the right by Darren Bailey, an ardent pro-Trump Republican who is in the race for governor in 2022 lost by a wide margin to JB Pritzker.
Kevin McCarthy’s seat remains pending.
Vince Fong, a Republican state representative, ran in a special primary in California to finish the term of Mr. McCarthy, a Republican who was ousted from his role as House speaker and resigned shortly thereafter.
Mr. Fong failed to reach the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff, and two other candidates were close for second place with votes still pending: Mike Boudreaux, another Republican and Tulare County sheriff, and Marisa Wood, a democrat and teacher. The runoff election is scheduled for May 21st.
Mr. Fong and Mr. Boudreaux advanced to a full term in office beginning in January 2025 in a separate primary held on Super Tuesday.
As expected, Trump and Biden scored big victories.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, their parties’ presumptive presidential nominees, won near complete victories in the states that held primaries on Tuesday: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio.
However, the results still reflected small but significant opposition in each party to their presumptive nominees.
Mr. Trump scored a landslide victory, winning at least 75 percent of the vote in every state early Wednesday. Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race after Super Tuesday, won significant minorities in every primary. Her best performance was in Arizona.
Mr. Biden captured an even larger percentage of the vote in the Democratic primary, winning at least 83 percent of the vote in every state early Wednesday. Still, some voters expressed dissatisfaction with his candidacy. In Ohio, 13 percent voted for Representative Dean Phillips, who dropped out after Super Tuesday and supported Mr. Biden. In Kansas, more than 10 percent voted for the “None of the Names Displayed” ballot option.
Source link
2024-03-20 04:59:16
www.nytimes.com
