Although not on the ballot himself, Trump has played a role in many races, with candidates carrying his support meeting with mixed results. There have also been falls from several incumbents, some of whom were ousted by Trump-backed challengers and others defeated by fellow delegates in showdowns forced by redistricting. Here’s what’s happened so far in initial races across the country: FALLS MANDATORY Eight incumbents — three Democrats and five Republicans — have lost their seats in the U.S. House already this year after losing primaries. Four of those losses came in incumbent races, a result of the once-in-a-decade redistricting process. But the other four were defeated by insurgent opponents after they found themselves vulnerable as a result of scandal, investigation, angering progressives or cross-talking Trump. Seven-term centrist Democratic U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon fell to progressive challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner in his May 17 primary. Schrader had angered many Democrats by opposing some of President Joe Biden’s priorities, including a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, because he did not support raising the minimum wage. Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina was defeated by state Sen. Chuck Edwards after a whirlwind of scandals that included Cawthorn saying he had been invited to orgies and witnessed drug opponents using cocaine, twice being caught with guns in airports and appears in videos showing him in sexually suggestive poses. On June 14, five-term GOP Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina lost his re-election bid to state Rep. Russell Fry after he voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. And on June 28, six-term Mississippi Republican Rep. Stephen Palazzo lost a runoff to Sheriff Mike Ezell after being accused in a congressional ethics report of misusing campaign funds. MEMBER-TO-MEMBER FACEOFF Redistricting guaranteed that some incumbents of the US House. they would be expelled. The first to fall was Republican Rep. David McKinley of West Virginia, who voted with Democrats for Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, betting that West Virginians would reward him for prioritizing that funding. in one of the poorest states in the country. Instead, they dumped him for MP Alex Mooney, who opposed the infrastructure bill. Mooney won Trump’s endorsement the day Biden signed the measure into law. In Georgia, Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath, a gun safety advocate, went shopping in the area after a GOP-dominated legislature turned her home district into a Republican stronghold. She defeated Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, who said she considered McBath a “sister.” Two Illinois incumbents lost their seats last week when Republican Rep. Mary Miller defeated five-term Republican Rep. Rodney Davis and Democratic Rep. Sean Casten beat one-term Democrat Rep. Marie Newman. Miller’s win came days after she called the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade a “historic victory for white lives” during a rally with Trump. Calling it “a jumble of words,” Miller’s spokeswoman told The Associated Press she intended to say the ruling was a victory for a “right to life.” TRUMP’S GOALS Still stinging from his loss to Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Trump vowed to get revenge on Republicans who defied him. He zeroed in on Georgia, recruiting opponents of Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who had rebuffed his efforts to overturn his narrow defeat in the state. But it went down, with Kemp easily turning back former Sen. David Perdue and Raffensperger defeating Rep. Jody Hice. Trump also directed his anger at the 10 House Republicans who voted with Democrats to impeach him for his role in the Jan. 6 uprising. Four decided not to seek re-election. But of those who remained to fight, Rice became the first to lose, an outcome he acknowledged was possible after a vote he said his conscience compelled him to take. Another, Rep. David Valadao of California, finished second in his primary, meaning he advanced to November’s general election as one of the top two finishers. Four House Republicans are still awaiting their primaries. In South Carolina, Trump targeted another Republican incumbent, Rep. Nancy Mays, after she criticized him for her role in the Jan. 6 attack and her vote to certify Biden’s victory. Mays held off a challenge from Katie Arrington, a Trump-endorsed challenger. TRUMP: KEEPING SCORE Trump helped win a number of US Senate candidates. In Ohio, he endorsed “Hillbilly Elegy” author JD Vance after a furious push by Vance’s opponents to curry favor with Trump. The endorsement just three weeks before the election propelled Vance to a victory. Dr. Mehmet Oz got Trump’s stamp of approval about five weeks before the Pennsylvania primary, a blow to former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, whose wife, Dina Powell, served in the Trump administration. Oz picked up a narrow victory over McCormick after a showdown. In North Carolina, Trump endorsed Rep. Ted Budd a year before his primary, elevating the little-known lawmaker from a field of 14 candidates to win the GOP Senate nomination. Trump also entered statewide races, endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent George P. Bush. Trump was rewarding Paxton for petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 election — an effort the state bar called “dishonorable” as it sought to punish him for it. Katie Britt nearly won the GOP primary to replace her boss, unseated by Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, but ended up in a runoff with longtime Rep. Mo Brooks, whom Trump initially endorsed before withdrawing his support as Brooks’ poll languishes. Trump only endorsed Britt after she finished first in the primary. Republican voters in Nebraska rejected Trump’s governor, businessman Charles Herbster, who was accused late in the campaign of groping multiple women, with University of Nebraska State Rep. Jim Pillen as the running mate. In a U.S. House race in Georgia, GOP voters chose trucking company owner Mike Collins over Vernon Jones, a Trump-backed Democrat-turned-Republican.
ELECTION DENIERS Voters handed primary victories to some candidates who supported Trump’s claims that Biden’s election victory was illegitimate. These false claims have been rejected by election officials, Trump’s own attorney general and the courts, including judges he appointed. Still, state Sen. Doug Mastriano won Pennsylvania’s closely contested Republican primary. He has been subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol for his role in a plan to arrange an “alternative” electoral roll from Pennsylvania for Trump after the 2020 election. Trump’s pick for Nevada secretary of state, former state lawmaker Jim Marchand, won his primary after spending months arguing that Nevada had not had legal elections in years and that Trump’s victory had been stolen. In Idaho, Trump’s insurgent candidate Lt. Gov. Janice McGitchin lost her bid to unseat Gov. Brad Little. McGeachin had said she would “bring integrity to Idaho elections,” without citing any inconsistencies. He also said he would push for a 50-state forensic audit of the 2020 elections. In Colorado, GOP voters chose Pam Anderson as their nominee for secretary of state over Tina Peters, an accused county clerk who gained national prominence by promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines. Anderson had vowed to keep politics out of the election, while Peters was indicted on seven felony counts accusing her of participating in a “deceptive scheme” to hack election system technology. WE LOOK AHEAD The premier season continues in earnest in August, with a number of high-profile matches still to be decided. Rep. Liz Cheney faces a tough primary challenge in Wyoming on Aug. 16 after voting to impeach Trump and becoming vice chairman of the House committee investigating the Capitol insurgency. Trump endorsed Harriet Hagman in the race. In Arizona, one of five battleground states that unseated Biden, the former president endorsed a list of loyalists promoting his false election claims. In the governor’s race, he endorsed former TV news anchor Kari Lake over developer Karrin Taylor Robson for the GOP nomination to replace Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who resisted Trump’s election-year push and was barred from another term . In Arizona’s U.S. Senate race, Trump is backing investor Blake Masters for the GOP nomination to face incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly in November. Masters said “I think Trump won 2020” and espoused the baseless “great replacement” conspiracy theory, a racist ideology that says white people and their influence are being replaced by people of color. And in the Arizona secretary of state race, Trump endorsed state Rep. Mark Finchem, who was pictured outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and worked to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss. In Michigan, one of the nation’s top battleground states, Republicans faced setbacks in their bid to defeat Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November. Five GOP candidates failed to advance in the Aug. 2 primary after submitting fake signatures collected by paid petition circulators. Another candidate, Republican Ryan Kelly, was indicted last month on misdemeanor charges related to the Jan. 6 attack. Establishment Republicans are worried about the Aug. 2 GOP primary for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, where former Gov. Eric Greitens is trying to make a political comeback after resigning four years ago amid investigations into possible…
