GOP critic of Trump defeated in primary
President tweeted that incumbent had been unhelpful.
President takes credit for loss of Mark Sanford in S.C., one of several notable primary results in 5 states.
President COLUMBIA, S.C. — Donald Trump is crediting his Election Day tweet in part for the defeat of a South Carolina Republican congressman who has been critical of his administration.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that his advisers didn’t want him to get involved in the Republican primary, thinking Rep. Mark Sanford “would easily win.”
But Trump says Rep. Katie Arrington “was such a good candidate, and Sanford was so bad, I had to give it a shot.”
Arrington narrowly defeated Sanford after Trump tweeted that Sanford had been unhelpful, adding, “He is better off in Argentina.”
That was a reference to Sanford’s surprise disappearance from the state as governor, which he later revealed was to further his affair with an Argentine woman.
Sanford’s loss was perhaps the most dramatic result in primaries across five states Tuesday.
He becomes the second incumbent House Republican to lose a primary this year — the latest victim of intense divisions among the GOP in the Trump era.
Four other states voted Tuesday, including several races that will be key to determining which party controls the House of Representatives next year.
In other races:
Incumbent S.C. governor faces runoff
Sanford was not the only establishment Republican to face a challenge Tuesday. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a close ally of Trump’s, was forced into a runoff after failing to muster the required 50 percent vote to win outright.
McMaster, an early supporter of the president’s 2016 campaign, had Trump’s full endorsement, marked by a weekend tweet.
But while Trump remains very popular in the state, McMaster has been shadowed by a corruption probe involving a longtime political consultant.
McMaster received the most votes of the four Republicans running but will face Greenville businessman John Warren in a second contest June 26.
McMaster, the former lieutenant governor, assumed the governorship last year after Nikki Haley resigned to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
GOP’s ‘vicious’ Virginia victor
Trump is tweeting that people shouldn’t underestimate his loyalist Corey Stewart, who won Virginia’s Republican primary to face Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. The president tweeted Wednesday that Stewart has “a major chance of winning!”
Stewart, known for his ardent defense of Trump and of Confederate symbols, said he plans a “vicious” campaign against Kaine, who has a huge fundraising advantage going into the general election.
Kaine gives passionate campaign speeches, but Trump’s tweet calls him a “total stiff.”
As Trump’s top campaign aide in Virginia, Stewart accused the Republican Party of inadequately defending the candidate after the release of a recording in which Trump bragged about groping women.
Stewart also has called efforts to remove Confederate monuments “an attempt to destroy traditional America.”
Turning the LePage
Maine voters are deciding on a successor to term-limited, conservative Republican Gov. Paul LePage. But first they had to wrestle with a new balloting system. Maine on Tuesday debuted its statewide ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates first to last on their ballot.
The system insured that counting was slow and winners difficult to call. But businessman Shawn Moody won the GOP nomination after midnight. He maintained a wide lead through the night but risked not winning the race outright under the new rules.
The Associated Press did not call the Democratic primary, as none of the seven candidates was close to the majority needed to be declared the outright winner, so more tabulations are required next week under ranked-choice voting.
Nevada, North Dakota: See you in November
Nevada and North Dakota are home to two of the most pivotal Senate races this year. What they didn’t have were competitive Senate primaries.
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, the only Republican seeking re-election in a state that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016, and Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen sailed through their primaries and already have begun focusing their criticism on each other in what is expected to be among the most competitive Senate races this year.
There was also the return of Sharron Angle, the conservative who once ominously threatened to “take out” then-Sen. Harry Reid. Angle, who lost to Reid in her 2010 bid for Senate, lost her primary challenge to Rep. Mark Amodei on Tuesday.
In North Dakota, GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer will face moderate Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. She is seeking re-election in a state Trump carried by 36 percentage points in 2016.
Brothels on the ballot
Pimp Dennis Hof, the owner of half a dozen legal brothels in Nevada and star of the HBO adult reality series “Cathouse,” won a Republican primary for state Legislature, ousting a three-term lawmaker.
Voters in November will also be voting on closing down brothels in at least one of the seven Nevada counties where they’re legally operating, and activists are trying to get the measure on the ballot in another district.