GOP scrambles to hold seat
Kan. governor’s contest running close; McCaskill easily triumphs
Battleground Ohio was deciding the year’s final special election on Tuesday, a congressional faceoff that tested anew President Donald Trump’s clout.
WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Battleground Ohio was deciding the year’s final special election on Tuesday, a congressional faceoff that tested anew President Donald Trump’s political clout — and the appeal of his signature tax cuts.
Voters in Ohio and Kansas joined those in Missouri, Michigan and Washington state. But only Ohio will send someone to Congress immediately.
The script for Ohio’s special election was somewhat familiar: An experienced Trump loyalist, two-term state Sen. Troy Balderson, was fighting off a strong challenge from a fresh-faced Democrat, 31-year-old county official Danny O’Connor, in a congressional district held by the Republican Party for more than three decades. In an election morning tweet,
At times, the race has centered on Trump’s tax cuts as much as the candidates. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Balderson was leading O’Connor by slightly more than 1,700 votes.
The winner will fill the seat previously held by Pat Tiberi, a nine-term incumbent who resigned to take a job with an Ohio business group.
The Republican president’s shadow also loomed over primary contests in four other states, none bigger than Kansas, where Trump roiled the governor’s race by opposing the GOP incumbent on the eve of the election.
The day’s races, like dozens before them, pitted the strength of Trump’s fiery supporters against the Democratic Party’s anti-Trump resistance. The results will help determine the political landscape — and Trump’s standing within his own party — just three months before the GOP defends its House and Senate majorities across the nation.
KANSAS: Republicans here were fighting among themselves in the battle for governor, where Secretary of State Kris Kobach was trying to unseat Gov. Jeff Colyer. Colyer held a slight lead — about 500 votes — in early returns.
For the Democrats, state Sen. Laura Kelly won easily.
Should the polarizing Kobach win the primary, some Republican operatives fear he could lose the governor’s seat to Democrats this fall. The race could become further disrupted if Kansas City-area businessman Greg Orman makes it onto the November ballot. He submitted petitions Monday with more than 10,000 signatures for what could become the most serious independent run for Kansas governor in decades.
MICHIGAN: Voters in suburban Detroit were also weighing in on the direction of the Democratic Party. Three mainstream Democrats were among those vying for a chance at retiring Republican Rep. Dave Trott’s seat in November. The field includes Fayrouz Saad, who would be the first Muslim woman in Congress.
In the Senate race, military veteran and business executive John James was vying for the chance to knock off Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. James was leading in late returns.
Gretchen Whitmer appeared to secure the Democratic nomination for governor and will face Republican Bill Schuette.
MISSOURI: The Senate contest in Missouri saw incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill and Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, the Republican, easily win their primaires. WASHINGTON: In suburban Seattle, three Democrats vied in a primary for the seat held by another retiring Republican, Rep. Dave Reichert.