Five more states hold primaries

A well-financed state senator won the Democratic primary for a northern Virginia congressional race Tuesday, setting up an all-female November election in one of the nation’s most closely watched House districts.

In addition to Virginia, primaries were held Tuesday in South Carolina, Maine, Nevada and North Dakota. Together, they raise to 21 the number of states having held their 2018 primary elections so far.

In Virginia, Democratic state Sen. Jennifer Wexton was the clear winner in a six-way primary in Virginia’s 10th District and will challenge Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock.

Comstock, a moderate Republican who easily beat back a challenge from conservative Shak Hill, is one of the Democrats’ top targets in November. Democrats need to gain 23 seats to win the majority in the House.

In another big Virginia race, Republican Corey Stewart — once a state chairman to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign who was fired for protesting the Republican National Committee — won the Republican primary to face Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine.

In South Carolina, U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford was trailing in the Republican congressional primary to an opponent supported in last-minute tweets by President Trump.

Sanford told a crowd in suburban Charleston: “I’ve always been a realist and at this point, based on the numbers I see, I’m going to lose this race.”

While state Rep. Katie Arrington was on the cusp of winning, the race was still too close to call.

Arrington says Sanford criticized Trump too much, calling him a “Never Trumper.”

Trump weighed in for Gov. Henry McMaster, an early supporter of the president’s 2016 campaign, and against Sanford.

Nevada and North Dakota are home to two of the most pivotal Senate races this year. What they don’t have is competitive Senate primaries. But results were not available by late Tuesday night.