Trump’s Pa. Senate pick wins
Tuesday’s primary elections will begin to settle swing state Pennsylvania’s chaotic congressional landscape after a court fight ended with redrawn districts just three months ago.
Pennsylvania primary voters selected President Donald Trump’s pick to be the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. Idaho voters are set to pick their Republican gubernatorial nominee, while heavily Republican Nebraska and Democratic-leaning Oregon are also holding primaries Tuesday.
A look at some of the key races:
Trump’s pick for U.S. Senate, Rep. Lou Barletta, won the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania.
Barletta was heavily favored over state Rep. Jim Christiana to become the Republican challenger for Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who is seeking a third term in November.
Barletta was a Trump supporter before the 2016 presidential nomination was settled. The loyalty won Barletta Trump’s early support in the Senate race, as well as recorded telephone calls last weekend featuring the president backing Barletta “fully, strongly and proudly.”
Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are all seen as key to the 2018 Senate election landscape as states where Trump won in 2016 and Democratic senators are seeking re-election this year.
Republicans outnumber Democrats in Pennsylvania’s House delegation, though a new congressional map is making the state a focal point of Democrats’ effort to reclaim House control in November.
Democrats seldom have the luxury of choice in Nebraska, where Republicans have dominated for 80 years. But, for the first time, Omaha-area Democrats have options for the state’s lone urban House district.
The primary race for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District remained tight between former Rep. Brad Ashford and children’s nonprofit group director Kara Eastman.
An Idaho judge has denied an Idaho Democratic Party’s request to extend polling hours for two precincts in Ada County, the state’s most populous region.
The party had requested the extension due to high voter turnout and numerous reports of low Democratic ballots across the region.
Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador, a four-term Republican House member and founding member of the conservative House Republicans’ Freedom Caucus, is one of three GOP candidates for governor in heavily Republican Idaho.
Oregon state Rep. Knute Buehler has won the GOP gubernatorial primary, besting a crowded field vying to compete against incumbent Democrat Kate Brown.
Buehler, who ran for secretary of state in 2012, was the most centrist of the Republican front-runners.
While skeptical of major new spending, Buehler says he is open to increased taxes on electronic and regular cigarettes to pay for budget items like health care.