Trump aid to South Carolina governor pays off
McMaster captures runoff; Romney wins Utah Senate primary
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lifted by a last-minute appearance with President Donald Trump, Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina won a Republican runoff for governor Tuesday in a race that evolved into a test of the president’s clout with conservatives.
McMaster handily defeated John Warren, a first-time candidate and former Marine, the Associated Press reported.
South Carolina was one of seven states where voters went to the polls Tuesday, a day when Utah Republicans were expected to begin Mitt Romney’s political revival and Democrats in Maryland and Colorado were wrestling with how far left they were willing to go in governor’s races.
It was here, though, that Trump’s willingness to take a gamble for an ally paid off.
Trump has proved adept at bruising his adversaries but has had less success in office propelling allies to victory. But the governor’s triumph was a clear victory for the president, and capped a day of resounding success for him after two major Supreme Court rulings went his way Tuesday morning.
Putting his political capital on the line to repay McMaster, Trump flew into the state Monday night to appear with the governor and urge Republican voters to back one of the few elected officials who were willing to get behind his candidacy at the outset of 2016.
The president acknowledged he was taking a risk in standing with McMaster, telling voters in a suburb that the news media would portray a loss as a “humiliating defeat” for the White House. But his staff had also gotten assurances from the governor last week that he was ahead in the polls.
McMaster will face James Smith, a Democratic state lawmaker who is close to former Vice President Joe Biden, in the general election.
In Utah, Romney easily captured the Republican Senate nomination for the seat now held by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, who is retiring. Returning to politics six years after his presidential defeat, and two years after he emerged as a leading antiTrump voice in his party, the former Massachusetts governor faced some criticism for running in a state that he has not called home for many years. Utah’s heavily conservative Republican convention attendees even backed Romney’s opponent, Mike Kennedy, at the state’s nominating convention in April.
But Romney is a deeply admired figure in Utah. In addition to being among the most prominent Mormons in the world, he helped rescue the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Romney toned down his anti-Trump rhetoric before the primary.
He now faces Democratic Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson.
Voters in both parties in Colorado, where Gov. John Hickenlooper is term-limited, were choosing nominees for the state’s top job. Rep. Jared Polis, a wealthy progressive who has spent over $11 million of his own money in the primary, and Cary Kennedy, a former state treasurer, were the leading candidates in the Democratic contest. The state treasurer, Walker Stapleton, a Bush family relative, was favored in the GOP primary.
In Maryland, Democratic voters were choosing a nominee to take on Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who enjoys broad popularity but is running in a deepblue state.
Ben Jealous, a former NAACP president who was a leading surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential race, won the Democratic nomination. Jealous, who enjoyed the support of a group of 2020 Democratic White House prospects, benefited from an infusion of out-of-state money.
In New York, U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley, a member of the Democratic House leadership, was defeated by a 28-year-old challenger, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in the Democratic primary for the 14th District. Crowley, 56, has been in Congress since 1999 and hadn't faced an opponent in a primary election in 14 years.
In the 11th District GOP primary, Trump-backed Rep. Dan Donovan defeated Mike Grimm, who had held the seat for three terms before pleading guilty to tax evasion in 2015.