Two Trump-backed candidates win races
President Donald Trump backed two successful U.S. Senate nominees in Pennsylvania and Nebraska, which were among four states holding primaries Tuesday. The primaries began to settle swing state Pennsylvania’s chaotic congressional landscape after a court fight ended with redrawn districts just three months ago.
Oregon, Nebraska and Idaho also held primary elections. Here’s a look at some of the races:
Trump’s picks prevail: Two of the president’s favored candidates, Lou Barletta in Pennsylvania and Deb Fischer in Nebraska, won their U.S. Senate primaries. Barletta will become the Republican challenger for Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who is seeking a third term in November. Fischer, the incumbent, defeated four GOP challengers and will be the strong favorite to win re-election in deep-red Nebraska. Her Democratic opponent is Lincoln City Councilwoman Jane Raybould.
District likely to flip: Mary Gay Scanlon won a 10-way Democratic primary in southeastern Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District, which is likely to flip to Democrats following a courtordered redrawing of the state’s congressional district boundaries.
Scanlon is a longtime public interest lawyer and chairwoman of the pro-bono committee at a Philadelphia-based law firm.
She will face Republican Pearl Kim, a former state and county prosecutor, in November’s general election in the now-Democratic-leaning district.
Incumbent falls: Mike Stack became the first holder of the Pennsylvania lieutenant’s office to lose in a primary election.
John Fetterman, the Braddock mayor, won the five-way Democratic Party primary race for lieutenant governor Tuesday, meaning he will run on a ticket with Gov. Tom Wolf in the fall. Pennsylvania first started allowing lieutenant governors to serve a second term in the 1970s.
State senator and wastehauling millionaire Scott Wagner is the winner of the Republican nomination to challenge Wolf.
Wagner’s victory in Tuesday’s three-way primary election caps a personal spending spree of more than $10 million that helped make him the front-runner and the GOP’s endorsed candidate.
Nebraska: State Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha has won the Democratic nomination to run for the seat held by incumbent Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.
Krist had been a Republican but switched his affiliation to nonpartisan in September when announcing his bid for governor. He reregistered as a Democrat in February because of legal barriers in his bid to qualify for the ballot as an independent.
Lincoln City Councilwoman and grocery store executive Jane Raybould has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Raybould defeated three Democratic challengers, Raybould faces an uphill general election battle against Republican Sen. Deb. Fischer, who won election in 2012 by nearly 16 percentage points
Gov. Pete Ricketts has easily won the Republican nomination to seek a second term in November. Ricketts defeated Krystal Gabel of Omaha.
Oregon’s crowded field: State Rep. Knute Buehler has emerged from a crowded field to capture the Republican nomination for Oregon governor.
Buehler was the most centrist of the Republican front-runners. He was among 10 GOP candidates in the primary. However, Democratic Gov. Kate Brown remains the favorite to win in November. Brown became governor in 2015 upon the resignation of Gov. John Kitzhaber following an scandal, and she won a special election in 2016.