Trump: ‘Remember Alabama’ in primaries
Republicans don’t want any more setbacks in quest to keep Congress
WASHINGTON – One candidate is on supervised release from prison and drew eleventh-hour opposition from President Trump. Two came under fire over decades-old alcohol-related incidents. And there are accusations of the unthinkable — previously aligning with the other party.
Primary voters head to the polls Tuesday in West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina, all states Trump won in the 2016 presidential election.
Much is at stake for Republicans hoping to expand their narrow, 51-seat Senate majority in November’s general elections. That’s especially the case in West Virginia, where Trump and other Republicans spurned GOP Senate candidate and former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who was convicted of a misdemeanor related to a mine explosion that killed 29 men.
Republicans fear a candidate with Blankenship’s baggage could sink their chances against Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, their likely opponent in the general election. The GOP is haunted by Alabama’s special election in December, when the nomination of GOP candidate Roy Moore cost them a Senate seat after allegations emerged that he sexually abused several teenagers.
“Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State...No way! Remember Alabama,” Trump tweeted, urging voters to cast their ballots for Blankenship’s main opponents, Rep. Evan Jenkins or state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
Republicans see pickup opportunities in West Virginia and Indiana, where Manchin and Sen. Joe Donnelly, respectively, are among the most vulnerable Democratic senators. The Indiana GOP Senate primary has drawn national attention as Republicans’ nastiest primary, in which candidates attacked each other personally.
In both states, the candidates fight over who is the most conservative and like Trump.
Two of them — Rep. Luke Messer of Indiana and Jenkins of West Virginia — are among the 18 GOP lawmakers who nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize for pressuring North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates West Virginia and Indiana’s races “tossups” while Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s race in Ohio is competitive but leaning in his favor.
North Carolina has no Senate race this year.
West Virginia
Jenkins, a former Democrat turned Republican, led the most recent Fox News poll, with Morrisey only 4 percentage points behind.
Blankenship served a one-year sentence for conspiring to violate mine health and safety standards. His sentence ended in May 2017, and his period of supervised release ends Wednesday, the day after the primary, according to court records.
Responding to the president’s tweet, Blankenship said in a statement that the “establishment is misinforming” Trump because it doesn’t want Blankenship promoting the president’s agenda in the Senate. “As some have said, I am Trumpier than Trump,” Blankenship said.
Indiana
The three GOP Senate candidates vying to replace the unopposed Donnelly all share an alma mater and similar conservative policy positions.
GOP Reps. Messer and Todd Rokita have been rivals since Wabash College and they, along with former state representative Mike Braun, have been eager to distinguish themselves and tear their opponents down.
Rokita, who is running against the “GOP elites” backing Messer, attacked Messer for not disclosing two DUI convictions from college and his mid-20s. (Rokita was arrested in college for illegal consumption of alcohol and possession of a fake ID, but those charges were dismissed.) He called Braun a “Democrat in disguise” because he has voted in Democratic primaries.
Messer accused Braun of lying, and his campaign called Rokita “unhinged.”
They all love Trump — and Donnelly is using their unqualified support of the president to raise money.
Indiana’s Senate race is the most ex- pensive in the country. Candidates or outside groups have spent more than $12.4 million on ads.
Ohio
Rep. Jim Renacci is the front-runner in the GOP primary for the Senate nomination, battling against Cleveland-area investment banker Michael Gibbons. Trump endorsed Renacci via Twitter, even though Gibbons co-chaired Trump’s fundraising efforts in Ohio. They vie to replace Brown, a liberal populist who is running unopposed.
On the House side, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included six Ohio districts as part of its “battlefield,” where Democrats see a credible chance of flipping seats. Among them is the seat vacated by GOP Rep. Pat Tiberi, who resigned in January to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable.
His departure set off a frenzy when 18 Republicans and Democrats jumped in the race. Most are running to complete Tiberi’s term and serve in the next Congress. The race is rated a tossup by The Cook Political Report, which sees “uncertainty” in both primaries.
In the state’s gubernatorial race, Republicans spent millions on ads, embracing Trump and arguing over who is more pro-gun and anti-abortion.
North Carolina
Compared with contests in other states, North Carolina’s primaries are sleepier, and there are no statewide races.
GOP Rep. Walter Jones hopes to retain his seat in the eastern part of the state for one final term. The 12-term incumbent faces two primary opponents, Craven County Commissioner Scott Dacey and Phil Law, a former Marine. No Democrats have filed to run.
All of the state’s 13 House incumbents are running for re-election, and though many have primary challengers, most seats are not likely to flip in November. Two Republican-held seats — those of Reps. Robert Pittenger and Ted Budd — are competitive.