Election Primary Results: June 12, 2018
Five states are holding primaries in a pivotal midterm election campaign that will determine control of Congress and whether Republicans maintain their supermajority of the nation’s governorships.
In Virginia, there has been a colorful three-way Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Prince William County official Corey Stewart is running as a strong supporter of President Trump; religious conservative leader E.W. Jackson surprisingly won the nomination for lieutenant governor five years ago; Virginia state lawmaker and military veteran Nick Freitas is a relative newcomer who has caught on of late and attracted national libertarian support. The winner faces an uphill battle against Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., his party’s 2016 vice presidential nominee.
Democrats are also running in crowded primaries with the hope of of taking several Republican-held House seats in Virginia. The most vulnerable of those Republicans, Rep. Barbara Comstock, also faces a conservative primary challenger in Shak Hill. Democrats are also newly hopeful about challenging Rep. Dave Brat.
Nevada Democrats will select a challenger to Sen. Dean Heller, whose seat is viewed as a prime pickup opportunity in a state Hillary Clinton narrowly won in 2016. They are also going to decide a six-way primary for governor in what figures to be a competitive general election contest against the winner of the seven-way Republican primary, though Adam Laxalt is considered the frontrunner on the GOP side.
Maine’s voters will be trying a new system where they get to rank the candidates on their ballot in order preference. When the voters are counted, lower-ranked candidates will be eliminated until someone hits 50 percent. Democrats are trying to end Republican control of the state’s governorship after two terms of Paul LePage. They also want to pick up a House seat in Maine’s 2nd District, where Trump won.
South Carolina Republicans are holding a referendum on Trump. Gov. Henry McMaster, one of the few early Trump supporters in the state GOP, is seeking a full term against four primary opponents trying to push him into a June 26 runoff. Rep. Mark Sanford, the former governor of “Appalachian trail” fame, is trying to hold off a primary challenger who has cast him as a “Never Trumper” disloyal to the president.
Neither Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., nor her would-be Republican challenger Rep. Kevin Cramer face serious competition in their respective North Dakota primaries. The state is viewed as one of the GOP’s top Senate pickup opportunities.
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