Pennsylvania’s GOP primary for Senate is too close to call, as television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund manager David McCormick are within a few percentage points of each other for their party’s nomination in a race Republicans likely need to win to maintain control of the chamber in the midterm elections.

For much of the campaign, the Pennsylvania GOP primary was centered on Oz, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and businessman Dave McCormick, with conservative commentator Kathy Barnette surging in polls in the final days of the race before likely falling out of contention on election night.

Just after midnight on Wednesday, McCormick had 31.2% of the primary vote (380,095 total) to 31.1% for Oz (378,610). Pennsylvania has an automatic recount law in statewide races when the margin between the top two candidates is within 0.5%. So, a Republican Senate primary winner may not be known for days, or even weeks.

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Dave McCormick and Mehmet Oz are locked in a dead heat in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary, indicating a mandatory recount may be on the horizon.

With 99% of the votes counted, McCormick is sitting at 31.4% and Oz at 31.2%. In Pennsylvania, an automatic recount is ordered if the difference between the candidates’ vote totals is less than 0.5%.

Kathy Barnette, the other leading Republican in the race, is running third with 24.4% of the vote.

President Joe Biden praised Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s win in the Democratic primary Tuesday, telling voters his campaign would be a “big step forward” in a crucial Senate seat that the Democrats hope to flip.

Fetterman won the Democratic Senate nomination after maintaining a wide lead in the polls for months before the contest and experiencing a stroke just days prior to voting. The lieutenant governor clinched the nomination with almost 60% of the vote as of 10 p.m.

“As Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor, John Fetterman understands that working class families in Pennsylvania and across the country have been dealt out far too long,” Biden said in a statement shortly after the race was called. “It’s time to deal them back in, and electing John to the United States Senate would be a big step forward for Pennsylvania’s working people. Democrats are united around John, who is a strong nominee, will run a tough race, and can win in November.”

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Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina conceded losing the 11th Congressional District primary on Tuesday after a series of scandals since his election in 2020, ending his congressional career after a single term. In an upset victory, state Sen. Chuck Edwards defeated Cawthorn to win the Republican nomination in the district.

Cawthorn called Edwards to concede late Tuesday, Cawthorn campaign spokesperson Luke Ball told the Associated Press.

Polling in the Republican primary race was sparse, so it was unclear prior to the primary election how voters would react to a slew of recent scandals and unforced errors by Cawthorn, 26. Former President Donald Trump, with whom Cawthorn has closely aligned himself, acknowledged his “mistakes,” in asking his supporters to give the congressman another chance.

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The Republican Governors Association released a tepid statement following Doug Mastriano’s victory in Pennsylvania’s GOP gubernatorial primary.

The RGA blasted Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro, but it stopped short of explicitly committing resources to Mastriano.

“The country, and Pennsylvania, is worse off under Democratic leadership and Josh Shapiro, who will continue the same policies that have led to record inflation and increased violent crime,” said RGA Executive Director Dave Rexrode. “The RGA remains committed to engaging in competitive gubernatorial contests where our support can have an impact in defending our incumbents and expanding our majority this year.”

Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic nominee for governor and sitting attorney general, attacked his Republican opponent state Sen. Doug Mastriano in a tweet shortly after he was announced the winner of the GOP primary.

Shapiro slammed Mastriano, calling him the “most extreme gubernatorial candidate in the country” who wants to “ban abortion, end vote by mail, and rip away our freedoms.”

Abortion will likely be a big issue in governor’s races this year, as the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and return abortion regulation to the states.

State Sen. Doug Mastriano won Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial nomination Tuesday despite a last-ditch effort by some state Republicans to coalesce the field around a different candidate they felt would fare better against state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in November.

Mastriano, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, backed his claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Mastriano attended both a QAnon-linked event in Gettysburg and the Washington, D.C., rally that took place before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He also frequently barred media from his campaign events in the final days of the race. Pennsylvania is a key battleground state, and some Republicans expressed concern about Mastriano’s electability in a general election race.

Trump offered his endorsement to Mastriano on Saturday after it became clear he was the front-runner in the race. The move was seen as a hedge, as Trump’s selection for the Senate, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, was in a tight three-way race with businessman David McCormick and conservative commentator Kathy Barnette, who surged in polling in the final days of the race. Barnette and Mastriano ran campaigns in tandem, endorsing one another.

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State Sen. Don Davis has won the Democratic nomination for North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in a bid to take over retiring Rep. G.K. Butterfield’s seat, though it’s been reconfigured somewhat due to redistricting.

Davis, an Air Force veteran, emerged from a field with three other competitors and will face a competitive general election race in November. The district, once solidly blue, continues to lean Democratic after a redistricting battle but isn’t as safe as it once was.

He said he plans to spend his time in Congress focusing on rural infrastructure and economic support.

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State Sen. Morgan McGarvey on Tuesday won the Democratic primary over state Rep. Attica Scott to replace retiring Rep. John Yarmuth, Kentucky’s only Democratic House member.

The contest for the state’s Democratic-majority 3rd Congressional District in Louisville, Kentucky, came down to the two progressive candidates, though McGarvey had the endorsement of Yarmuth and was seen as the more establishment figure. He won with over 65% of the vote. The district has been reconfigured somewhat since the 2020 census but remains a Democratic stronghold, meaning McGarvey is strongly favored to win the general election in November.

Both candidates support Medicare for all, liberalizing marijuana regulation, environmentalist legislation, and universal preschool education. McGarvey had the support of over two dozen state and city politicians in addition to Yarmuth, who is the chairman of the House Budget Committee. McGarvey said his record in the state legislature, where he is the minority leader of the state Senate, speaks for his ability to get things done.

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State Sen. Valerie Foushee has won the Democratic primary in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District to replace retiring Rep. David Price, beating out a more left-wing opponent who proved a virulent critic of Israel while support for the Jewish state remains high.

Foushee, a veteran of state politics, espouses a liberal platform that would make abortion access a priority, combat racial discrimination, and support policies to address climate change. The Durham-area district is one of the safest Democratic seats in the country, and Foushee will likely sail to victory in November.

Her campaign was both helped and hindered by her young opponent, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, given Allam’s past statements about Israel. A political action committee backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee donated to Foushee’s campaign, which in turn prompted some people who had endorsed Foushee to withdraw due to AIPAC’s support of some Republicans who questioned if President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election.

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Embattled incumbent Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) continues to trail behind Chuck Edwards in the Republican primary in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

Analyst Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report noted that while Cawthorn started to close the gap as Election Day votes were counted, he may not be doing well enough to pull ahead of his challenger. The race remains too close to call this early.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman won the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nomination after maintaining a wide lead in the polls for months before the contest and experiencing a stroke just days prior to voting, from which he is expected to make a full recovery.

Fetterman defeated Rep. Conor Lamb, who became a rising star in the Democratic Party after winning a GOP-leaning open seat in a March 2018 special election, and then narrowly defeating Republican Sean Parnell in a Western Pennsylvania district in 2020. Parnell suspended his own Republican Senate campaign after his estranged wife accused him of domestic abuse and a judge granted her sole legal custody of their three children.

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Former President Donald Trump’s decision to back Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) for North Carolina’s GOP Senate primary is the “most impactful of the 2022 cycle so far,” says Washington Examiner senior editor David Mark.

Trump endorsed Budd in June 2021, nearly a year before the primary election.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the third-ranking member of her party in the House of Representatives, congratulated her colleague Rep. Ted Budd on his victory in North Carolina’s Republican Senate primary.

“I joined President Trump in endorsing Ted because I know first-hand just how hard he works to advance policies that help North Carolina families and all Americans,” Stefanik said in a statement. “We have worked shoulder to shoulder to fight for America First results, and while I will miss Ted in the House, I’m looking forward to his big win in November so that he can help continue our fight to Save America from Biden and the Far-Left’s radical policies in the Senate.” 

Budd is hoping to replace retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC).

Rep. Ted Budd, one of the first candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump in the 2022 cycle, on Tuesday won the Republican Senate nomination in North Carolina.

Several television networks called the primary race for Budd, who has for months led the Republican field to replace the retiring Sen. Richard Burr in polls, after a slow start in a crowded primary. Budd, a gun store owner who first won his central North Carolina House seat in 2016, will likely go on to face Democrat Cheri Beasley, the former chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court, in the general election.

The race also included former Gov. Pat McCrory and former Rep. Mark Walker. While Budd originally lagged in polls, Trump at one point tried to get Walker to exit the race to consolidate his supporters behind Budd, but Walker stayed in the race.

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A final tally of some mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania may not be available for days as a printing error has caused substantial delays in some cities, officials said Tuesday.

Thousands of mail-in ballots in Lancaster County, the battleground state‘s sixth most populous county, were deemed unreadable as election workers sought to scan ballots Tuesday, possibly delaying results in competitive races for the gubernatorial and Senate primaries. The glitch involved about 21,000 ballots, leaving at least one-third of them unreadable to ballot scanners. Officials said they have not received reports of unreadable ballots in other counties.

“Citizens deserve to have accurate results from elections, and they deserve to have them on election night, not days later,” Josh Parsons, a Republican and vice chairman of the county board of commissioners, told reporters. “But because of this, we’re not going to have final election results from these mail ballots for probably several days, so that is very, very frustrating to us.”

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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has won the Republican primary in the 4th Congressional District, poising him to return to Washington, D.C., for his sixth term.

Massie, who has libertarian leanings, is often one of the few lawmakers to vote against bills that would increase the scope of government. He will face Matt Lehman, the sole Democratic contender, in November.

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Massie for reelection despite the two butting heads over coronavirus relief in 2020.

Charles Booker, a former state representative, has won the Democratic Senate primary in Kentucky and will face Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in the general election.

The Associated Press called the race with less than 9% of the vote reported, with Booker holding a massive lead of 60 percentage points over the next candidate. Booker first attempted a Senate run in 2020, when he lost to Amy McGrath in the primary. He is a left-liberal who supports the “Green New Deal” and was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in his 2020 campaign.

Paul was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and has recently broken with Republican leadership on support for Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the only Democratic contender for governor, tested positive for COVID-19 hours before the polls opened on primary election day.

Shapiro said he was “experiencing mild symptoms” after taking a precautionary test Monday night.

“Please get out there and vote today — and after these few days at home, I’m going to go win this race for Pennsylvania,” he said on Twitter.

PITTSBURGH — Despite dramatic, last-minute twists in Pennsylvania’s Senate primaries, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman appears poised to win the Democratic nomination for Senate as Republicans remain locked in a three-way race.

While polls indicate that businessman Dave McCormick, conservative commentator Kathy Barnette, and television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, remain in a tight race for the Republican primary, the Democratic primary appears much clearer, with Fetterman likely winning his party’s nomination. A RealClearPolitics average of polls found Fetterman leading Rep. Conor Lamb by 31 percentage points.

Fetterman on Sunday disclosed in a statement that he had a stroke “that was caused by a clot from my heart being in an A-fib rhythm for too long,” thanking his wife, Gisele, for spotting his symptoms, as well as the doctors who treated him. Fetterman said he is “on my way to a full recovery” and is looking forward to returning to the campaign trail soon.

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LANCASTER, Pennsylvania — Julie, Anne, and Heather are all Republicans with similar backgrounds. They are all voting in Pennsylvania’s primary Tuesday and are all splitting their vote between three candidates in that race.

Julie is all in for Kathy Barnette, Anne is voting for Dr. Mehmet Oz because of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, and Heather supports Dave McCormick.

Welcome to primary election day in Pennsylvania. Two weeks ago, it would have been fairly easy to predict who would win the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in this state. Today, it is anyone’s guess. The biggest unknown is whether Barnette’s surge has fallen off enough for either McCormick or Oz to surpass her.

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