WASHINGTON — Incumbents on the hot seat won, one without really breaking a sweat, while other primaries and special elections in California, Illinois and Ohio set matchups for fall battlegrounds or picked nominees for safe open seats.
Here are nine things to know about the election results.
Trump — and Schumer — got what they wanted
In the battle of MAGA vs. the Ohio GOP establishment for the chance to unseat vulnerable Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, chalk up another win for the Trump wing. Bernie Moreno’s lopsided triumph over state Sen. Matt Dolan, a traditional Republican, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose in Ohio’s nasty and expensive Senate primary came just days after former President Donald Trump appeared at a rally in Dayton alongside Moreno. Dolan had the backing of Gov. Mike DeWine and former Sen. Rob Portman, but he lost by more than 17 percentage points.
Moreno’s win was also a victory for Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer. A super PAC aligned with the New York Democrat invested about $3.2 million, including $2.5 million reported on Friday, to lift up Moreno. The group, Duty and Country PAC, ran TV ads portraying Moreno as a close ally of Trump who is “too conservative for Ohio.” While the ad looked like an attack, it likely boosted Moreno’s standing among Republican primary voters — a sign that Democrats view him as the weakest opponent against Brown.
So did Speaker Johnson
In Ohio’s 9th District, House Republicans were divided over who they wanted to challenge Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who’s been in the House since 1983. Rep. Jim Jordan, the influential Ohio Republican who helped found the House Freedom Caucus, backed former three-term state Rep. Craig Riedel. House Speaker Mike Johnson was behind state lawmaker Craig Merrin, a last-minute recruit who entered the race in December after audio surfaced of Riedel bashing Trump.The Congressional…
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