White House influence tested in four state primaries

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Constituents in North Dakota, Nevada, and Maine voted Tuesday to determine nominees for congressional, statewide, and state legislature contests. South Carolina’s gubernatorial primary will be the first to test the influence of President Donald Trump’s endorsement since businessman Zach Lahn won the nomination for governor against Trump-backed Rep. Randy Feenstra in Iowa last week. The Iowa race marked Trump’s first major primary loss after racking up a list of intraparty wins against Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

In South Carolina, Trump's favored gubernatorial Republican candidate, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, and state attorney general Alan Wilson advanced to the runoff for the Republican nomination for governor. They were running in a crowded field that included the state’s first woman GOP representative, Nancy Mace. Evette remained ahead of the pack since Trump’s official endorsement on May 29 and is running a platform focused on securing the border, growing the economy, and ending the political nonsense in Columbia, her website states.

In the state’s Senate race, four-term Republican incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham, a former Trump critic turned presidential golfing buddy, received the White House’s enthusiastic endorsement and won the Republican nomination as he seeks a fifth term.

What about the other states?

In the Peace Garden State, North Dakotans voted on a measure that would require future constitutional amendments to address only one subject.
For the first time in 15 years, Nevada has an open GOP seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and former state Sen. James Settelmeyer is up against Trump-backed retired Lt. Col. David Flippo for the spot.
In Maine, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner had previously been facing Gov. Janet Mills, but since she suspended her campaign, Platner became the party's presumptive nominee. Mills is still on the ballot, but despite the recent spotlight on Platner’s controversial past, he is leading in most polls and will likely run against Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the general election.

Dig Deeper: Read my report on the Kentucky primaries that demonstrated the weight of a White House endorsement.

Joanna Insco

Joanna is a political reporter for WORLD and a graduate of the World Journalism Institute and Marymount Manhattan College. She resides in Washington, D.C.