Welcome!
Welcome to 538’s live blog of the May 14 primaries in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia! But this is no ordinary live blog. Today, my friends, is arguably the most interesting downballot primary day of the cycle.
The headliner today is the Democratic primary for Maryland’s open Senate seat. The Old Line State could become only the third state to elect a Black female senator, but a wealthy white congressman has spent nearly $62 million (!) to make sure that doesn’t happen. Some have argued that this should-be-safely-Democratic seat could be competitive in the fall if Democrats nominate the wrong candidate, but is that really true? We’ll discuss.
Elsewhere, Republicans could cripple their chances of winning Nebraska’s swingy 2nd District in November if they nominate a far-right primary challenger over a moderate incumbent. Meanwhile, we have one race tonight where someone who spent three months in jail for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 could return there as a U.S. representative, and another that includes a former Capitol Police officer who was there that day.
And that’s just scratching the surface; we’ll be going deep on primary races up and down the ballot. The polls close in West Virginia at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, in Maryland at 8 p.m. Eastern and in Nebraska at 9 p.m. Eastern. Plan your evening accordingly!
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
