Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska primaries 2024: Alsobrooks beats Trone

I've arrived at "Trone HQ" for the night. His campaign has completely taken over the flashy Baltimore Museum of Industry that sits right on the city's beautiful harbor. And I mean taken over — entire event dropped right in the middle of the exhibit floor. It's clear that he spared no expense, as multiple stations of caterers are busy setting (delicious looking) sliders and finger foods in front of exhibits about the history of Bethlehem Steel as bartenders ready their area by the waterfront view.

This is not a cheap event. It reminds me of the fanciest Sweet Sixteens I attended on Long Island (a true feat, if you know you know) — and to no one's surprise, as Trone's campaign spent at least $48 million of the more than $60 million total spent on ads in this contest, according to AdImpact. In fact, the press pen is nestled next to a vintage Buffalo Springfield steamroller. Talk about hitting us over the head with metaphor! I'd be curious what it looks like over at Alsobrooks's election party ...

—Brittany Shepherd, ABC News

Nebraska has a busy electoral slate today, but only one primary looks potentially intriguing: the GOP contest in the Omaha-based 2nd District. Republican Rep. Don Bacon is seeking reelection, but Biden would have carried the seat by 6 points in 2020 and Bacon only won reelection by about 3 points in 2022 against Democratic state Sen. Tony Vargas. Bacon's reputation as a relative moderate has helped him hold onto this purple seat, but it's also made him potentially vulnerable to a more conservative primary challenger.

That has made the campaign of Dan Frei, an Omaha businessman running to Bacon's right, one to monitor tonight. Though it's unlikely given the incumbent's fundraising advantage and outside spending support, were Frei to upset Bacon, that would likely make the 2nd District more winnable in November for Vargas, who has raised $2.4 million for an anticipated rematch against Bacon. But Frei has come close to pulling off a primary upset here before: In 2014, his insurgent campaign only lost 53 percent to 47 percent against then-Rep. Lee Terry despite being outspent about 20-to-one.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538

If you've followed our live blogs for previous elections, you're probably familiar with the issues that have generally been motivating voters across the country: for Republican primary voters, economic issues and immigration; for Democratic primary voters, abortion access and threats to democracy.

Well, Maryland is here to upset the trend! In a May poll from Emerson College/The Hill/WDVM-TV, registered Republicans were still most likely to select the "economy (jobs, inflation, taxes)" as the most important issue facing the state, with 38 percent choosing that issue. But the second-most chosen issue among Republicans was crime, at 18 percent, followed by immigration at 11 percent; no other issue was chosen by more than 10 percent of registered Republicans.

Among registered Democrats, we also see some differences from other states. They were most likely to select the economy, at 24 percent, then crime, at 17 percent. These were followed by "threats to democracy" at 16 percent, "housing affordability" at 15 percent and health care at 11 percent. Perhaps surprisingly, abortion access was selected by only 5 percent of registered Democrats in Maryland.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538

It's 7:30 p.m. Eastern, which means our first polls of the night — in West Virginia — are now closed. Expect results shortly!

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538