Election updates: Mixed results for Trump-backed candidates in GOP primaries

Republicans are looking to keep the seat held by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., who said he would retire, which would be a critical gain for Democrats in their effort to maintain their slim control in the Senate.

Former President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of Dr. Mehmet Oz in April, asserting that Oz would be the one most likely able to win the general election for Republicans. But within the past couple of weeks, conservative commentator Kathy Barnette has seen a surge in support. As reported by ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, voters at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, an event meant to bolster Trump’s pick, were skeptical of Oz.

But Barnette’s recent prominence has brought to light a series of Islamophobic and inflammatory comments she has posted to social media, as well as images first shared by an independent researcher of Barnette marching toward the Capitol. ABC News has verified two videos, one showing Barnette walking behind a man indicted in connection with the day’s events who prosecutors described as “a self-identified member of the Proud Boys.

Barnette’s campaign told NBC, "Kathy was in DC to support President Trump and demand election accountability. Any assertion that she participated in or supported the destruction of property is intentionally false. She has no connection whatsoever to the proud boys."

Following her surge in the polls, Trump said of Barnette: "She has many things in her past which have not been properly explained or vetted, but if she is able to do so, she will have a wonderful future in the Republican Party -- and I will be behind her all the way."

The leading candidates in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary race for Senate include Lt. Gov John Fetterman, Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a local surrogate for President Joe Biden throughout the 2020 general election.

Kenyatta rose to the national stage in the summer of 2020 as a Democratic National Convention keynote speaker when the party identified him as part of a group of "diverse voices from the next generation of party leaders." In the same year, a video went viral of Kenyatta delivering a passionate floor speech in Pennsylvania defending low-wage workers and highlighting the difficulties they faced amid the pandemic.

The 30-year-old state representative already broke barriers across his home state as the only gay Black man elected to the Pennsylvania legislature and has spoken about his experience with ABC News in the past, saying his differences only give him more will power.

Lamb and Fetterman, both from Allegheny County, are fighting for the same Western Pennsylvania bloc of voters. Kenyatta, who's struggled with fundraising, comes from the most populous and critically important Philadelphia area.

While much of the focus this midterm cycle has been on statewide races and the momentum behind Republicans amid dismal approval numbers for President Joe Biden, several Democratic House primaries could be emblematic of the direction of the party ahead of November.

In these contentious primary races in North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania, voters will choose between progressive and more moderate candidates. These races have drawn the attention of progressive heavyweights, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Click here to read what you need to know about key Democratic House primary races, which include incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader in Oregon gaining Biden's endorsement, and in North Carolina, Clay Aiken of "American Idol" fame taking another shot at Congress.

-ABC News Deputy Political Director Averi Harper

With primary day underway in some of the hottest races of the year, Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate two-term Democrat vying for the U.S. Senate nomination in Pennsylvania, told ABC News' Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer that results in the state Tuesday could be a key bellwether for the future direction of the party and control of the Senate.

"I think the Democratic Party is going to have to, you know, think really hard about how we're going to succeed and what is a very, very challenging political environment -- and today is going to have some lessons," Lamb said outside a polling place in his district.

Lamb, who has been trailing progressive Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in recent polls, acknowledged that Democrats face a choice between "two very different paths based on two different sets of experience and two different personalities," as many in the party view the race as their best shot at flipping a Senate seat.

Asked by ABC News whether he thinks Fetterman's hospitalization for a stroke will have any impact on the race, Lamb said "I don't know" and then offered what seemed to be criticism of his rival for "very little information about it [his condition] much like the rest of the general public."

"I wish him well, but I really can't forecast that and people are just got to make up their own minds," he said.