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

538 tracked over 10 competitive primaries for Senate, House and governor.

Tuesday, May 14 was another busy primary day, as voters in three states decided who would be on their general election ballots this fall. In Maryland, Democrats nominated women in two safely Democratic congressional seats, including Angela Alsobrooks, who is poised to become only the third Black woman ever elected to the Senate. In West Virginia and Nebraska, incumbent Republican representatives fended off far-right challengers.

538 reporters and contributors broke down the election results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.


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Alsobrooks projected in Maryland's Democratic primary for Senate

ABC News is reporting that Alsobrooks is projected to win the Democratic primary in Maryland's U.S. Senate race. With 53 percent of the expected vote reporting, Alsobrooks leads 53 percent to 43 percent. As the map below shows, she's ahead in the four largest localities in the state right now: Montgomery, Prince George's and Baltimore Counties, plus the city of Baltimore. She will face Hogan in November.

—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News


More family connections in West Virginia

The family ties in West Virginia elections tonight don’t stop at the Capitos and Millers. According to the AP, Kris Warner has won the Republican primary for secretary of state there — a job currently held by his brother Mac.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


Maryland's 6th is Delaney Country

In Maryland's 6th District, Democrat April McClain Delaney looks to be in a strong position in her primary. With just over a quarter of the expected vote reporting, she leads state Del. Joe Vogel 40 to 26 percent. Her husband, John Delaney, held this seat from 2012 to 2018. On the GOP side, former state Del. Neil Parrott is cruising to a likely third consecutive GOP nomination with 50 percent of the vote, outpacing 2022 gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox, with 55 percent of the expected vote reporting.

Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections


Answer: Electability, shmectability

Echoing what everyone else has said about Alsobrooks, I also would question the utility of being seen as "electable" in the first place. Plenty have written over the years about how the term can carry with it racial or gender-based undertones — the electability conversation loomed large leading up to the 2020 election, when a number of women were vying to be the Democratic nominee. But nationwide considerations about electability are one thing; I'm doubtful it'll matter at all in deep-blue Maryland.

—Irena Li, 538


A messy GOP primary for West Virginia governor

With Justice term-limited out of the West Virginia governor's office, the open-seat Republican primary features members of three old West Virginia political families: former state Del. Moore Capito, the son of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito; car dealer Chris Miller, the son of Rep. Carol Miller; and Secretary of State Mac Warner, whose father and brother were both state legislators. However, the front-runner is a relative newcomer to the state: Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (whose first campaign was for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District in 2000).

Trump has not endorsed in this race, but (so?) the candidates have been tripping over each other to prove they are the most pro-Trump — and, in a state that recently banned gender-affirming care, the most anti-transgender. For example, a pro-Morrisey PAC has hammered Miller for "pro-transgender events" (its language for drag shows and a free clothing closet for transgender students) at Marshall University, where Miller served on the board of governors until last year. Meanwhile, supporters of Miller have hit back at Morrisey for being a lobbyist for a "drug company that helps turn boys into girls" in an ad that also unsubtly pokes fun at Morrisey's height and weight.

Thanks to his ability to self-fund, Miller has spent twice as much money as Morrisey, $6.2 million to $3.1 million. However, polls indicate it hasn't done that much to boost his support. Instead, it is Capito who looks like he poses the biggest threat to Morrisey: Since April 1, he has risen from 16 percent to 26 percent in 538's polling average of the race, within striking distance of Morrisey at 33 percent. (Miller is at 20 percent, and Warner is at 12 percent.) Capito recently received the endorsement of Justice himself, and if he wins, would likely govern in the incumbent's back-slapping, deal-making style; the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity-endorsed Morrisey, though, is more of a hardliner.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538