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.
Latest headlines:
Coal country was weak for Biden, though
West Virginia actually has a history of casting protest votes against incumbent Democratic presidents in primaries, Irena. For instance, in 2012, Barack Obama beat total rando Keith Judd here just 59 percent to 41 percent. This year, Biden is winning a decent 71 percent of the vote, but he's especially weak in coal country in the southwestern part of the state — for example, winning just 49 percent in Mingo County. But these are no anti-Israel protest votes; coal country is a deeply conservative part of the country that nonetheless still has a lot of registered Democrats. These protest votes, therefore, are protesting the liberal direction that the national party has taken this century.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
Jason Palmer is so back
The only presidential primary-related news you should pay attention to tonight is that Jason Palmer, the Democratic winner in American Samoa on Super Tuesday, is on the ballot again today in West Virginia! With 69 percent of the expected vote in, ABC News has projected that Biden will win the Mountain State's Democratic primary, but Palmer is sitting in second place with 12 percent of the vote.
—Irena Li, 538
Checking in on anti-abortion candidates
With Morrissey's projected win in the Republican gubernatorial primary, the GOP in West Virginia is nominating a slate of anti-abortion candidates. In Maryland's 6th, Parrott's projected win for the Republican nomination means that abortion could be a big issue in the competitive district in November. Maryland voters, like voters nationwide, are supportive of abortion rights, and this fall they'll decide on an amendment that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. The projected Democratic primary winner, McClain Delaney, has championed abortion rights in her campaign. In an interview with The Baltimore Sun, Parrott said abortion should be left to the states.
—Monica Potts, 538
Answer: I'm not surprised by Elfreth winning
Dunn's fundraising and national profile always made him look like the frontrunner in Maryland's 3rd, but Elfreth ran strong from the beginning, and the scant polling of the race we had showed her even with Dunn or ahead of him, before, during and after the UDP spending push (which, as Geoff noted, allowed the pro-Elfreth voice to be louder on TV than the pro-Dunn voice). And Elfreth's team was confident heading into today. I spoke with one of her allies this morning who was blunt in their assessment of the state of the race: "Elfreth will win it. She had TV plus organizing." Sometimes, it's that simple!
—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections
Alsobrooks supporters and surrogates celebrate her victory
At Angela Alsobrooks's HQ in Greenbelt, excitement is getting more and more tangible — with results of her victory now called, the crowd is listening to some of her high-profile supporters in anticipation of her own appearance on stage.
Alsobrooks — who had a significant funding disadvantage compared to her much wealthier opponent — seems to have captured the majority of primary votes based on her slate of important endorsements from people, including Gov. Wes Moore and Reps. Steny Hoyer and Jamie Raskin.
"What do they say? Money can't buy you love," Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller said at Alsobrooks's election night party on Tuesday.
"I am so very proud of Angela Alsobrooks," Hoyer echoed, saying "both" Trone and Alsobrooks would have beaten Larry Hogan in a general election, but "Angela was the strongest candidate."
—Isabella Murray, ABC News