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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Blankenship <3 Mingo County

Nathaniel, in 2018 Blankenship won just four counties in the GOP primary. One of them was Mingo County, on the state's southern edge and Blankenship's home base. He won it with 45 percent of the vote in 2018, and in 2024 it's the only county he's carrying so far, with about 52 percent of the vote. Mingo was once staunchly Democratic but has zoomed rightward, as has most of the state. In 2004, John Kerry carried over George W. Bush by 13 percent. In 2020, Biden only won 13 percent of the vote!

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections


Don Blankenship is not, in fact, back

Real heads may remember Blankenship, a convicted criminal, from 2018, when he almost won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, which would've been establishment Republicans' worst nightmare as they sought to take down Manchin. Well, he's trying for a comeback tonight in the Democratic primary for Senate, and he's in a distant third place.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


Democrats fear a repeat of Jan. 6

As Nathaniel mentioned earlier, West Virginia's 1st Congressional District's Republican primary has a candidate, Evans, who served three months in jail after filming himself storming the Capitol on Jan. 6. His performance in the district, which includes the state capital city of Charleston, will be a good illustration of where the party is when it comes to how important election denialism remains. Evans apologized for his actions in court, but after leaving jail, he began calling himself a "J6 patriot."

This evolution mirrors what has happened in the Republican Party, as GOP primary voters have become less likely to believe Trump is to blame for Jan. 6, more swayed by conspiracy theories about the insurrection and less likely to say Biden was legitimately elected, according to a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll from the third anniversary. As Mary mentioned earlier, Democrats are much more worried about a repeat of the insurrection and worried that democracy in the U.S. is in peril.

So far there's only about 3 percent of the vote reporting, and Miller has opened up with a lead with 65 percent of the vote. But if Evans upsets the race and pulls out a win over the incumbent Miller, who has also shown unwavering support for Trump, his actions on that day are unlikely to hurt him in this deep red district.

—Monica Potts, 538


First results in West Virginia's 2nd

We've got 11 percent of the expected vote reporting in West Virginia's 2nd District, and as expected, state Treasurer Riley Moore is running well ahead of the pack with about 45 percent. In a distant second are Army veteran Joseph Earley and retired Air Force general Chris Walker, both at 17 percent. This should be an easy win for Moore (and also a win for the Moore dynasty, which will notch at least one victory tonight even if Moore Capito loses the gubernatorial primary.

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections


Democratic women we're watching

According to the Center for American Women in Politics, in states where filing deadlines have passed as of April 26, 36 percent of Democratic candidates for House races and 32 percent for Senate races are women. Today in Maryland, the share is a little lower: 32 percent of Democrats running for House and two out of 10 Senate candidates are women.

That said, women are competitive in a couple of Maryland's most critical primaries — which happen to be pretty crowded. A slew of Democratic departures — in the 2nd, 3rd and 6th Congressional Districts, as well as the Senate — have contributed to a wave of hopeful nominees, including Elfreth in the 3rd District and Alsobrooks for Senate. EMILY's List, the Democratic powerhouse that supports women at the crucial primary stage, has put its muscle behind Alsobrooks with a $2 million ad buy. But, despite typically investing in pro-choice women running in competitive districts, the group hasn't made an endorsement in Elfreth's race.

Meanwhile, in West Virginia, there are no Democratic women on the ballot today, while in Nebraska, there is just one running: state Sen. Carol Blood is running unopposed in the 1st District. If the incumbent Republican, Rep. Mike Flood, wins his primary, it will be Blood versus Flood, a most ominous general election match-up. But she will likely lose this, ahem, blood-red district in November.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor