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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Trump and Justice celebrate their GOP Senate primary victory

Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Justice in October, celebrated the governor's victory on his social media account shortly after the race was called in West Virginia. "Congratulations to Big Jim Justice!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Justice, in his own post (on X), nodding to the former president's "America-First" agenda. "Thank you, West Virginia, for placing your support and trust in me. I am truly humbled and will work every day to win in November so we can flip the Senate and deliver on our America-First agenda!" Justice wrote.

The two have a short but storied history. Justice switched his party registration from Democratic to Republican in 2017, announcing the high-profile shift at a Trump rally in Huntington, West Virginia.

—Isabella Murray, ABC News


Baltimore's Democratic primary for mayor looks tight

In Baltimore, Democratic voters are choosing between a current and former mayor, and the race looks very close. Former mayor Sheila Dixon is currently leading incumbent Brandon Scott by less than a tenth of a percentage point with mostly early vote reported, according to the state's board of elections.

This is Dixon's third attempt to return to the mayor's office since she resigned in 2010 after being found guilty of embezzlement. In 2016, she narrowly lost the primary to Catherine Pugh, who later went on to plead guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion. Then in 2020, Dixon lost the primary to Scott by just 2.1 percentage points, though a crowded field of 24 candidates meant neither put up a strong showing.

Perhaps ironically, Dixon's campaign this time around focused in part on crime, an issue that 79 percent of Baltimore voters cited as "extremely serious" or "very serious" in a March Washington Post/University of Maryland poll, far more than other areas of the state. Thirty-two percent of Baltimore City voters also told the pollsters that they feel "not too safe" or "not at all safe" from crime in their neighborhoods.

Two different surveys of the mayoral primary in April both showed a single-digit race with Scott ahead, so this one might go down to the wire.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538


A quick reminder that land area can be deceiving

As results start to stream in across the state, the map for the Democratic primary for Maryland Senate looks great for Trone. Unfortunately for him, the vote totals are showing a much closer race, with Alsobrooks currently ahead by around 3 points, thanks to a strong showing in Baltimore and a significant lead in her home county, Prince George’s County. As more votes are reported, we’ll be keeping an eye on whether Alsobrooks can maintain her small lead, and if it starts to be reflected geographically.

—Amina Brown, 538


Bacon projected to win in Nebraska

Another primary challenge to a sitting Republican representative has fallen short. ABC News reports that Bacon is projected to win the Republican primary in Nebraska’s 2nd District. With 37 percent of the expected vote in, he is defeating Frei, his right-wing challenger, 70 percent to 30 percent.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


Final thought: TV advertising and diminishing marginal returns

Money can buy you a lot of things, but it's not all-powerful. Trone found that out the hard way tonight when he hit a ceiling of about 42 percent of the vote (with 61 percent of the expected vote reporting), despite spending untold millions. If Trone had spent $30 million less, I'm not sure he would have done all that much worse. If he had spent $60 million less, he probably wouldn't have registered at all.

It was obvious that money was a big part of victories elsewhere in the state and country. In Maryland's 3rd District, Elfreth was able to ride a wave of outside support to a comfortable but tough projected win over Dunn — without that money, I'm not sure she would have succeeded. And the third-place finisher, Lam, was not coincidentally the only other candidate to go on TV. In Maryland's 6th District, the only two Democrats with money to go on TV were also the ones to place in double digits, Delaney and Vogel, and the bigger spender won more votes. And in West Virginia's 2nd District and Nebraska's 2nd District, big spending by incumbent GOP representatives and their outside allies ultimately staved off underfunded challenges from right-wing opponents.

Anyway, my biggest takeaway is that Maryland has something to offer for everyone! And our flag is the best in the nation. With that: Good night.

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections