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:
Knives out for Hogan
That was quick. Just minutes after Hogan was projected the victor in the Republican primary, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is out with a new digital ad, using his own words against him — spotlighting Hogan calling himself a "lifelong Republican" (a not-so-veiled attempt to paint him as anything but moderate).
Democrats know the balance of the Senate is at stake here. They seem to be wasting no time reminding everyone else.
—Brittany Shepherd, ABC News
Polls are now closed in Nebraska
It's 8 p.m. Central, and the polls are now closed in the final state we're watching tonight: Nebraska.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
Johnny O is no Johnny-come-lately
He may be new on the national scene, but us Marylanders have been watching Johnny O's career with great interest for nearly two decades. He got to the state house in 2006 at just 24 years old and has been pegged as a rising star ever since then. At just 41, he's young enough to be a credible Senate or gubernatorial candidate down the line.
—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections
Johnny O's lead is Johnny whoa
Not only did Olszewski win, Elliott, but he is blowing the competition out of the water with 82 percent of the vote (with 30 percent of the expected vote reporting). I can't remember ever seeing a non-incumbent doing that well in a primary.
—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