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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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


Answer: Dunn wasn't from around there, and Elfreth had a lot of outside help

Meredith, the race seemed very close in a way that made it hard to project just who would win. It's true that Dunn raised a very large amount of money and definitely had a lot of traction online. But Elfreth raised a fair bit herself and actually represents part of the district in the Maryland state legislature, whereas Dunn didn't have an initial base of support as he hails from outside the seat in Montgomery County. Most critically, Elfreth received ample outside support from United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-associated super PAC. So while Dunn had raised $4.6 million to Elfreth's $1.5 million, UDP spent $4.2 million in support of Elfreth while Dunn had no outside help. To be clear, a candidate's campaign dollar goes farther when booking ads than for outside groups, but as Jacob pointed out in late April, the combined broadcast ad time bought by Elfreth and UDP sometimes outdistanced Dunn during the campaign.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538


That's a wrap!

This week's primaries are ovah, so we're calling it a night! Here are the most important races where ABC News has reported a projection:

- Maryland's Senate matchup is set. In the GOP primary, former Gov. Larry Hogan easily dispatched his primary opposition, giving Republicans their best possible nominee for what will still be a very tough general election in deep-blue Maryland. In the Democratic primary, meanwhile, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks edged out Rep. David Trone in an expensive, hard-fought race. She now has the chance to become just the third Black woman elected to the Senate in U.S. history.

- In Maryland's 3rd District, state Sen. Sarah Elfreth won the very crowded Democratic primary, defeating Harry Dunn, the former Capitol Hill police officer who helped defend the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Given the district's blue lean, Elfreth should win in November, adding more women to the House, where women are still just 29 percent of its members.

- Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won the Republican primary for West Virginia governor in a close race over former state Del. Moore Capito. He's heavily favored to win in November in this red state and will likely be a hardline conservative governor, as he's associated with the tea party wing of the party.

- In the GOP primary for West Virginia senator, Gov. Jim Justice easily defeated Rep. Alex Mooney, carrying all but four counties in exurban Washington, D.C. Justice will be heavily favored to win the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who announced his retirement last year.

- In the Republican primary for West Virginia's 1st District, incumbent Rep. Carol Miller fended off a far-right challenge from former state Sen. Derrick Evans, who'd previously served three months in jail after being found guilty in a case related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. She'll be favored to comfortably hold on to her seat in November.

- In the Republican primary for West Virginia's 2nd District, state Treasurer Riley Moore romped to victory over several other GOP candidates vying to succeed Mooney (who ran for Senate). Moore is the nephew of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and the grandson of former Gov. Arch Moore; he'll be a shoo-in this fall for the deeply Republican seat.

- In Maryland's 6th District, which was vacated by Trone for his ill-fated Senate bid, Democrats went with a familiar name in their primary: April McClain Delaney, a former Biden administration official whose husband, John Delaney, held this seat for six years before Trone. On the Republican side, voters once again expressed their support for Neil Parrott, a local lawmaker who was the GOP nominee in 2020 and 2022. Delaney will be favored in the general election, but this is a seat that could get competitive under the right circumstances for Republicans.

- In Maryland's 2nd District, Democratic voters nominated Baltimore County Executive John "Johnny O" Olszewski Jr. to face off against Republican political commentator and frequent political candidate Kimberly Klacik. Biden won general election voters in this district 59 to 39 percent in 2020, so it's highly likely Johnny O will be the next representative of this northern-Baltimore seat.

- In Nebraska's 2nd District, Rep. Don Bacon easily turned back a primary challenge from right-wing Republican Dan Frei. That's bad news for Democrats, who would've had a much easier time beating Frei than Bacon in November in this swing seat.

—G. Elliott Morris, Monica Potts, Nathaniel Rakich and Geoffrey Skelley, 538; Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor; and Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections