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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A Jan. 6er is running in West Virginia's 1st District

If you're looking for a dark horse race that could prove very interesting, keep an eye on the Republican primary for West Virginia's 1st District. Incumbent Carol Miller is running here and hasn't done anything to upset the GOP base, but she is facing a robust challenge from former state Del. Derrick Evans. Evans is no ordinary former state legislator, though. He served all of 40 days in office, from Dec. 1, 2020, to Jan. 9, 2021, when he resigned three days after entering the U.S. Capitol as part of the pro-Trump mob attempting to stop certification of the 2020 election. He pleaded guilty to a felony civil disorder charge and served three months in jail, but he is now singing a different tune for his GOP primary campaign, defending the Jan. 6 insurrection and condemning his prosecution.

And Evans may have a serious shot. Bolstered by the endorsements of far-right Rep. Bob Good and Trump allies like pillow salesman Mike Lindell and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, he has raised almost as much money as Miller: $982,000 to $783,000. There's no public polling in this race, but Miller appears to be looking over her shoulder. She recently started airing negative ads against Evans, attacking him for being, of all things, too liberal.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


The GOP primary in West Virginia's 2nd should be over quickly

In West Virginia's 2nd District, five Republicans are vying to succeed Mooney tonight, but one has almost all of the institutional support. State Treasurer Riley Moore has been endorsed by both establishment Republicans (former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce) and tea partiers (Mooney, Americans for Prosperity) alike. And yes, he is also one of those Moores — Shelley Moore Capito is his aunt. He's the leading fundraiser in the race with $883,000 in contributions and is the strong favorite to win the primary, although retired Air Force Brigadier General Chris Walker has raised a competitive $732,000 as well.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


Tracking anti-abortion candidates in tonight's primaries

As usual, tonight we'll be tracking candidates in Maryland's, Nebraska's and West Virginia's Senate, House and gubernatorial primaries whose campaign websites use the phrase "pro-life," "sanctity of life," "right to life," "no abortion," "against abortion" or "unborn" and do not say abortion is an issue of states' rights.

Abortion has been illegal in West Virginia since a pre-Roe ban went back into effect after the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022. Nevertheless, several anti-abortion candidates are running in both the state's open Senate and gubernatorial races. Both Republican primary candidates in the 1st Congressional District are also anti-abortion, as are four of the five in the 2nd Congressional District. Republicans are favored to win all these races in the fall.

In Nebraska, seven candidates are on our list, including incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts and all three of the state's House members. The Cornhusker State currently bans abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy. A bill that would have banned abortion after six weeks died in the legislature last year, and there's an effort to put an abortion rights initiative on the ballot this year. Polling shows most voters in the state oppose more abortion restrictions, as is true of voters nationwide.

And in Maryland, Rep. Andy Harris and five of the seven Republicans running in the open 6th District are anti-abortion. Maryland is the most supportive state for abortion rights of the places we're watching tonight, allowing abortion throughout pregnancy, but these two congressional districts are the most conservative in the state: The 1st is solidly red, while the 6th is a toss-up.

—Monica Potts, 538


A messy GOP primary for West Virginia governor

With Justice term-limited out of the West Virginia governor's office, the open-seat Republican primary features members of three old West Virginia political families: former state Del. Moore Capito, the son of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito; car dealer Chris Miller, the son of Rep. Carol Miller; and Secretary of State Mac Warner, whose father and brother were both state legislators. However, the front-runner is a relative newcomer to the state: Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (whose first campaign was for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District in 2000).

Trump has not endorsed in this race, but (so?) the candidates have been tripping over each other to prove they are the most pro-Trump — and, in a state that recently banned gender-affirming care, the most anti-transgender. For example, a pro-Morrisey PAC has hammered Miller for "pro-transgender events" (its language for drag shows and a free clothing closet for transgender students) at Marshall University, where Miller served on the board of governors until last year. Meanwhile, supporters of Miller have hit back at Morrisey for being a lobbyist for a "drug company that helps turn boys into girls" in an ad that also unsubtly pokes fun at Morrisey's height and weight.

Thanks to his ability to self-fund, Miller has spent twice as much money as Morrisey, $6.2 million to $3.1 million. However, polls indicate it hasn't done that much to boost his support. Instead, it is Capito who looks like he poses the biggest threat to Morrisey: Since April 1, he has risen from 16 percent to 26 percent in 538's polling average of the race, within striking distance of Morrisey at 33 percent. (Miller is at 20 percent, and Warner is at 12 percent.) Capito recently received the endorsement of Justice himself, and if he wins, would likely govern in the incumbent's back-slapping, deal-making style; the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity-endorsed Morrisey, though, is more of a hardliner.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 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