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:
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
Question: Elfreth beats Dunn in Maryland's 3rd District — Is that a surprise?
Democrats' 22-person race in Maryland's 3rd District came down to two candidates (as expected). With 55 percent of the expected vote reporting, ABC News reports that Elfreth is the projected winner, and she leads Dunn 36 percent to 25 percent.
Question for the group: Is anyone surprised by Elfreth's win? I am a bit surprised, given Dunn's celebrity status.
—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor
How candidates of color are doing tonight
We've been tracking how people of color are performing in primaries throughout this cycle, and there were 47 on the ballot tonight, 44 of whom were running in Maryland. Overall, seven are projected to win, of which Alsobrooks is probably the most notable.
Alsobrooks could make history as the third Black woman to ever win election to the Senate, though she could share that honor with Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who is favored to win Delaware's open Senate seat. Elsewhere in Maryland, two Black Democratic incumbents, Ivey and Mfume, also won renomination. Klacik, whom Meredith discussed, won the GOP nomination in Maryland's 2nd District, but will be a huge underdog in November. It's a similar story for Talkington in Maryland's 5th District. In Nebraska, meanwhile, Vargas was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and will face Bacon in the state's purple 2nd District this November. And in one of Nebraska's Senate races, Love Jr. was unopposed and will very likely lose against Ricketts in the solidly red state. Beyond those individuals, it's unlikely that any other candidates on the list will win a primary tonight.
—Geoffrey Skelley, 538
Alsobrooks supporters and surrogates celebrate her victory
At Angela Alsobrooks's HQ in Greenbelt, excitement is getting more and more tangible — with results of her victory now called, the crowd is listening to some of her high-profile supporters in anticipation of her own appearance on stage.
Alsobrooks — who had a significant funding disadvantage compared to her much wealthier opponent — seems to have captured the majority of primary votes based on her slate of important endorsements from people, including Gov. Wes Moore and Reps. Steny Hoyer and Jamie Raskin.
"What do they say? Money can't buy you love," Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller said at Alsobrooks's election night party on Tuesday.
"I am so very proud of Angela Alsobrooks," Hoyer echoed, saying "both" Trone and Alsobrooks would have beaten Larry Hogan in a general election, but "Angela was the strongest candidate."
—Isabella Murray, ABC News
West Virginia's Moore-Capito political dynasty
The names Moore and Capito look set to remain emblazoned on West Virginia's political landscape. We've mentioned that Riley Moore has claimed the GOP nomination in West Virginia's 2nd District, making it very likely that he'll join his aunt, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, in Congress after the 2024 general election. Meanwhile, the senator's son, Moore Capito, is currently in second place in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
The Moore name has been around West Virginia politics for quite a while. Sen. Capito's father, Arch Moore Jr., was a major figure in West Virginia politics for decades. He served in the U.S. House for six terms, served an unprecedented three terms as governor (in two separate stints) and also lost major statewide contests for Senate and governor. After leaving the governorship the second time, he pleaded guilty to federal charges related to bribery, extortion, tax fraud and obstruction of justice, serving time in prison as a result. Going even farther back, Arch Moore Jr.'s grandfather had been a minority leader in the state House of Delegates.
Seems like the Moore-Capito clan's tenure will only grow from here on.
—Geoffrey Skelley, 538