Slight break from Pennsylvania ... As I just mentioned earlier, the GOP is trailing Democrats when it comes to nominating women to competitive races. But last Tuesday, attorney Caroleene Dobson beat Dick Brewbaker, a businessman and former state senator in the runoff in Alabama's 2nd District, so she will be on the ballot in November. Dobson had backing from VIEWPAC, which was founded in 1997 to help elect qualified, viable Republican women to Congress. The Democrats also had a runoff, which was won by a Biden administration alum, Shomari Figures.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor

In the 12th District Democratic primary, incumbent Lee leads challenger Patel 55 percent to 45 percent after Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) reported a big chunk of early votes just after polls closed. On the one hand, this shows Patel isn't that far behind Lee and could be in the race. On the other hand, Lee actually lost the mail/early vote in the 2022 primary here when she first won this seat, 51 percent to 31 percent, but this time around she leads it. And since about 90 percent of the primary vote will come from Allegheny (the rest from Westmoreland next door), Lee has to be seen as a favorite at this point.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538

In the 1st District, GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is well ahead of his challenger from the right, anti-abortion activist Mark Houck. With 20 percent of the expected vote reporting, Fitzpatrick has 83 percent to Houck’s 17 percent. In fact, the Associated Press has already called this race and projected Fitzpatrick to win. ABC News, however, has yet to make a projection, so hang tight!

—Kaleigh Rogers, 538

In Pennsylvania, as in many states around the country, voters name the economy as the most important issue facing the state. In a mid-March Emerson College/The Hill survey, 36 percent of respondents said "the economy (jobs, inflation, taxes)" was the most important issue facing Pennsylvania. The next most chosen issue was crime (12 percent), followed by immigration and "threats to democracy" (11 percent each) and healthcare (9 percent).

Republicans were particularly concerned about the economy and immigration, with 47 and 21 percent selecting those two issues, respectively, and no other issue chosen by more than 9 percent of Republican voters. Democrats also selected the economy first, but with less gusto: 27 percent said the economy is the most important issue, followed by threats to democracy (16 percent), healthcare (15 percent) and crime (13 percent).

—Mary Radcliffe, 538

With Biden and Trump having sewn up their party's nominations, the Pennsylvania presidential primary is an afterthought today. But the Keystone State will definitely be at the forefront of the general election campaign: In 2016, Trump carried it by 0.7 percentage points, and in 2020, Biden won it by 1.2 points, making Pennsylvania one of the most competitive states in the country. And with 19 electoral votes, the state is the largest battleground-state prize in the Electoral College (if you don't include Florida, which has 30 electoral votes but may have a GOP lean now).

Early polling for the November election confirms the expectation that Pennsylvania will once again feature a hard-fought campaign. 538 hasn't released its general election polling averages yet — they're coming very soon — but Trump and Biden are running close to even in recent polls. The most recent one we have, a mid-April survey from Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research/Fox News, found them tied at 48 percent, with Trump edging ahead by 2 points when third-party candidates like Robert Kennedy Jr. were included as options.

Given Pennsylvania's importance, it's no surprise that both Biden and Trump are heavily focused on it. Biden just completed a campaign swing through the state last week, including a stop at his childhood home of Scranton. Just days earlier, Trump held a campaign rally in the Lehigh Valley ahead of the start of his hush-money trial in New York City. There'll certainly be more of that in Pennsylvania — and a gazillion attack ads on television and digital airwaves — before Election Day.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538