South Carolina, Nevada, North Dakota primaries and Ohio special election 2024: Nancy Mace, Sam Brown win
Democrats nearly won a safely Republican congressional seat.
June 11 was another packed primary day, as voters in South Carolina, Maine, North Dakota and Nevada weighed in on who will make the ballot this fall. We had our eyes on a slew of Republican primaries on Tuesday, including several competitive contests for U.S. House seats, as well as contests to pick Nevada's GOP Senate nominee and effectively pick the next governor of North Dakota.
In South Carolina, Rep. Nancy Mace's Trumpian pivot didn't cost her, as she handily fended off an establishment-aligned primary challenger. Fellow incumbent Rep. William Timmons, who was looking vulnerable after an infidelity scandal, also came out ahead in a closer race against his right-wing challenger. In North Dakota's At-Large Congressional District, Julie Fedorchak became the first non-incumbent woman this cycle to win a GOP primary for a safely red seat. In Nevada, Republican voters chose Sam Brown as their candidate to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen this fall.
Finally, a special election is set to give House Republicans one more seat of breathing room, as voters in Ohio's 6th District filled the seat vacated by Rep. Bill Johnson's departure in January — though not without some unexpected suspense.
As usual, 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:
A singer, a cowboy and now a nominee
In North Dakota, where most polls have closed, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee is Merrill Piepkorn, a state senator and radio host who's also a bit of a singer. You can check him out on YouTube. (And he probably won't win his race this year against either Armstrong or Miller, so he has plenty of time to keep serenading us all.)
—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections
In SC-04, incumbent Timmons is currently behind
With 16 percent of the estimated vote reporting, Republican Rep. William Timmons is currently behind state Rep. Adam Morgan. Morgan currently has 52 percent of the vote to Timmons's 48 percent. Despite Timmons being pretty darn conservative, Morgan, who chairs the state level Freedom Caucus and got the endorsement of the Congressional Freedom Caucus's campaign arm, ran to his right. Timmons has Trump's endorsement, but it might not be enough to keep him from getting bested tonight.
—Kaleigh Rogers, 538
An update in Ohio’s 6th District
Every county in Ohio’s 6th District has now reported what are likely the bulk of its early/absentee votes, and Kripchak leads 61 percent to 39 percent districtwide, with 19 percent of the expected vote reporting. Now we wait and see just how red the Election Day vote is. Again, I expect Rulli to win once all those votes are counted, but he does have a notable deficit to make up.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
We've got early results in the GOP race to replace Duncan in South Carolina's 3rd District
With 18 percent of expected vote counted, Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs has a narrow lead with 30 percent of the vote, ahead of pastor Mark Burns and state Rep. Stewart Jones, who are currently at 28 percent and almost 20 percent, respectively. This is not altogether unsurprising, given there was not a ton of daylight between these candidates as far as their political leanings. Burns does have Trump’s endorsement, but Jones has been representing part of the region in the state legislature since 2019, and Biggs has a fundraising advantage. It could very well go to a runoff, but we’ll see if Biggs can grow her lead, or if one of the others takes the lead.
—Kaleigh Rogers, 538
Final thought: Anti-abortion candidates win in deep-red districts
Tracking anti-abortion candidates again in tonight's primaries, I'm thinking about how some of these races will shape the issue this fall. In deep-red districts, Republican voters often choose from a slate of anti-abortion candidates. But many of their extreme positions are unpopular overall, and that could make a difference in competitive races. That may be why candidates that are less extreme on the issue are winning in primaries like Nevada's Senate race — Brown has championed a more moderate position, and his wife has opened up about an abortion she had when she was younger. Likewise, the anti-abortion candidate in Nevada's battleground 3rd District is far behind. The issue might not always rank at the top for voters in surveys, but the GOP seems willing to be a bit more moderate in races where an extreme anti-abortion candidate could turn voters off.
—Monica Potts, 538