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:
Heading for a rematch in Nevada's 1st?
In Nevada's 1st District, 64 percent of the expected vote is counted already, and Robertson leads Larsen 49 percent to 38 percent for the right to take on Titus. As you might recall, Robertson was the GOP's nominee here in 2022 as well.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
Finally, votes in Nevada!
We finally have a bunch of votes in Nevada! It was our snarky comments that did it, I'm sure.
According to the AP, 57 percent of the expected vote is already reporting in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. As expected, Brown is crushing Gunter 57 percent to 17 percent.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
Which will come first ...
Results from Nevada or the A's actually moving to Vegas?
—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections
Final thought: Did Republican women turn a corner?
As we've been documenting this primary cycle, the GOP is badly trailing Democrats when it comes to endorsing and nominating women in primaries, especially primaries where they can win in November. Tonight marked a milestone for the GOP, with Fedorchak — the projected winner in North Dakota's At-Large Congressional District — becoming the first non-incumbent Republican women to win an open primary for a safe red seat.
GOP women saw another, albeit smaller, victory with Biggs advancing to a runoff in South Carolina's 3rd. That said, her competitor, Burns, has Trump's endorsement, which doesn't bode well for her. All told, tonight's races will do little to add more women to the GOP conference.
—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor