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:
Checking in on anti-abortion candidates in South Carolina
We're still waiting on results from most states, but I'm tracking early results on anti-abortion candidates in South Carolina. In the 1st Congressional District, Templeton is trailing Mace 29 percent to 57 percent, with 20 percent of the expected vote reporting, according to the AP. In the 3rd District, the AP is reporting that Biggs is now barely trailing in second place with 30 percent of the vote, with her nearest competitor, Burns, at 31 percent, and 45 percent of the expected vote reporting. Morgan is slightly ahead of incumbent Timmons in the 4th District, 52 to 48 percent (with 16 percent of the expected vote reporting), while Buckner is ahead of Scott in the 6th District 56 to 44 percent, with 21 percent of the expected vote reporting. The other two Republican House primaries are uncontested.
—Monica Potts, 538
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
That’s a wrap!
Well, it’s unclear when we’re going to know the winners in the last few Nevada races, so we’re going to call it a night. Here’s a roundup of what happened in June 11’s key races:
- In the special election in Ohio’s 6th District, Republican state Sen. Michael Rulli defeated Democratic Air Force veteran Michael Kripchak, but by a shockingly narrow margin (9 points). Trump won this district by 29 points, so Democratic enthusiasm was really high here.
- In South Carolina’s 1st District, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace survived her second straight contested GOP primary as an incumbent, and by a much more comfortable margin than two years ago. Mace will face businessman Michael Moore (no, not that one) in the general election, where she’ll be the heavy favorite.
- In South Carolina’s 3rd District, the Republican primary is going to a runoff, with the top two candidates — Trump-endorsed pastor Mark Burns and Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs, who finished neck-and-neck — facing off again in two weeks.
- In South Carolina’s 4th District, Rep. William Timmons barely beat back a strong primary challenge from tea party Republican state Rep. Adam Morgan.
- Up north in Maine’s 2nd District, former NASCAR driver and current state Rep. Austin Theriault easily clinched the GOP nomination over his colleague Michael Soboleski. Now Theriault will race against Democrat Jared Golden, the Blue Dog who’s held this seat since 2018.
- In North Dakota, the Republican primary for governor was projected early, with Rep. Kelly Armstrong pulling quickly ahead of Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller. And the contested GOP primary for the state’s open at-large congressional district was projected for Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak.
- For U.S. Senate in Nevada, Army veteran Sam Brown scored an easy win in the Republican primary. He’ll face Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen this fall in what will be one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races.
Finally, here’s the status of the three unprojected races in Nevada.
- Nevada’s 1st District looks like it will be a rematch, with 2022 nominee Mark Robertson leading the Republican primary for the right to once again face incumbent Democratic Rep. Dina Titus. However, Flemming Larsen could still win the GOP nomination too.
- In the crowded Republican primary in Nevada’s 3rd, conservative columnist Drew Johnson has a narrow lead over former state Treasurer Dan Schwartz. "Halo" composer Marty O’Donnell, the establishment pick, is in a surprising third place.
- In Nevada’s 4th, former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee appears to have the inside track over Air Force veteran David Flippo.
—Monica Potts, Nathaniel Rakich and Kaleigh Rogers, 538; and Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections