I certainly don't mean to blame my hardworking friends in the media. The view from academia is that I organized a whole class around the prospect of an exciting primary, cue the sad trombone noise. I agree with what you said, and also think this is sort of an outgrowth of the weirdness of a primary election. Is it a preliminary election with terrible turnout? A party process, but just a fairly open one? It's hard for all of us in the explaining business because it's honestly kind of a confusing thing.

—Julia Azari, 538 contributor

This is not a surprise, but ABC News projects that Trump will win the Republican primary in Oklahoma, based on an analysis of the vote. In the latest polling, he lead by nearly 80 points against Haley.

—Monica Potts, 538

Josh Stein, the North Carolina attorney general, is projected to be the Democratic nominee for governor. Stein was a state senator for 7 years before running for attorney general. He has twice beat out Republican candidates, and is the first Jewish person to be elected to statewide office in the state. His race against Robinson for governor will be one of the most closely watched come November, because a Republican win would give the GOP a trifecta for the first time since 2016.

—Kaleigh Rogers, 538

I'm watching Buckhout for another reason: She has the endorsement of the influential Susan B. Anthony List. The group started out endorsing pro-life women candidates as a kind of counterpart to women-supporting, pro-choice group EMILY'S List, but during the Obama administration also focused on endorsing Republicans against some anti-abortion Democratic women. It was a powerful insider voice against Roe v. Wade, and, since the fall of Roe v. Wade, has called for a national 15-week abortion ban. Democrats will run in November telling voters that the right to abortion nationwide is at stake, and abortion is definitely playing a role in Republican primaries across the country. With 22 percent of the expected vote reporting, Buckhout is currently leading with 56 percent of the vote so far.

—Monica Potts, 538

Sitting governors and attorneys general don't usually openly try to defeat incumbents of their own party, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton are just built different, I guess. Today's Texas primaries are the culmination of two separate intraparty power struggles from the past year, in which Abbott and Paxton are actively trying to defeat Republicans who have defied them in the state legislature.

In May 2023, the Texas state House impeached Paxton on charges of bribery and abuse of office. He was later acquitted by the state Senate, but he has embarked on a revenge tour against those who supported his impeachment by endorsing primary challengers to 35 incumbent Republicans.

Meanwhile, Abbott suffered a massive political defeat last year when a group of mostly rural Republican legislators blocked his top priority, a school voucher program. In what the Houston Chronicle has called a "legacy-defining" campaign, Abbott has spent more than $4 million trying to oust 10 anti-voucher Republicans running for reelection.

Even Trump has gotten in on the act: He has endorsed at least eight primary challengers to sitting representatives, all of whom either voted against vouchers or voted to impeach Paxton (who is a close Trump ally).

If Paxton, Abbott and Trump are successful, the Republican caucus in the Texas state House will look very different — and further right — next year. Throughout the night, I'll be watching for how many incumbents they successfully topple.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538