I think that's right, Galen. In a CNN poll back in January, 35 percent of voters said they either don't follow the campaign at all or only pay as much attention to it as necessary. Another 38 percent said they don't seek out campaign news, but do follow the news that they encounter. Only 26 percent of voters said they are frequently seeking out news about the campaign. At this point in the race, voters are not really tuned in. It may be that whatever happens in the primary stays in the primary.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538

Julia, I hear what you're saying, and as a member of "the media," I have an inkling as to why this is happening. The primary contests are not competitive and we have to talk about about ... something ... anything!

To echo what you're saying, just 22 percent of the registered voters in Michigan cast a ballot in the primary last week. In 2020, voter turnout exceeded 70 percent in the general. These are just wildly different electorates.

I often feel flummoxed by comparisons of the midterms to the general, and in the midterms turnout is closer to 50 percent. A general electorate is far less engaged in politics and is — according to polls — more driven by economic issues. And frankly, a big chunk of them find both Biden and Trump unappealing.

So, while I do think there are interesting things to say about the primary, they are not the kind of things that will tell you who will win in November.

—Galen Druke, 538

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which is aligned with the Republican House leadership, has spent several hundred thousand dollars to prevent Sandy Smith from winning that primary again. CLF also spent (unsuccessfully) against Smith in the 2022 primary after several damaging stories about her came out.

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

Not only did she drop more than $1 million of her own money into her campaign, she lives in a fancy, columned, waterfront manor in ritzy Edenton, with its own boat dock and putting green!

—Kaleigh Rogers, 538

A big question is whether Trump is line to mathematically clinch the nomination next Tuesday, March 12 — the earliest possible date on the calendar that a candidate (namely, Trump) could claim a majority of the GOP's 2,429 national delegates. And it looks like it could be close.

Trump entered the night with 247 delegates to Haley's 43, according to 538's delegate benchmark tracker, and he looks in line to win roughly 775 to 805 delegates out of 854 that were up for grabs today. That would put him at around 1,025 to 1,055 delegates. If he's on the short end of that range, a Trump sweep of all delegates in contests after today up through March 12 would put him just above the 1,215 mark to clinch. This makes the Vermont result, where Haley is just above 50 percent, pretty important, because it would mean the difference between Trump claiming about 0 delegates, or claiming 8 should Haley fall short of a majority in her victory.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538