From the Washington Post…..
Voters will cast ballots Tuesday in two crucial Ohio races: the contentious Republican primaries to take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, both of whom are running for reelection in territory then-President Donald Trump won in 2020.
The Ohio Senate primary among three candidates — former high-end car dealership owner Bernie Moreno, state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose — has been exceptionally ugly. Moreno has Trump’s backing.
On Monday, Trump endorsed Derek Merrin, the Republican establishment’s preferred candidate in the race against Kaptur.
But those aren’t the only races we’re watching. Here are two more primaries we’re tracking:
- Illinois’ 7th District: Democratic Rep. Danny K. Davis is facing several primary challengers, including Kina Collins, an activist whom Davis defeated by barely six points when she challenged him in 2022. Davis has represented the heavily Democratic district — which arcs from Chicago’s South Side through the Loop to the western suburbs — since 1997.
- Illinois’ 12th District: State Sen. Darren Bailey, the 2022 Republican nominee for governor, is challenging GOP Rep. Mike Bost in this deep-red southern Illinois district. While Trump and the Illinois Farm Bureau have endorsed Bost, some of his colleagues are trying to defeat him. Reps. Mary E. Miller (R-Ill.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) are backing Bailey and have bashed Bost for voting for Ukraine aid, among other things……
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Three Republicans are in a fierce primary fight for the chance to face Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat seeking a fourth term in a state that Donald Trump carried in the past two presidential elections. The outcome of the primary will help determine what chances Democrats have of holding this seat and their razor-thin majority in the Senate.
State Sen. Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, has spent the most money in the primary. He is seen as the most centrist candidate in the GOP contest. Dolan called Trump’s claims about losing the 2020 election a lie and blamed him in part for the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Dolan said it was an “attack on American democracy, our Constitution and the rule of law.” Dolan has been endorsed by other moderate Republicans who have not aligned themselves with Trump, including Gov. Mike DeWine and former senator Rob Portman.
The other two candidates are closer to Trump. The former president and several of his allies have endorsed high-end car dealer Bernie Moreno, praising him as a political outsider. Though Moreno once wrote “the morons who ransacked the capital don’t represent anyone but the mentally unstable,” he later downplayed the violence. Trump was campaigning for Moreno in Ohio on Saturday when he warned of a “bloodbath” if he was not elected president again.
The other Republican candidate is Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Unlike Trump, he did not contest the 2020 presidential election results. LaRose told reporters that year that it was “irresponsible” to claim an election was stolen without providing evidence. In July, he endorsed Trump.
Read more about key races Tuesday.
Moreno the Trump backed guy win’s Ohio GOP Senate primary
Bernie Moreno Wins GOP Senate Nod in Ohio
Trump-backed candidate Bernie Moreno (R) will win the Republican nomination for Senate in Ohio to face off against incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) this November, Decision Desk HQ has projected.
Key March 19 U.S. House primaries
IL-12
GOP
Mike Bost*
54.7%
Darren Bailey
45.3%
* Incumbent
77.1% in
IL-07
DEM
Danny Davis*
53.0%
Melissa Conyears-Ervin
21.6%
Other candidates
25.5%
* Incumbent
69.6% in
OH-09
GOP
Derek Merrin
50.5%
Craig Riedel
36.2%
Steve Lankenau
13.3%
88.6% in
CA-20, Special
Vince Fong (R)
0.0%
Mike Boudreaux (R)
0.0%
Other candidates
0.0%
Polls not closed
10:35 DST NY
Ohio Senate GOP
Candidate
Votes
Pct.
Bernie Moreno
511,932
50.3%
Matt Dolan
333,585
32.8%
Frank LaRose
172,919
17.0%
87.5% of expected vote in