A trio of House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the wake of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, are also facing first-time voters. Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer and Washington Reps. Dan Newhouse and Jaime Herrera Beutler — three of just 10 Republicans who backed Trump’s second impeachment — each face challengers from within their own party. Tuesday also gave voters their first chance to directly respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeal of federal abortion rights earlier this summer — an issue that national Democrats hope will energize their base in the fall. Kansas voters have decided to keep the right to abortion in their state constitution by voting “no” on a proposed constitutional amendment, CNN reports. The procedure is currently legal up to 22 weeks in Kansas, where people from Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri have traveled for services amid Republican-led efforts to roll back abortion rights. The results of Senate primaries in Arizona, where Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly awaits a GOP challenger, and Missouri, an increasingly conservative state that Trump won by double digits in 2020, will clear the way for efforts by Democrats to maintain their narrow majority. . In both states, crowded Republican fields were dominated by suffragettes. In Missouri, state Attorney General Eric Schmidt will win the GOP Senate nomination, CNN projects. His victory is a relief to the national party leadership who were anxious that former Gov. Eric Greitens would win and then lose the November general election. Greitens resigned in 2018 amid a sex scandal and allegations of campaign misconduct, and most recently faced allegations of abuse by his ex-wife, which he has denied.
Schmidt and Greitens shared an 11th-hour endorsement from Trump, who said Monday he was backing “Eric” and let voters decide who, though both candidates immediately sought to claim the endorsement for themselves . Echoing Greitens’ pledge, Schmidt — who was endorsed by Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — said last week that he would not endorse Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for leader. While Trump hedged his bets, the state’s junior senator, Josh Hawley, suffered a loss after being endorsed by Rep. Vicki Hartzler. One of two members of Congress seeking the nomination, she has been critical of Trump since Jan. 6, but still voted against certifying the presidential ballot and touts her voting record with Trump on the trail. The long Republican vote in Arizona will provide a series of tests for Trump allies. Republicans will pick a candidate to take on Kelly, the embattled Democratic Senate incumbent. Blake Masters, an associate of Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, is Trump’s pick in this race. He’s facing off against businessman Jim Lamon, who cashed in on a partisan “audit” of the 2020 results in Maricopa County, and state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who recently returned a report debunking a popular right-wing myth about the “dead voters,” but has mixed his defenses of the state’s electoral integrity with indulgences of conspiracy-mongering activists.

A proxy war in Arizona between Trump and Pence

The race to succeed Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has split the party, with Ducey and former Vice President Mike Pence endorsing Karrin Taylor Robson and Trump endorsing former television reporter Kari Lake, whose campaign it has been fueled by the former president’s lies. . Down the ballot in Arizona, the front-runner for the GOP nomination for secretary of state — and a chance to hold the state’s next runoff election — is Trump-backed state Rep. Mark Finchem, who is declining the election, who attended the January 6, 2021, rally in Washington. Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is running for governor and is favored in her primary against Marco Lopez.
In Michigan, another state that flipped from red to blue in the 2020 presidential race, Trump’s pick will win the Republican nomination for governor, CNN projects. Tudor Dixon, who was boosted last week by Trump’s endorsement, also had the support of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. A conservative commentator who had garnered support from prominent Republicans in the state pushed back against criticism that she was an establishment candidate who wasn’t “MAGA” enough. Dixon will face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is seeking a second term. Whitmer is a key piece of the Democratic stronghold against Republican incumbency in Michigan, where the GOP controls both state legislatures.

Intra-party races for the Parliament

But the most anticipated race of the night, at least in Michigan, is for the GOP nomination in a western House district that has become a flashpoint for national infighting in both parties. Meijer, who was first elected in 2020, is facing a primary challenge from John Gibbs, an ardent election denier who is running with Trump’s support. Gibbs, however, was also the beneficiary of the Democratic meddling. The party’s House campaign arm, believing Gibbs to be a less viable candidate for the general election, has spent more than $300,000 on ads ostensibly attacking his alliance with Trump in an effort to boost him in the primaries. But that strategy has angered some on the left who believe it undermines their broader messages against political extremism in the GOP, while fueling fears that the bet could backfire if Gibbs is actually elected and reaches Congress. Meanwhile, in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, Rep. Haley Stevens will defeat fellow Democrat Rep. Andy Levin, according to CNN, in an incumbency clash that was the latest chapter in a delegate battle between moderates and progressives. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) had endorsed Stevens, and her new super PAC, the United Democracy Project, spent more than $4 million to boost her bid. The UDP’s spending, along with lobbying by AIPAC, prompted another pro-Israel group, the liberal J Street, to jump on Levin’s behalf, spending $700,000 on an ad in July. This story has been updated with additional developments.