会不会赤脚莫斯卡托是为了庆祝而醉，还是为了借酒消愁?周二将迎来2024年最有趣的非总统初选:激烈的、充满种族色彩的、剑拔弩张的马里兰州参议院民主党初选。但是主菜上有很多开胃菜:MAGA运动会让一位众所周知的温和共和党议员下台，潜在地把一个摇摆席位让给民主党吗?一个因2021年1月6日袭击国会大厦而入狱的人会以美国代表的身份重返国会吗?
这些只是我们周二关注的马里兰州、内布拉斯加州和西弗吉尼亚州初选的10场选举中的3场。以下是你需要了解的所有信息。
西弗吉尼亚州
观看的比赛:参议院;第一和第二国会选区;管理者
投票结束:东部时间晚上7:30
当民主党参议员乔·曼钦宣布他要退休了11月，西弗吉尼亚的美国参议院席位几乎成了共和党的自动选择——共和党初选成了镇上唯一的游戏。但一度被认为是州长吉姆·贾斯蒂斯和众议员亚历克斯·穆尼之间的一场激烈斗争已经失败了。前总统唐纳德·特朗普认可正义10月，反建制俱乐部成立还没有通过与1000万美元它原本计划花在穆尼身上，他与极右翼阻挠派共和党的。结果，正义党在2004年以60%对26%领先于穆尼538的初选平均票数的比赛。
但是在他们成为参议员候选人之后，Justice和Mooney为他们的旧席位腾出了空间。三个古老的西弗吉尼亚政治家族正在争夺管理者的宝座。共和党初选以前州德尔为特色。参议员谢莉·摩尔·卡皮托的儿子摩尔·卡皮托;汽车经销商克里斯·米勒，众议员卡罗尔·米勒的儿子;国务卿麦克·沃纳，他的父亲和哥哥都是州议员。然而，领先者是该州相对较新的人:司法部长帕特里克·莫里西(他的第一次竞选是为新泽西的2000年第7国会选区)。
特朗普在这场竞选中没有表态支持，但(那又如何?)候选人一直在互相绊倒，以证明他们是最支持特朗普的——而且，在最近的一个州被禁止的性别确认护理，的大多数反变性者。例如，一个支持莫里西的政治行动委员会抨击米勒“支持变性的事件(它的语言是变装秀和为变性学生提供的免费衣橱)，米勒去年一直在马歇尔大学董事会任职。与此同时，米勒的支持者对莫里西进行了回击，称他是一家“帮助男孩变成女孩的制药公司”的说客一则广告这也无疑嘲笑了莫里西的身高和体重。
多亏了他自筹资金的能力米勒花的钱是莫里西的两倍，620万至310万美元。然而，民调显示，这并没有提高他的支持率。相反，卡皮托看起来对莫里西构成了最大的威胁:自4月1日以来，他的支持率从16%上升到了26%538的平均投票率在竞选中，莫里西的支持率为33%(米勒为20%，华纳为12%)。Capito最近获得了支持正义本身而且，如果他赢了，可能会以现任的拍拍肩膀、达成交易的方式执政;这成长俱乐部表示“对象”: analysand美国繁荣协会-支持莫里西，虽然，更多的是强硬派。
与此同时，五名共和党人正在竞争西弗吉尼亚州的穆尼职位第二区，但其中一个拥有几乎所有的机构支持。州财政部长赖利·摩尔(Riley Moore)已经得到了共和党建制派(前议长凯文·麦卡锡，的西弗吉尼亚商会)和茶党分子(穆尼,美国繁荣协会)一样。是的，他也是那些穆雷斯——谢莉·摩尔·卡皮托是他的姨妈。他是竞选中领先的筹款人883 000美元的捐款是赢得初选的最大热门，尽管退休的准将空军将军克里斯·沃克也筹集了73.2万美元。
我们想知道西弗吉尼亚州的共和党初选第一区实际上会更有趣。现任卡罗尔·米勒正在这里竞选，并没有做任何扰乱共和党基础的事情，但她正面临前州德尔的强大挑战。德里克·埃文斯。然而，埃文斯不是普通的前州议员。从2020年12月1日到2021年1月9日，他在职40天他辞职了在作为试图阻止2020年大选认证的亲特朗普暴徒的一部分进入美国国会大厦三天后。男性认罪一项严重的扰乱社会秩序的指控，在监狱里呆了三个月，但是他现在唱反调为他的共和党初选辩护，为1月6日的暴动辩护，并谴责对他的起诉。
埃文斯可能很有机会。得到了背书极右翼众议员鲍勃·古德和特朗普的盟友，如枕头推销员迈克·林德尔和前国家安全顾问迈克尔·弗林，他筹集的资金几乎和米勒一样多:982 000美元至783 000美元。这场竞选没有公开投票，但米勒似乎在小心翼翼。她最近开始播出负面广告反对埃文斯，攻击他过于自由。
马里兰州
观看的比赛:参议院;第二、第三和第六国会选区
投票结束:东部时间晚上8点
与西弗吉尼亚州不同，马里兰州的关键对决大多是民主党初选。最引人注目的比赛是参议院该职位在民主党参议员本·卡丁(Ben Cardin)退休后空缺。在坚定的蓝色州，奖金的诱惑已经在乔治王子的县行政长官安吉拉·艾尔索普斯和众议员大卫·特龙之间产生了昂贵和日益消极的民主党初选。但共和党候选人拉里·霍根，这位受欢迎的前州长，在共和党提名中只有微弱的反对意见，已经取得了竞争性大选的前景Trone-Alsobrooks冲突的一大焦点。
两位民主党人的背景和财政状况是一项对比研究。Trone是白人，代表马里兰州西部，包括华盛顿特区的部分郊区。在进入政界之前，他作为Total Wine的联合创始人赚了数百万美元&更多，哪个使他能够花钱从他口袋里掏出将近6200万美元在他5月6日的参议院竞选中。Alsobrooks是黑人前检察官他现在领导着这个国家人口最多的黑人占多数的县，这个县位于国家首都的东部。她的竞选已经筹集了780万美元截至4月24日，没有自筹资金，这对于大多数参议院竞选来说是一个不错的数额，但与特龙的总数相比就相形见绌了。
这一巨大的资金缺口给了Trone很大的优势为了吸引选民。上周，AdImpact报道称，Trone在广告上花费了4570万美元，而Alsobrooks为390万美元。而特龙争论道那他是个更好的赌注赢霍根比布鲁克斯，她已经打起来了她的坚强后盾来自马里兰州大多数高调的民主党人包括该州的另一位参议员克里斯·范·霍伦她对堕胎权利的支持.
然而，在这场竞赛中，种族一直是一个无法回避的话题。Trone强调了他的支持来自乔治王子县Alsobrooks基地的黑人官员，包括一则广告，一名当地官员说参议院“不是训练轮子的地方”那条线招致一群黑人妇女的指责因为“贬低和蔑视”并带有“厌女症和种族主义”的色彩Trone在三月份也引起了愤怒他使用了种族诽谤在一次听证会上，他后来说他是想说“bugaboo”但是Trone的广告也有具体的吸引力给黑人和拉丁裔选民他呢得到了一些著名黑人领袖的支持，包括州司法部长安东尼·布朗。Alsobrooks是马里兰州的第一位黑人参议员，突出显示了她的背景与特隆的不同之处在于大部分是白人和男性化妆参议院的。
更广泛地说，该州的民主党选民将几乎平分秋色在白人和黑人选民之间，过去这样的选举已经产生了明显的种族分歧。这标志着马里兰州连续第三次在民主党初选中有一名主要的黑人和白人候选人参加参议员竞选。在2006年和2016年，白人竞争者(分别是卡丁和范·霍伦)赢得了竞争，赢得了该州除三个黑人占主导地位的地区(乔治王子县、巴尔的摩市和查尔斯县)以外的所有地区。但是当Trone在四月初的初选中一直领先艾默生学院/国会山/DC新闻五月初的一项调查显示发现布鲁克斯也有轻微的优势如果算上瘦子的话，是47%对44%，这表明这场比赛不分上下。Alsobrooks相对于Trone的知名度似乎有所下降，这可能得益于以下发展《华盛顿邮报》的支持.
特龙的参议院投标开启了第六区这是乔·拜登总统在2020年将会领先10个百分点的席位，根据科索沃每日选举。这使得它成为马里兰州唯一一个竞争激烈的众议院选区吸引了大量的候选人— 16名民主党候选人(一对夫妇已经退出了)和7名共和党人。
对于民主党人，前商务部官员阿普里尔·麦克莱恩·德莱尼和州德尔。乔·沃格尔看起来像领先者。麦克莱恩·德莱尼的名字可能听起来很熟悉:她的丈夫，前众议员约翰·德莱尼，代表了这个地区的旧版本三个任期。利用她在拜登家族的人脉努力保证孩子们的网络安全，麦克莱恩·德莱尼自筹资金已经超过一半了在她筹集的190万美元中，她做到了一些高调的代言，包括来自《华盛顿邮报》。同时，沃格尔是一名27岁的拉丁裔议员他也是同性恋和犹太人。男性已经筹集了68.7万美元并享有来自强大的州教师工会和性少数群体+胜利基金。他还收到了近40万美元的外部支出帮助支持性少数群体的人平等PAC，根据OpenSecrets。竞争调查显示竞争激烈:四月下旬公共政策民意调查为支持沃格尔的平等政治行动委员会进行的调查发现，领先的竞争者在24%左右，但在5月初加林-哈特-杨调查麦克莱恩·德莱尼的竞选团队以37%比24%领先。
在共和党方面，两个最著名的竞争者前州代表:尼尔·帕罗特，谁在2020年和2022年输给了特龙和丹·考克斯，谁在共和党提名中失败了马里兰州2022年州长竞选。帕罗特提高了二十七万一千美元而考克斯仅仅带来了$123,000.但是考克斯可能会受到他不懈的支持为了特朗普的毫无根据的主张拜登2020年的胜利是非法的——大约三分之二的共和党人持这一观点仍然订阅全国。其他四名候选人也有机会。前海军战斗机飞行员汤姆·罗亚尔斯在筹款方面领先52.1万美元空军老兵玛丽埃拉·罗卡已经赚了27.4万美元退休州警克里斯·希瑟筹集了15.5万美元和获得了一些外部支出支持。最后，前国家德尔。布伦达·蒂亚姆是当地共和党人的另一张熟悉的面孔，尽管她只筹集了大约5万美元。
运行在华盛顿特区和巴尔的摩之间，纯蓝第三区民主党众议员约翰·萨班斯退休后空缺。多达22名民主党候选人参加初选投票，包括五名州议员。但这场竞选的资金集中在前国会山警官哈里·邓恩和州参议员萨拉·埃尔夫雷斯身上，使他们成为两个领先的竞争者，尽管州参议员克拉伦斯·林可能有机会获胜。
【姓氏】邓恩在他作证后变得突出2021年7月在国会前关于保卫国会大厦在2021年1月6日反对叛乱分子，稍后接收拜登为他的服务颁发的总统公民奖章。值得注意的是活动启动视频照片中，他一边对着镜头讲话，一边走过1月6日事件的重现现场。他的声明引发了一场资金季风:邓恩在2024年第一季度在没有自筹资金的情况下筹集了更多资金(380万美元)超过任何其他非现任众议院候选人，包括来自在线捐赠者的数百万美元。总的来说，他筹集了460万美元，这使他能够在广告中强调他的背景,众议员南希·佩洛西的支持和他保护民主的目标反击华盛顿的腐败和贪婪。然而，邓恩与第三选区的关系并不密切，因为他住在蒙哥马利县离首都更近，这使得他的广告支出对向选民介绍自己更加重要。
相比之下，埃尔夫雷思可能一开始更为人所知，因为她在安纳波利斯的州参议员席位中约有60%位于第三选区。根据科索沃每日选举.她筹集了大约150万美元但埃尔夫瑞斯也获得了420万美元外部支出支持来自联合民主项目，跨党派的美国以色列公共事务委员会超级PAC。尽管AIPAC的政策重点是亲以色列，但联合民主党的广告强调了埃尔夫里斯作为立法者的有效性和努力保护堕胎权利。对他来说，我筹集了73.6万美元但他以8%的支持率位居第三邓恩竞选团队4月下旬的一项调查由Upswing Research进行的调查显示，邓恩以22%对18%的微弱优势领先埃尔夫里斯。
最后，民主党众议员Dutch Ruppersberger的退休使坚定的蓝色第二区开放，使席位的民主党初选成为主要事件。在那场竞选中，巴尔的摩县行政官员约翰“约翰尼·奥“奥尔谢夫斯基看起来更倾向于对抗州德尔。哈里·班达里(Harry Bhandari)在一定程度上得益于可观的筹款优势:奥尔谢夫斯基已经赚了83.7万美元到班达里的181000美元。以及整个巴尔的摩郡约占四分之三这使得Olszewski成为第二选区选民熟悉的面孔。
内布拉斯加州
观看的比赛:第二国会选区
投票结束:东部时间晚上9点
内布拉斯加州周二有一个繁忙的选举名单，但只有一个初选看起来潜在有趣:在奥马哈的共和党竞争第二区。共和党众议员唐·培根(Don Bacon)正在寻求连任，但拜登在2020年将获得6个席位，培根在2022年与民主党参议员托尼·巴尔加斯(Tony Vargas)的竞选中仅获得约3个席位。培根的声誉作为一个相对温和帮助他保住了这个紫色的席位，但这也使他可能容易受到更保守的初选挑战者的攻击。这使得丹·弗雷的竞选一个奥马哈商人跑到培根的右边，一个周二要监视的人。虽然不太可能考虑到现任的筹款优势和外部支出支持，弗雷颠覆培根，这可能会使第二区更容易赢得11月巴尔加斯，谁已经筹集了240万美元期待与培根的复赛。
10 primaries to watch in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia
Will theBarefoot Moscatobe drunk in celebration, or to drown some sorrows? Tuesday brings what is arguably the most interesting non-presidential primary of 2024: the high-rolling, racially charged, on-a-knife's-edge Democratic primary for Maryland Senate. But there are plenty of appetizers to go with that main course: Will the MAGA movement take down a famously moderate Republican congressman, potentially handing a swing seat to Democrats? Will a man who served jail time for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, return there as a U.S. representative?
These are just three of the 10 elections we're watching in the Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia primaries on Tuesday. Here's what you need to know about all of them.
West Virginia
Races to watch:Senate; 1st and 2nd congressional districts; governor
Polls close:7:30 p.m. Eastern
When Democratic Sen. Joe Manchinannounced he was retiringin November, West Virginia'sU.S. Senateseat became an almost automatic Republican pickup — and the GOP primary became the only game in town. But what was once expected to be a firecracker of a fight between Gov. Jim Justice and Rep. Alex Mooney has fizzled. Former President Donald Trumpendorsed Justicein October, and the anti-establishment Club for Growthhas not come throughwith the$10 millionit originally planned to spend for Mooney, who is aligned with thefar-right obstructionist wingof the GOP. As a result, Justice leads Mooney 60 percent to 26 percent in538's average of primary pollsof the race.
But in the wake of their Senate candidacies, Justice and Mooney have made space for packed primaries for their old seats. Three old West Virginia political families are jockeying to be heir to thegovernor's throne. The Republican primary features former state Del. Moore Capito, the son of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito; car dealer Chris Miller, the son of Rep. Carol Miller; and Secretary of State Mac Warner, whose father and brother were both state legislators. However, the front-runner is a relative newcomer to the state: Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (whose first campaign was forNew Jersey's7th Congressional District in 2000).
Trump has not endorsed in this race, but (so?) the candidates have been tripping over each other to prove they are the most pro-Trump — and, in a state that recentlybanned gender-affirming care, themost anti-transgender. For example, a pro-Morrisey PAC has hammered Miller for "pro-transgender events" (its language for drag shows and a free clothing closet for transgender students) at Marshall University, where Miller served on the board of governors until last year. Meanwhile, supporters of Miller have hit back at Morrisey for being a lobbyist for a "drug company that helps turn boys into girls" inan adthat also unsubtly pokes fun at Morrisey's height and weight.
Thanks to hisability to self-fund, Miller has spent twice as much money as Morrisey,$6.2 million to $3.1 million. However, polls indicate it hasn't done that much to boost his support. Instead, it is Capito who looks like he poses the biggest threat to Morrisey: Since April 1, he has risen from 16 percent to 26 percent in538's polling averageof the race, within striking distance of Morrisey at 33 percent (Miller is at 20 percent, and Warner is at 12 percent). Capito recently received theendorsement of Justice himselfand, if he wins, would likely govern in the incumbent's back-slapping, deal-making style; theClub for Growth- andAmericans for Prosperity-endorsed Morrisey, though, is more of a hardliner.
Meanwhile, five Republicans are vying to succeed Mooney in West Virginia's2nd District, but one has almost all of the institutional support. State Treasurer Riley Moore has been endorsed by both establishment Republicans (former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, theWest Virginia Chamber of Commerce) and tea partiers (Mooney,Americans for Prosperity) alike. And yes, he is also one ofthoseMoores — Shelley Moore Capito is his aunt. He's the leading fundraiser in the race with$883,000 in contributionsand is the strong favorite to win the primary, although retired Air Force Brigadier General Chris Walker has raised a competitive $732,000 as well.
We wonder if the Republican primary for West Virginia's1st Districtwill actually prove more interesting, though. Incumbent Carol Miller is running here and hasn't done anything to upset the GOP base, but she is facing a robust challenge from former state Del. Derrick Evans. Evans is no ordinary former state legislator, though. He served all of 40 days in office, from Dec. 1, 2020, to Jan. 9, 2021, whenhe resignedthree days after entering the U.S. Capitol as part of the pro-Trump mob attempting to stop certification of the 2020 election. Hepleaded guiltyto a felony civil disorder charge and served three months in jail, but he is nowsinging a different tunefor his GOP primary campaign, defending the Jan. 6 insurrection and condemning his prosecution.
And Evans may have a serious shot. Bolstered by theendorsementsof far-right Rep. Bob Good and Trump allies like pillow salesman Mike Lindell and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, he has raised almost as much money as Miller:$982,000 to $783,000. There's no public polling in this race, but Miller appears to be looking over her shoulder. She recently started airingnegative adsagainst Evans, attacking him for being, of all things, too liberal.
Maryland
Races to watch:Senate; 2nd, 3rd and 6th congressional districts
Polls close:8 p.m. Eastern
Unlike West Virginia, the key matchups in Maryland are mostly Democratic primaries. The highest-profile race is forSenate, which sits open after the retirement of Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. The lure of that prize in the solidly blue state has produced an expensive and increasingly negative Democratic primary between Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobooks and Rep. David Trone. But the candidacy of Republican Larry Hogan, the popular former governor who has only minor opposition for the GOP nomination, has madethe prospect of a competitive general electiona big focus of the Trone-Alsobrooks clash.
The two Democrats' backgrounds and financial positions are a study in contrasts. Trone, who is white, represents western Maryland, including part of the Washington, D.C., suburbs. Before entering politics, he made millions as co-founder of Total Wine& More, whichhas enabled himto spendnearly $62 million out of his pocketin his Senate bid, as of May 6. Alsobrooks, who is Black, isa former prosecutorwho now leads the most populous majority-Black county in the country, which sits to the east of the nation's capital. Her campaignhad raised $7.8 millionas of April 24 with no self-funding, which would be a decent amount for most Senate races but pales in comparison to Trone's total.
This huge financial gap has given Trone a major leg upin appealing to voters. Last week, AdImpact reported that Trone had spent $45.7 million on ads to Alsobrooks's $3.9 million. While Tronehas arguedthathe's a better betto win against Hogan than Alsobrooks, shehas played upher strong backingfrom most of Maryland's high-profile Democrats— including the state's other senator, Chris Van Hollen — andher support for abortion rights.
However, race has been an unavoidable subject in this contest. Tronehas emphasized his supportfrom Black officeholders who hail from Alsobrooks's base in Prince George's County,including an ad in which one local officialsaid the Senate is "not a place for training wheels." That linedrew a rebuke from a group of Black womenfor being "disparaging and dismissive" and tinged with "misogyny and racism." Trone also raised ire in March whenhe used a racial slurduring a hearing, saying later that he meant to say "bugaboo." But Trone's ads have also made specific appealsto Black and Latino votersand hehas endorsements from some notable Black leaders, includingstate Attorney General Anthony Brown. Alsobrooks, who'd be Maryland's first Black senator,has highlightedhow her background — unlike Trone's — differs from themostly whiteandmale makeupof the Senate.
More broadly, the state's Democratic electorate will bealmost evenly dividedbetween white and Black voters, and past elections like this have produced clear racial fissures. This marks Maryland's third straight open-seat Senate race with a Democratic primary featuring a major Black and white candidate. In both 2006 and 2016, the white contenders (Cardin and Van Hollen, respectively) won competitive races by carrying every part of the state except its three predominantly-Black localities (Prince George's County, Baltimore City and Charles County). But while Troneled in primary polls up through early April, an early May survey from Emerson College/The Hill/DC News Nowfound Alsobrooks with a slight edge— 47 percent to 44 percent when including leaners — a sign that the race is neck-and-neck. Alsobrooks's name recognition deficit versus Trone appears to have shrunk, likely aided by developments such asThe Washington Post's endorsement.
Trone's Senate bid has opened up the6th District, a seat President Joe Biden would've carried by about 10 percentage points in 2020,according to Daily Kos Elections. This makes it Maryland's only remotely competitive House district, a reality thathas attracted a huge number of candidates— 16 Democrats are on the ballot (a couple have technically dropped out) and seven Republicans.
For Democrats, former Commerce Department official April McClain Delaney and state Del. Joe Vogellook like the front-runners. McClain Delaney's name may sound familiar: Her husband, former Rep. John Delaney,represented the old version of this districtfor three terms.Running on her Biden connectionsand work to keep kids safe online, McClain Delaneyhas self-funded a bit more than halfof the $1.9 million she's raised, and she hassome high-profile endorsements, including fromThe Washington Post. Meanwhile,Vogel is a 27-year-old Latino legislatorwho is also gay and Jewish. Hehas raised $687,000and enjoys endorsements fromthe powerful state teachers unionandthe LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. He's also received nearly $400,000 in outside spending help fromthe pro-LGBTQEquality PAC,according to OpenSecrets. Competing surveys show a close race: A late AprilPublic Policy Polling surveyconducted for the pro-Vogel Equality PAC found the leading contenders tied at 24 percent, but an early MayGarin-Hart-Yang surveyfor McClain Delaney's campaign gave her a 37-percent-to- 24-percent lead.
On the Republican side,the two most well-known contendersare former state delegates: Neil Parrott,who lost to Trone in 2020 and 2022, and Dan Cox,who lost as the GOP nomineein Maryland's 2022 gubernatorial contest. Parrotthas raised$271,000, while Coxhas only brought in$123,000. But Cox may be buoyed byhis indefatigable supportfor Trump'sunfounded claimsthat Biden's 2020 victory was illegitimate — a view that around two-thirds of Republicansstill subscribe to nationally. Four other candidates may also have a shot here. Former Naval fighter pilot Tom Royals leads the field in fundraisingwith $521,000, Air Force veteran Mariela Rocahas brought in $274,000and retired state trooper Chris Hyserhas raised $155,000andhas received some outside spending support. Lastly, former state Del. Brenda Thiamis another familiar face for local Republicans, although she's only raised about $50,000.
Running between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, the solidly blue3rd Districtsits open following the retirement of Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes. A whopping 22 Democratic candidatesfiled for the primary ballot, including five state legislators. But the money in this race has centered on former Capitol Hill police officer Harry Dunn and state Sen. Sarah Elfreth, making them the two leading contenders, although state Sen. Clarence Lam may have an outside shot.
Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images
Dunnbecame prominent after he testifiedbefore Congress in July 2021about defending the Capitolagainst insurrectionists on Jan. 6, 2021,later receivinga Presidential Citizens Medal from Biden for his service. Notably, hiscampaign launch videofeatured him speaking to camera while walking through a recreation of the events of Jan. 6. His announcement precipitated a money monsoon: Dunn raised more without self-funding in the first quarter of 2024 ($3.8 million) than any other non-incumbent House candidate, includingmillions from online donors. Overall,he's raised $4.6 million, which has allowed him to run ads emphasizinghis background,an endorsement from Rep. Nancy Pelosiandhis goal to protect democracyby pushing back against corruption and greed in Washington. Dunn has loose ties to the 3rd District area, however, ashe lives in Montgomery Countycloser to the nation's capital, which makes his ad spending even more critical to introduce himself to voters.
By comparison, Elfreth likely started out better-known, as around 60 percent of her Annapolis-based state Senate seat lies in the 3rd District,according to Daily Kos Elections.She's raised about $1.5 million, but Elfreth has also received $4.2 millionin outside spending supportfrom United Democracy Project, the bipartisan American Israel Public Affairs Committee'ssuper PAC. Despite AIPAC's pro-Israel policy focus, UDP's adshave emphasizedElfreth's effectiveness as a legislator andwork to protect abortion rights. For his part, Lamhas raised $736,000, but he sat in third with 8 percent ina late April survey for Dunn's campaignconducted by Upswing Research, while Dunn narrowly led Elfreth 22 percent to 18 percent.
Lastly, the retirement of Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger has left the solidly blue2nd Districtopen, making the seat's Democratic primary the main event. In that race, Baltimore County Executive John "Johnny O" Olszewski looks favored against state Del. Harry Bhandari, thanks in part to a sizable fundraising edge: Olszewskihas brought in $837,000toBhandari's $181,000. And Baltimore County as a wholemakes up about three-fourthsof the seat's population, making Olszewski a familiar face to 2nd District voters.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images Nebraska
Races to watch:2nd Congressional District
Polls close:9 p.m. Eastern
Nebraska has a busy electoral slate on Tuesday, but only one primary looks potentially intriguing: the GOP contest in the Omaha-based2nd District. Republican Rep. Don Bacon is seeking reelection, but Biden would have carried the seat by 6 points in 2020 and Bacon only won reelection by about 3 points in 2022 against Democratic state Sen. Tony Vargas.Bacon's reputationas arelative moderatehas helped him hold onto this purple seat, but it's also made him potentially vulnerable to a more conservative primary challenger. That has madethe campaign of Dan Frei, an Omaha businessman running to Bacon's right, one to monitor on Tuesday. Though it's unlikely given the incumbent'sfundraising advantageandoutside spending support, were Frei to upset Bacon, that would likely make the 2nd District more winnable in November for Vargas, whohas raised $2.4 millionfor an anticipated rematch against Bacon.
