Kansas Upheld Abortion Rights And Other Key Updates From The Aug. 2 Elections

Twenty-two Trump endorsees are on today’s ballots across all five states, and only 11 are incumbents. Some highlights include:

• Eric Who? Last night, Trump posted an endorsement cheering on “Eric” in the Missouri primaries — and yes, Trump seems to have purposefully avoided in making it clear who he meant, endorsing both former Missouri governor Eric Greitens and current Missouri Attorney General ​​Eric Schmitt, per Politico. Trump even reportedly called both men to let them know they had his endorsement. This is an odd situation to say the least, but it does mean that we know there will be at least one more “L” in Trump’s column tonight.
• There’s also been a bit of endorsement drama in Arizona. In the race for Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat, Trump has backed venture capitalist Blake Masters over Mark Brnovich, the current state attorney general who clashed with the former president over voting integrity in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election. Brnovich initially defended the veracity and security of Arizona elections, but this did not bode well with Trump, and he later backtracked his stance and began sowing doubt in the results. It was clearly not enough, though, to score Trump’s endorsement. Meanwhile, amidst the crowded candidate field of election deniers hoping to succeed Brnovich as attorney general, Trump has endorsed former Maricopa County Prosecutor Abraham Hamadeh, although Hamadeh may have inflated his fundraising numbers to win over Trump.

• Although not as last minute as his endorsement in Missouri’s Senate race, Trump also announced on Friday that he’s backing Tudor Dixon, a gubernatorial candidate in Michigan. She’s one of five contenders hoping to battle it out with incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this November. She arguably didn’t need Trump’s endorsement, as she was already leading in the polls prior to Trump’s endorsement, but his backing does seem to have helped widen her lead: Emerson was in the field when he endorsed her and found that her lead over businessman Kevin Rinke grew from 14 points to 35 points.
• Fun fact: “Eric” isn’t the only common name across today’s races: Of Trump’s six congressional endorsees in Michigan today, three are coincidentally named John — businessman John James running in Michigan’s 10th District, former Trump administration official John Gibbs running in Michigan’s 3rd District and incumbent John Moolenaar of Michigan’s 4th District now running in the 2nd District. Of these three Johns, Trump’s riskiest bet might be Gibbs, who’s running against incumbent GOP Rep. Peter Meijer. Meijer angered Trump with his vote to impeach him after Jan. 6, but in this D+3 district, the election-denying Gibbs might be a bridge too far for voters in the general if he advances.

Here’s the full list of endorsees I’ll be keeping an eye on tonight: