What Went Down During The June 14 Primary Elections
Well, it took longer than expected to get results in Nevada thanks to a state law that stipulates that no results can be released until everyone in line to vote has voted. But at long last we got results and we’re calling it a night, as we’ve got a pretty good sense at this point on where most of the major races are going to end up. Additionally, we can see the headline coming out of the Silver State on Tuesday. And that is, in four of Nevada’s statewide races, it looks likely that a candidate who backs Trump’s fraudulent claim that the 2020 election was stolen will advance.
First, in the U.S. Senate primary, former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt has advanced. Laxalt had Trump’s endorsement, was a co-chair of Trump’s 2020 campaign in Nevada and as attorney general in the state, announced a lawsuit two days after the 2020 election that tried to overturn the election. Next, in the Republican GOP primary for governor, it looks likely that Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo will advance as both the Nevada Independent and Decision Desk HQ have called the race for Lombardo. Lombardo had Trump’s endorsement as well, but notably, he was not the most pro-election fraud candidate in this race.
Meanwhile, in Nevada’s secretary of state race, the race’s biggest Big Lie believer, Jim Marchant, is also expected to advance. The AP has called this race for him, and as mentioned earlier on the live blog, Marchant wants to ban the use of electronic voting machines, mail voting and early voting and has also said that he would not have certified the 2020 election. It’s a closer race in the GOP primary for attorney general. There, Sigal Chattah, who has staked out some extreme positions like wanting to prosecute women who get abortions, despite abortion being protected in Nevada, is currently leading. But more establishment-aligned Tisha Black is not far behind.
Notably, in all of these races, the GOP nominee must first unseat a Democratic incumbent. On the one hand, that might not be that challenging given Nevada’s purplish hue and the fact that the political environment looks likely to favor Republicans. But at the same time, taking down incumbents is still hard, and it could be a tall order come November.
Overall, though, it was a good night for Trump’s endorsed candidates — only one, former state Rep. Katie Arrington lost. Arrington lost to Rep. Nancy Mace, who Trump had tried to take down in South Carolina, but ultimately proved unsuccessful. South Carolina wasn’t a total wash for Trump, though, as Rep. Tim Rice lost to Trump-endorsed challenger state Rep. Russell Fry. It seems as if Rice’s vote to impeach Trump was a bridge too far for Republicans in the state, although as we discussed on the live blog, there are some key differences between Mace’s and Rice’s district, which could account for the different outcomes, too.
The biggest takeaway, though, seems to be that Tuesday was a good night for Republicans across the board. There’s the fact that Trump’s endorsed candidates did well, as did candidates who think that the 2020 election was fraudulent. But there’s also the result in Texas’s 34th special election where Republican Mayra Flores defeated Democrat Dan Sanchez, flipping the seat from blue to red.
As we wrote on the live blog, there are plenty of reasons to think that this victory will be short-lived as the 34th is about to become a whole lot more Democratic-leaning come November, but in the short-term expect Republicans to add this to their list of victories coming out of this Tuesday night.
By contrast, only three candidates who have acknowledged the legitimacy of the 2020 election won Republican primaries tonight. And Rep. Nancy Mace was the only one who won a Republican primary that was explicitly fought along Trump/anti-Trump lines.
How Big Lie opponents are doing tonight
Senate, House, gubernatorial, attorney general and secretary of state candidates who have accepted the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and their results in Republican primaries in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina, as of 1:35 a.m. Eastern
| CANDIDATE | OFFICE | Big Lie Position | % REPORTING | VOTE SHARE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Hoeven* | ND Sen. | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 73% | 78.4% | ✓ Won |
| Marvin Lepp | ND SoS | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 64 | 32.2 | ✗ Lost |
| Kelly Armstrong* | ND-AL | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 70 | 100.0 | ✓ Won |
| William “Bill” Hockstedler | NV Sen. | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 37 | 1.5 | ✗ Lost |
| Kristopher Dahir | NV SoS | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 36 | 5.7 | Trailing |
| Cresent Hardy | NV-01 | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 56 | 12.7 | Trailing |
| Jane Adams | NV-01 | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 56 | 5.4 | Trailing |
| Danny Tarkanian | NV-02 | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 14 | 30.9 | Trailing |
| John Kovacs | NV-03 | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 53 | 10.9 | ✗ Lost |
| Lauren Martel | SC AG | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 87 | 34.3 | ✗ Lost |
| Nancy Mace* | SC-01 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 93 | 53.1 | ✓ Won |
| Tom Rice* | SC-07 | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 99 | 24.7 | ✗ Lost |
Eleven candidates who have flirted with or fully embraced the Big Lie have won or are currently leading their primaries today. That includes Republican nominees for important races such as Nevada governor and secretary of state.
How Big Lie supporters are doing tonight
Senate, House, gubernatorial, attorney general and secretary of state candidates who have either denied or questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and their results in Republican primaries in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina, as of 1:35 a.m. Eastern
| CANDIDATE | OFFICE | Big Lie Position | % REPORTING | VOTE SHARE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Caruso | ME-02 | ❓Raised doubts | 40% | 39.4% | ✗ Lost |
| Adam Laxalt | NV Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 55.5 | ✓ Won |
| Sam Brown | NV Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 33.4 | ✗ Lost |
| Sharelle Mendenhall | NV Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 3.2 | ✗ Lost |
| William “Bill” Conrad | NV Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 1.8 | ✗ Lost |
| Joe Lombardo | NV Gov. | ❓Raised doubts | 37 | 43.1 | Leading |
| Joey Gilbert | NV Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 22.2 | Trailing |
| Dean Heller | NV Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 11.8 | Trailing |
| Guy Nohra | NV Gov. | ❓Raised doubts | 37 | 4.1 | Trailing |
| Tom Heck | NV Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 1.9 | Trailing |
| Fred Simon | NV Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 1.3 | Trailing |
| Eddie “Mr. Fix It Now” Hamilton | NV Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 37 | 0.7 | Trailing |
| Jim Marchant | NV SoS | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 36 | 37.3 | Leading |
| Jesse Haw | NV SoS | ❓Raised doubts | 36 | 18.9 | Trailing |
| Richard Scotti | NV SoS | ❓Raised doubts | 36 | 17.0 | Trailing |
| Gerard Ramalho | NV SoS | ❓Raised doubts | 36 | 5.6 | Trailing |
| Socorro Keenan | NV SoS | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 36 | 2.1 | Trailing |
| Sigal Chattah | NV AG | ❓Raised doubts | 36 | 48.3 | Leading |
| Tisha Black | NV AG | ❓Raised doubts | 36 | 42.6 | Trailing |
| Mark Robertson | NV-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 56 | 30.2 | Leading |
| Carolina Andrea Serrano | NV-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 56 | 15.0 | Trailing |
| Cynthia Dianne Steel | NV-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 56 | 12.8 | Trailing |
| Morgun Sholty | NV-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 56 | 5.5 | Trailing |
| Joel Beck | NV-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 14 | 7.5 | Trailing |
| Catherine Marie Sampson | NV-02 | ❓Raised doubts | 14 | 4.2 | Trailing |
| April Becker | NV-03 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 53 | 67.5 | ✓ Won |
| Clark Bossert | NV-03 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 53 | 9.4 | ✗ Lost |
| Noah V. Malgeri | NV-03 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 53 | 7.8 | ✗ Lost |
| Sam Peters | NV-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 51 | 48.2 | Leading |
| Ann “Annie” Black | NV-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 51 | 39.8 | Trailing |
| Henry McMaster* | SC Gov. | ❓Raised doubts | 92 | 83.3 | ✓ Won |
| Keith Blandford | SC SoS | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 87 | 24.5 | ✗ Lost |
| Alan Wilson* | SC AG | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 87 | 65.7 | ✓ Won |
| Katie Arrington | SC-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 93 | 45.3 | ✗ Lost |
| Lynz Piper-Loomis | SC-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 93 | 1.6 | ✗ Lost |
| William Timmons* | SC-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 99 | 52.7 | ✓ Won |
| Mark Burns | SC-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 99 | 23.8 | ✗ Lost |
| Michael Mike LaPierre | SC-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 99 | 17.1 | ✗ Lost |
| A. Sonia Morris | SC-06 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 58 | 25.6 | ✗ Lost |
| Russell Fry | SC-07 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 99 | 51.0 | ✓ Won |
| Barbara Arthur | SC-07 | ❓Raised doubts | 99 | 12.2 | ✗ Lost |
| Ken Richardson | SC-07 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 99 | 7.0 | ✗ Lost |
| Garrett Barton | SC-07 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 99 | 2.5 | ✗ Lost |
| Mark McBride | SC-07 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 99 | 2.1 | ✗ Lost |