2 Trump Picks Win Key Races

Women win big in redistricted Pennsylvania
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 16, 2018 6:03 AM CDT
2 Trump Picks Win Key Races
Sen. Deb Fischer speaks at the Holdrege City Auditorium in Holdrege, Neb.   (Matt Dixon/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

Recent elections haven't always been kind to President Trump's preferred candidates, but two of them scored big wins on Tuesday night. Rep. Lou Barletta cruised to victory in Pennsylvania and will seek to unseat Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in November, the AP reports. "The media said that Donald Trump could not win in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania put Donald Trump in the White House,” Barletta told supporters. "They say I can’t beat Bob Casey, and I’m going to beat Bob Casey." In Nebraska, Republican Sen. Deb Fischer defeated four GOP primary challengers and is expected to defeat Democratic candidate Jane Raybould to win re-election. In other races:

  • A good night for Democratic women. Pennsylvania's congressional delegation is currently all-male, but that is likely to change this fall, Politico reports. Democratic women had a strong showing in the state's Tuesday primaries, with Susan Wild defeating five male opponents in the race for the seat formerly held by Rep. Charlie Dent. At least three other Democratic women won the primaries for seats the party is heavily favored to win in November.
  • A tight race in Idaho. Rep. Raul Labrador of the conservative House Freedom Caucus lost the Republican primary for governor to Lt. Gov. Brad Little, the Washington Post reports. In November, Little will face Democratic candidate Paulette Jordan, who will become the country's first Native American governor if she wins.
  • Best of 10 in Oregon. Moderate Republican Knute Buehler defeated nine other candidates, including two conservative frontrunners, to become the party's nominee for governor, the Oregonian reports. He will face Democratic Gov. Kate Brown this fall.
  • Historic win in Pennsylvania. John Fetterman, the mayor of Braddock, defeated incumbent Mike Stack and three other candidates to win the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. Stack is the first sitting lieutenant governor to lose a primary in the state.
  • No shocks for House incumbents. Politico notes that unlike last week, when North Carolina Rep. Mike Pittingen lost his GOP primary race, all the House incumbents involved secured renomination Tuesday night.
(More Election 2018 stories.)

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