Top Takeaways From Primaries in Nebraska, West Virginia

Tuesday's primaries are over in Nebraska and West Virginia, including what Politico calls a "weird, prolonged battle" in the former state in which a Democratic candidate for Senate jumped into the race with a pledge to drop out if she won—which she just did. More:

• Senate seat in Nebraska: NBC News reports that Cindy Burbank has indeed overwhelmingly won that odd race in the Democratic primary in the Cornhusker State, but not so she could go up against GOP incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts in November. Instead, it looks like Burbank will drop out, as promised, to consolidate support behind independent candidate Dan Osborn, who has more of a chance of beating Ricketts in the fall. Burbank texted the New York Times: "I don't wanna split the ballot. I have no expectations of being able to win in November."

• Chaotic backstory: Democrats haven't pulled in a Senate win in Nebraska since 2006. But Osborn made a decent showing when he ran for a seat in 2024, coming within 7 points of GOP Sen. Deb Fischer. The Nebraska Democratic Party decided not to field a candidate in the primary, to give Osborn the best chance to go up against Ricketts in November—but then anti-abortion pastor William Forbes jumped into the primary race as a Democrat, though he's accused of actually being a Republican "plant" designed to split the votes between himself and Osborn so that Ricketts could ultimately win (which both Ricketts and Forbes have denied). That's when Burbank jumped into the primary race, to fend off Forbes' alleged maneuver.
• House seat in Nebraska: The AP notes that, as of early Wednesday, it was still too close to call the race in Nebraska's "blue dot" 2nd District, though political activist Denise Powell appeared to have a slight lead (2 percentage points) over state Sen. John Cavanaugh.
• Nebraska governor: Current Gov. Jim Pillen is widely expected to take back his seat in November after fending off five challengers in the GOP primary on Tuesday, per the Hill. He'll face off against Democrat Lynne Walz, a former state senator who's a distant relative of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

• Nebraska secretary of state: It's expected that a Republican will keep that seat in the "ruby red state," the Hill notes. But, per Decision Desk HQ, it looks like it won't be incumbent Bob Evnen in that role anymore, but Trump ally Scott Petersen, who has taken Trump's tack on arguing against mail-in voting and insinuating that Nebraska's elections aren't as secure as they could be.
• West Virginia: The Times reports that GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito kept five primary challengers at bay on Tuesday, and that Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey's "effort to mete out Trump-like retribution against political opponents in Republican primary races met some success"—meaning many, though not all, of the candidates he endorsed in contested legislature primaries in the state claimed victory on Tuesday, or were in the lead as of Wednesday morning.