Democrats in Rust Belt: Stay Close to Trump, but Not Too Close

A day after the first major primary contests of 2018, the political armies on the left and the right repositioned themselves for an intense general election across Rust Belt states that President Trump carried two years ago — and where his personality and record will define the battles leading to […] Read more »

The Eroding GOP Resistance to Trump’s Immigration Agenda

The results of Tuesday’s primary elections simultaneously bolstered the Republican Party mainstream and demonstrated how much ground it has yielded to Donald Trump, particularly on the volatile issue of immigration. In several key races, GOP primary voters rejected candidates who presented themselves as the most ardent acolytes of Trump, in […] Read more »

6 Takeaways From Tuesday’s Primary Elections

Primary elections in four Republican-leaning states rattled Congress on Tuesday night, as voters ejected a sitting member of the House and set up intense campaigns for the Senate in several battlegrounds. Republicans averted a worst-case scenario — the nomination of an ex-convict coal baron in West Virginia — but faced […] Read more »

Ratings Changes: Senate, Governor, House: Both parties generally avoided bad choices in Tuesday’s primaries

Republican primary voters avoided a self-inflicted wound in West Virginia when disgraced coal baron Don Blankenship (R) finished third in the GOP Senate primary. Much else went as expected Tuesday night. Five ratings changes this week affect races for Senate, governor, and House, but most importantly broaden the Senate playing […] Read more »

Primary elections: Blankenship loses in W.Va.; Pittenger concedes in North Carolina

Republican voters rallied behind candidates aligned with President Trump and party leaders in a trio of pivotal Senate primaries Tuesday, reinvigorating the GOP’s bid to hold and possibly expand on its majority in midterm elections. … Trump’s unpopularity in the suburbs and exurbs where Republicans have built their House majority […] Read more »