A Amazingly close race in Virginia was among the highlights of Tuesday night’s racing, which also included competitions in Georgia and Oklahoma.
Observers had watched closely the Republican primary for Representative Bob Good’s seat in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. The competition boiled over in one of the most turbulent primaries of the election cycle so far, as Donald Trump and Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) sought to make Good the first incumbent to lose to an outside challenger. But as of Tuesday night, the race was still too close to predict a win, with hundreds of votes separating Good and his rival.
Meanwhile, Democrats were battling their own challenging primary in Virginia, while Republican Rep. Tom Cole in Oklahoma fended off several challengers for the Republican nomination in the primaries.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday night’s primaries:
Trump’s revenge campaign ends in a nerve-wracking battle
Good, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, was considered a dead man by many before his primary against U.S. Senator John McGuire in the U.S. state of Virginia on Tuesday night, especially after Good clashed with Trump.
But by midnight, the candidates were neck and neck, and the race was too close to call a winner. If Good were to win, it would be a bitter disappointment and an embarrassing defeat for Trump and McCarthy.
The incumbent angered Trump when he endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Republican presidential nomination last year. Although Good later endorsed Trump when DeSantis dropped out of the race, the former president argued the endorsement came too behind schedule.
As a result, Trump threw his support behind McGuire, who also won the backing of McCarthy’s Majority Committee PAC after Good voted to remove the former speaker last year.
It is unclear who will ultimately prevail, with some behind schedule mail-in ballots and a possible recount later this week adding to the uncertainty. The outcome of the election may not be known for several days.
What is clear, however, is that Good’s primary has developed into one of the most stimulating and memorable campaigns of the cycle so far.
A secret duel in the Senate is imminent
Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao easily won the Republican Senate primary in Virginia, easily defeating four other Republicans.
Cao will face incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in November, a race considered a tough one for Republicans, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rating the seat as “solidly Democratic.”
Still, Republicans are encouraged by President Biden’s signs of weakness in the Commonwealth, which also increases the possibility of an electoral upset.
Defeating Kaine will not be an straightforward task, however. In addition to being in the Senate since 2013, Kaine has served as governor of Virginia, lieutenant governor and mayor of Richmond. He was also chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential election.
But Republicans are positive about Cao, a familiar face in Virginia politics. He challenged Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District in 2022 but lost after the district tilted even more Democratic following redistricting.
Republicans point to recent polls from Virginia showing a closer-than-expected race between Biden and Trump. A Fox News poll released earlier this month showed the two tied at 48 percent. Moreover, Trump is narrowly ahead of Biden by 0.2 percent, according to The Hill’s Decision Desk HQ poll average.
Democrats, who have dominated Virginia since former President Obama won the 2008 presidential election, should be alarmed by these poll results. Republicans, on the other hand, say the polls show that Trump, and by extension Cao, have a chance in the state.
An ugly Democratic primary comes to an end
Virginia Democratic Senator Suhas Subramanyam defeated 11 other candidates in the Democratic primary to replace Wexton in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.
Wexton endorsed Subramanyam, giving him a boost in the crowded primary. The intra-party contest featured a number of prominent Virginia Democrats, including former House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D), State Senator Jennifer Boysko (D) and former Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni.
But on Tuesday, the race between Subramanyam and Del. Dan Helmer (D) came down to a decision, with Subramanyam defeating Helmer by 30.3 percent to 26.7 percent.
The election campaign became particularly ugly in its final days after allegations of sexual harassment arose against Helmer. He has denied the allegations.
Subramanyam will face Republican Mike Clancey in November. Democrats have an advantage in the district, which includes various suburbs and exurbs of Washington, D.C. Wexton won re-election in the district in 2022 by over six points, and Biden won the district in 2020 by 19 points.
Another candidate from January 6 goes under
A candidate convicted of a crime related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol failed to win a runoff election in Georgia, seen as the latest test of voters’ willingness to support a candidate linked to the insurrection.
Chuck Hand, who pleaded guilty to illegally demonstrating at the Capitol on Jan. 6, came in second place in the first primary last month along with fellow Republican Wayne Johnson, a former Trump administration official.
But Johnson won the race for the top two places by a comfortable double-digit margin on Tuesday and will face 16-term Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop in November.
Hand is one of a petite handful of candidates associated with January 6 who have attempted to win a seat in Congress in this cycle, more than three years after the Capitol riots, but have lost in the primaries so far in this cycle.
Still, political experts say the support for their bids – such as the 35 percent Hand garnered on Tuesday – is a sign that some in the Republican Party are shrugging off the Jan. 6 convictions, especially as Trump has praised “J6 warriors” on the campaign trail and dismissed his own legal battles as politically motivated.
Both parties struggle with divisions
Tuesday’s primaries exposed the divisions that exist within both the Republican and Democratic parties.
In Virginia’s 5th District, conservatives and Republicans were split in their support for Good and McGuire. While Trump and McCarthy were united in their desire for revenge against Good, the incumbent congressman received support from other lawmakers, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), and even Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Democrats in Virginia also had their contentious 10th District primary, pitting Democratic figures in the state against each other. Former Governor Ralph Northam (D) endorsed Filler-Corn in the race, while Wexton endorsed Subramanyam.
But Virginia wasn’t the only state to see intra-party divisions. In Oklahoma, Republican Rep. Tom Cole easily defeated businessman Paul Bondar by double digits. Bondar stood to Cole’s right and advocated for Biden’s impeachment, stricter immigration policies and cutting financial aid to Ukraine. Bondar raised more money than Cole during the primaries thanks to a $5 million loan he gave his campaign. Cole has held the seat for more than 20 years.
