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Friday, December 1, 2023 | 
Politics U.S. & World

Primary results for key races — South Carolina, Nevada, North Dakota, Maine

Aside from the primary results in key states, Texas also held a special election for a South Texas district seat

By Gitanjali Poonia Gitanjali Pooniagpoonia@deseretnews.com
SHARE Primary results for key races — South Carolina, Nevada, North Dakota, Maine
Washoe County voters line up inside a gymnasium .

Washoe County voters line up inside a gymnasium at Reed High School in Sparks, Nev. on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, to cast their primary election ballots either by making selections on voting machine computer screens or dropping the ballot that was mailed to them into a ballot drop box if they haven’t already returned it in the mail. The spotlight in Nevada was on the GOP primary where Republicans will pick nominees to try to unseat Democratic incumbents in the U.S. Senate and governor’s mansion in November.

Associated Press

Voters in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina voted for candidates for the U.S. House and Senate during primaries on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a special election was held to fill an open seat for Texas’ 34th District.

Here are the highlights from Tuesday night.

Maine

  • The state’s former Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who served two terms, ran unopposed in the primary race for governor, serving as a real match for longtime rival and Maine Gov. Janet Mill, a Democrat, per NPR. The two will face off in the November midterms.
  • Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, ran for the 2nd Congressional District seat and won with an estimated 61.4% votes. According to The New York Times, he held the seat from 2015 to 2019. This sets up a rematch with Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat, who unseated Poliquin in the last election.
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Nevada

  • Incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, accumulated close to 90% of the votes in the primary race for governor, while Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo became the Republican front-runner, another win for a candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump, per NPR.
  • As for the position of secretary of state, reported numbers show that Jim Marchant will win the Republican nomination, according to CNN. He has been known to promote election conspiracy theories. Cisco Aguilar, the incumbent, ran unopposed as the Democratic nominee.
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  • Former State Attorney General Adam Laxalt, another candidate backed by Trump, won the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate race by an estimated 56.1% of the votes, while the incumbent, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, won the nomination for a second term by approximately 90.3% against three challengers, per CNN.
  • Democratic Reps. Dina Titus, 1st District, and Steven Horsford, 4th District, had a competitive primary, and will now face off against Army veteran Mark Robertson and Sam Peters, respectively, in the midterms. According to The Washington Post, Titus faced off against progressive challenger Amy Vilela, the co-chairwoman to Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign. District 4 Democratic Rep. Susie Lee ran uncontested and will run against the GOP nominee April Becker, lawyer and business owner, per NPR.

North Dakota

  • According to The New York Times tracker, Republican Sen. John Hoeven is expected to win against Riley Kuntz, an oil patch worker, in the U.S. Senate primary race, while engineering professor Katrina Christiansen won the Democratic vote.
  • In the gubernatorial primaries, Democrat Jeffrey Powell ran uncontested. Meanwhile Michael Howe, a state lawmaker, is expected to beat Marvin Lepp, which will help him secure the Republican nomination, per the Times.

South Carolina

  • Unopposed Republican Sen. Tim Scott will face off against one of the three opposing Democratic candidates in the U.S. Senate race — author Catherine Fleming Bruce, Spartanburg County Democratic Party chairwoman Angela Geter and state Rep. Krystle Matthews, according to NBC News.
  • Formerly ousted Rep. Joe Cunningham defeated state Sen. Mia McLeod in the gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, setting him up to battle Republican incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster, a candidate supported by Trump, according to The Hill.
  • GOP Rep. Tom Rice was defeated by Rep. Russell Fry, a Trump-backed candidate, for the 7th District seat in a close race. Fry will be standing against Democrat Daryl Scott, who ran uncontested, per Ballotpedia.
  • Democratic candidates Annie Andrews, Judd Larkins and Ken Hill also ran unopposed for congressional seats in districts 1, 2 and 4. They’re running against Republican candidates Nancy Mace, Joe Wilson and William Timmons, respectively.

Texas

Republicans also managed to fill the 34th Congressional District seat previously held by Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela, who resigned in March. The projected winner is Mayra Flores, a health care worker and wife to a border patrol agent, according to NBC News.