Pro-Trump candidates win as Kansas votes to protect abortion rights

The former president and his false claims that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud still rankle Republican voters, while angering the Supreme Court’s decision to end June. November by-elections.

In Michigan, Tudor Dixon, a conservative commentator who echoed Trump’s campaign claims, has won the Republican nomination for governor. He will face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in one of the most high-profile elections in the fall, one that will revolve around abortion rights in the state.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, another Trump-backed candidate and Republican gubernatorial candidate, won. He will face Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in November in what is expected to be a very competitive race.

With an estimated 85% of the ballots counted, 61.1% of Kansas voters voted to keep abortion protections in the state constitution, while 38.9% voted to remove them, a stunning victory for abortion rights advocates in a staunchly conservative state.

Unlike Republican gubernatorial primaries, the Kansas abortion initiative reflected the preferences of voters of both major political parties and independent voters.

In Missouri, Attorney General Eric Schmidt won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, his party’s most likely to take the seat after corrupt former Gov. Eric Greitens fell far behind.

Trump influence test

Tuesday’s election, which includes key contests in Arizona and Washington state, will be the latest test of Trump’s influence over Republican voters. Many Trump-backed candidates have bought into the former president’s lies about voter fraud, leading some Republicans to worry they won’t be able to defeat Democrats on Nov. 8.

On January 6, 2021, two Republican representatives, Peter Meijer of Michigan and Jamie Herrera Beutler of Washington, who voted to impeach Trump after an attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol, also faced a pro-Trump primary challenge.

With the economy teetering on the brink of recession and inflation, only 38% of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s performance, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that ended on Tuesday — compared to Biden’s all-time high of 36%, reached in May. . One in three voters said the biggest problem facing America today is the economy.

Biden’s unpopularity is weighing on Democrats ahead of November’s general election, when Republicans are expected to win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.

Control of both chambers would give Republicans the power to scuttle Biden’s legislative agenda and launch politically damaging investigations.

While openly flirting with the possibility of running for president again in 2024, Trump has endorsed more than 200 candidates. Most are safe candidates — incumbent Republicans in conservative districts — but even in competitive races, he has a winning record.

Trump-backed candidates won the Republican Senate primaries in Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, although his candidates lost the Georgia gubernatorial and South Carolina House of Representatives primaries.

“Trump is very popular with Republican voters in the primaries. I don’t think you can underestimate how he’s reshaped the party,” said Republican strategist Alex Conant. “Republicans who go against Trump will be trampled.”

On Tuesday, voters in Arizona had to choose between Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Karin Taylor-Robson, who has the support of Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence.

Lake, a former news anchor, echoed Trump’s false claims that his 2020 election loss was the result of fraud and said he would not have certified Biden’s 2020 state victory. During a recent campaign shutdown, Lake said without evidence that earlier voting fraud had already been committed, suggesting he should not accept defeat on Tuesday.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who built a national profile by loudly denying Trump’s allegations, easily won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Edison Research predicted.

And a pro-Trump candidate to replace him as the state’s top election official is state Rep. Mark Finchem, who attended Trump’s Jan. 6 election. 2021 in Washington, just before the attack on the US Capitol. He wrote on Twitter on Thursday: “Trump wins,” prompting Democratic candidate Adrian Fontes to call him a “traitor.”

Arizona Republicans also chose to take on a challenger from Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent Democrats.

Former tech chief Blake Masters, who has rallied behind Trump’s false fraud claims, has Trump’s support and the support of tech billionaire Peter Thiel. He polls against former energy company chief executive Jim Lamon and Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who accuse Trump of not changing Biden’s 2020 state victory.