Here’s who Trump has endorsed
Trump has been involved in a handful of today's primaries to varying degrees. Here’s a quick look at the candidates he’s backing.
Georgia's 3rd District: Brian Jack, Trump’s former White House political director.
Virginia Senate: Hung Cao, a military veteran who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2022.
Virginia's 5th District: John McGuire, a state senator who's challenging Rep. Good.
Virginia’s 1st District: Rep. Rob Wittman.
Virginia's 2nd District: Rep. Jen Kiggans.
Virginia's 6th District: Rep. Ben Cline.
Virginia's 9th District: Rep. Morgan Griffith.
Only one incumbent has lost a primary so far this year
Why is this primary night different from others? Because two incumbents are at risk of going down.
Only one sitting member of Congress has lost a bid for renomination so far this cycle — and it was a very unique situation. Alabama Republican Rep. Jerry Carl lost an incumbent-on-incumbent primary to Rep. Barry Moore in March after congressional lines were jumbled due to court-ordered redistricting.
So far, every other incumbent has survived, which is one reason why all eyes are on Good and Cole tonight.
Trump whistleblower Eugene Vindman running in crowded Virginia House primary
It’s all about money and name recognition in one of the closest-watched House races today in Virginia. In the 7th Congressional District, former National Security Counsel deputy legal adviser Eugene Vindman is running in the Democratic primary to replace sitting Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is vying to be Virginia’s next governor.
Vindman gained notoriety back in 2019, when his brother, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, testified during Trump's first impeachment hearings about the president’s dealings with Ukraine. He and his brother earned the praise of many in Democratic circles after the two served as whistleblowers, and subsequently ended up losing their jobs.
Vindman has greatly outraised his six Democratic opponents, some of whom have served in local government roles, with $4.5 million more in the bank than his closest opponent, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
On the Republican side, you have another example of the proxy fight between the House Freedom Caucus and Republican leadership. Navy veteran Cameron Hamilton, supported by the likes of Reps. Eli Crane and Cory Mills, is up against Derrick Anderson, an Army veteran who has the backing of Speaker Mike Johnson, House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
The results of the Republican primary will provide a good glimpse into the power of the GOP establishment heading into what's expected to be a competitive November election in the 7th District.
Former Trump aide, Jan. 6 rioter face runoffs in Georgia
There are two GOP primary runoffs today for House seats in Georgia, where candidates fell short of winning majorities of the votes in the May primaries.
In the 2nd District, former Trump administrational official Wayne Johnson and Chuck Hand, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense in connection with the attack on Jan. 6, 2021, are competing head to head. The Republican nominee will face an uphill climb against Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop in the fall.
In the conservative 3rd District, Trump’s endorsement will be put to the test as his former White House political director, Brian Jack, faces state Sen. Mike Dugan in a primary runoff. The winner will be favored to win in November to replace retiring Rep. Drew Ferguson.
Longtime Rep. Tom Cole faces pricey primary full of fighting words — and football
Rep. Tom Cole is facing a primary challenger from the right in Oklahoma as GOP incumbents across the country have seen their margins of victory shrink in recent years.
It’s the most competitive primary Cole, the chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has faced since he was first elected in 2002. And it’s been a bitter contest — almost as bitter as the storied rivalry between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Texas Longhorns, which has become a subplot in the race.
The congressman’s chief primary opponent, businessman Paul Bondar, has spent more than $5.1 million of his own money on the race. But Bondar has faced a potentially damning accusation in Sooner country: that he’s actually a Texan.
“It’s not good to move into a place to run for Congress when you’ve never lived in it, but if you’re coming from Texas into Oklahoma, that probably adds an extra dimension,” Cole, a lifelong Oklahoman and member of the Chickasaw Nation, told NBC News last Thursday.
Trump, McCarthy line up to oppose Freedom Caucus chair
For Rep. Bob Good, today's primary is about much more than the next member of Congress representing Virginia’s 5th District.
“The nation is watching,” the Virginia Republican told a few dozen supporters gathered outside the historic county courthouse on a muggy Friday evening. He warned that this race is about the “D.C. establishment swamp who wants to buy your seat.”
Good, who chairs the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, told his supporters that he is former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s top target, as McCarthy looks to take down the small group of Republicans who ousted him late last year. McCarthy’s first effort fell short last week when Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina won her primary.
But McCarthy is just one player lined up against Good in a race that could see him become the first member of Congress to lose to a primary challenger this year. There’s also the most important endorsement in Republican politics working against him: former President Donald Trump.
Trump endorsed Good’s opponent, state Sen. John McGuire, a former Navy SEAL and “Stop the Steal” rally participant, late last month. The former president made a veiled reference to Good endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the presidential primary, writing on social media that Good “was constantly attacking and fighting me until recently.”