Democrats’ 2018 Advantage Is Nearly Gone — CNN Poll

In three of the states, not even one-fifth of those registered to vote chose to go to the polls: the turnout was 19 percent in OH, 18 percent in IN and 14 percent in North Carolina.

While ambitious House Republicans elected since the 2010 Tea Party wave did not fare well in their bids to move up, Republican primary voters stayed away from the problematic candidates who have already cost them several special elections since President Donald Trump took office.

Blankenship, who has poured millions of dollars into state elections, vowed he would not support Morrisey in the general election. “And compared to the 2014 midterm, Republican turnout was up 61% yesterday, compared to just a 14% increase for Democrats”.

Whether or not the president stops Blankenship, the West Virginia GOP primary confirms that this sort of vulgar demagoguery is becoming routine.

Braun will face Sen.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey defeated the establishment-favored Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-WV) and coal businessman Don Blankenship, signaling a big victory for grassroots conservatives.

Blankenship served 13 months in prison on one charge related to the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster (in which 29 miners were killed in a mine owned by his Massey Energy Company). He also hinted that McConnell’s family has drug trade connections and that primary contestant and West Virginia attorney general Patrick Morrisey contributed to the opioid crisis through his links to the pharmaceutical industry. Claire McCaskill (D) Missouri, Joe Donnelly (D) Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp (D) North Dakota, Sherrod Brown (D) OH, and Manchin are all considered vulnerable this November. There was no way to know if we could trust the West Virginia internal polls that were released. Blankenship got into the race late with a slew of controversial, racially insensitive comments and a fierce attack on McConnell, calling him “Cocaine Mitch“, and claiming he created jobs for “China people”. He’s worked to cozy up to Trump and nurture a bipartisan brand.

Blankenship tried to paint Jenkins and Morrisey as establishment pawns, while mainstream Republican groups poured money into the race in hopes of keeping Blankenship off the ticket. Women made up about 20 percent of House candidates in OH, 18 percent in North Carolina, and 17 percent in Indiana. Mike DeWine won the Republican nomination in the state for the same seat.

Braun, himself, a former state lawmaker, played up his credentials as an outsider businessman. Luke Messer and Todd Rokita. Manchin’s $5.3 million war chest.

Rivals since college, Messer and Rokita left their seats in the House to run for the Senate.

Year of the women continued: Women have found success in the early primaries of 2018, with the trend continuing Tuesday: Nineteen open House Democratic primaries had at least one female candidate and a woman won in 16 of them. Braun, who will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Trump’s overall approval rating, however, held steady at 41%. “More folks that have done something in the real world”, Braun said in a statement after his victory. Since 2000 the Republican presidential nominee has carried the state. This district went for Donald Trump by 12 points in 2016, but Democrats hold a clear edge in enthusiasm at this stage of the race.

Both parties view November’s election as key to Senate control for the next two years. While a number of candidates posed as the next “Trump” to try to win the nomination, only one candidate managed to knock off a GOP incumbent by doing it – former Charlotte pastor Mark Harris. Sherrod Brown (D) in the general election. Her opponent in the governor’s race, Mike DeWine, the state’s attorney general and a former US senator, abandoned his moderate establishment image and endorsed the construction of a border wall – presumably to keep dissolute Wolverines fans in Mexico where they belong – and the arming of teachers in the classroom with such lunatic zeal that voters were convinced he was the genuine article.

The Cook Political Report has OH as ‘Lean Democrat.’ Back in March, I blogged about an Axios poll that showed Brown winning a head-to-head race against Renacci, 50% to 45%.