Two Republicans in Congress will try to fend off primary challengers Tuesday in races centering on the former president Donald Trump‘s support, millions of dollars in advertising and, in one case, a former House speaker bent on revenge.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good must overcome both Trump and the former chairman Kevin McCarthy‘s efforts to take him down in Virginia’s deep-red 5th District.
Trump endorsed state Sen. John McGuire in the race after Good angered Trump and his allies by endorsing the Florida governor. Ron DeSantis in the presidential primaries. Good has since endorsed Trump, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from entering the race. Trump held a tele-rally for McGuire on Monday night and appeared on his behalf in a 15-second TV ad.
Good also drew the ire of McCarthy, California, as one of eight Republicans who voted to oust him as chairman last year, and the race could be McCarthy’s best chance to defeat one of his opponents. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina defeated a McCarthy-backed primary challenger last week. And only two other opponents — Reps. Eli Crane of Arizona and Matt Gaetz of Florida — face challengers in their upcoming primaries.
Outside groups tied to McCarthy’s allies have spent millions of dollars on ads against Good, who has also drawn on-air support from groups tied to the conservative Club for Growth Action, the House Freedom Caucus and GOP Sen. Rand Paulus of Kentucky.
Good and his supporters have portrayed the race as a battle between the “DC establishment swamp” and the far-right Freedom Caucus. McGuire, meanwhile, has tied himself to Trump after attending the “Stop the Steal” rally and walking onto the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021.
In Oklahoma, Republican Rep. says. Tom Cole faces a primary challenger in the ruby-red 4th District from businessman Paul Bondar, who has spent millions of dollars of his own money on the race. Cole, who heads the powerful Appropriations Committee, has faced criticism from his right flank for his role in government spending.
Cole and his allies have attacked Bondar’s loose ties to the state and accused him of being a Texan, a problematic accusation given the bitter rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. Bondar, who recently voted in Texas’ March primary, does own property in Oklahoma, but it is outside the 4th District.
Cole has the support of Trump, who he recently told NBC News has been “tremendously helpful.” Cole’s challenge is not only fending off Bondar, but also winning more than 50% of the primary vote to avoid a runoff on August 27.
Setting up key general election races
Virginia is also home to a handful of primaries this fall that will set the stage for key elections that could help determine which party controls the House.
The 7th District, which Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger is vacating ahead of her bid to become governor next year, is hosting expensive primaries on both sides of the aisle. Democrats likely still have the edge in the district into November, but Republicans have a new opportunity with Spanberger leaving the seat open.
On the Democratic side, retired Army Colonel Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman’s role in Trump’s first impeachment contributed to a financial windfall for his campaign.
Vindman, who was fired from his job in Trump’s White House after raising concerns about Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has raised more than $5 million for his bid and spent $2.2 million on advertising, more than any other candidate or outside group. in the race. Two outside groups also spent more than $1 million to boost him.
But while Vindman has the cash advantage, he is running for office for the first time in a crowded field of experienced politicians — including Prince William County Supervisors Andrea Bailey and Margaret Franklin, Secretary of State Briana Sewell and former Secretary of State Elizabeth Guzman. There are no runoffs in Virginia, so the winning candidate could end up far short of a majority of votes.
On the Republican Party side, Derrick Anderson, a former Green Beret, and Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, were the top fundraisers ahead of the primaries in a new clash between the establishment and Republican Party insurgents.
On Monday, Anderson posted a video of Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike JohnsonR-La., who endorsed him, while Hamilton posted a video endorsing his candidacy as a blow to the Washington establishment. American Patriots PAC, a super PAC tied to McCarthy and Republican megadonors, is spending money to boost Anderson, while Protect Freedom PAC, a group affiliated with Paul, the Kentucky senator, is helping Hamilton.
Republicans also have a competitive Senate primary ahead of an uphill battle against Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. Trump is endorsing Hung Cao, a military veteran who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2022 and is the top GOP fundraiser in the race.
Cao is running against Scott Parkinson — a longtime Republican operative who has worked for DeSantis, the Republican Study Committee and the Club for Growth and has been endorsed by a handful of Republican senators, including Ted Cruz of Texas. Attorney Jonathan Emord, who has loaned his campaign more than $400,000 and is backed by former Rep. Ron Paulus of Texas, also runs.
Two other Democratic House primaries will battle it out in potentially competitive general elections against Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans and in the Washington suburbs set to be vacated by Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton.
In the race to take on Kiggans, military veteran Missy Cotter Smasal is the frontrunner on the Democratic side, with the support of Gov. Ralph Northam, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe and every Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state. Her opponent, attorney and former journalist Jake Denton, is supported by former Rep. Glenn Nye.
President Joe Biden won Virginia’s 2nd District by a narrow margin in 2020, and Democrats are already spending big to attack Kiggans. But Kiggans has toppled a Democratic incumbent in 2022 and has a significant fundraising lead over her potential opponents.
In the 10th District, Wexton, who has been diagnosed with a rare and serious condition called progressive supranuclear palsy, is not running for re-election. Democrats will be favored in the fall after Biden won the district by 18 points in 2020.
The open seat has created a crowded field of Democrats, four of whom have raised about $1 million or more: Secretary of State Dan Helmer, State Senator Suhas Subramanyam, former Defense Department official Krystle Kaul and former State Assembly Speaker Eileen Filler -Corn .
Wexton has endorsed Subramanyam, and Helmer has been both the biggest fundraiser and the beneficiary of about $5.5 million in TV spending from Protect Progress, a group tied to the cryptocurrency industry, and VoteVets.
Georgia: The sequel
There are also two Republican Party primaries for House of Representatives seats in Georgia, where candidates failed to win a majority of votes in the May primaries.
In the 2nd District, former banker Wayne Johnson and activist Chuck Hand, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, are competing.
The Republican candidate will face an uphill climb against Democratic Rep. in the fall. Sanford Bishop.
In the conservative 3rd District, Trump’s support will be tested as his former White House political director Brian Jack faces state Sen. Mike Dugan in a primary. The winner will be favored to win in November to replace retiring Rep. Drew Ferguson.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
