Voters in South Carolina, Virginia, Maine, North Dakota, and Nevada will vote in primaries tonight, as pro-Trump candidates once again take center stage in the GOP primaries.
Polls close in South Carolina at 7 p.m. eastern time, and anti-Trump Rep. and former Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) is facing a fierce primary challenge from pro-Trump candidate Katie Arrington. Trump endorsed Arrington hours before polls closed, saying Sanford would be “better off in Argentina,” a reference to the time in 2009 when Sanford’s staff claimed Sanford was hiking the “Appalachian trail” when he was actually having an affair with an Argentinian journalist an Argentinian journalist in Buenos Aires.
Governor Henry McMaster was the first statewide official to endorse Trump when he was the Palmetto’s State’s lieutenant governor, and he is hoping his strong ties to Trump will help him cross the 50% threshold in a crowded field to serve a full term. The establishment Republican governor endorsed moderate-liberal Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman during the 2012 GOP presidential primaries, but his support for Trump has pushed him to the front of the pack with the state’s conservative primary voters.
McMaster appeared on Breitbart News Daily on Sirius XM Patriot channel 125 on Tuesday morning and told host and Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow that enthusiasm for Trump in South Carolina compares to a Beatles concert. McMaster became governor after Trump selected then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to be his Ambassador to the United Nations.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates of all of the key contests throughout the evening. All times eastern.
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12:39 AM: Shawn Moody wins GOP gubernatorial nomination in Maine.
12:13 AM: Anti-Trump Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) suffers his first ever loss as Katie Arrington wins the GOP nomination for SC-1 without having to go to a runoff.
12:01 AM: Victorious pro-Trump candidate Danny Tarkanian addresses supporters after primary win in NV-3.
11:20 PM: Danny Tarkanian projected to win GOP nomination for NV-3 and will face Democrat Susie Lee in the fall.
11:10 PM: Adam Laxalt wins GOP gubernatorial nomination in Nevada.
10:45 PM: Sanford sees writing on the wall.
10:00 PM: Polls closed in Nevada as pro-Trump candidates Tarkanian and Laxalt look for big wins.
9:55 PM: CNN projects Sanford will not finish first tonight in SC-1. If Arrington gets more than 50% of the vote and wins outright, it will be Sanford’s first ever loss.
9:45 PM: Arrington (52.1%) still above the 50% threshold against Sanford (45.1%) with 65% reporting.
9:35 PM: Kevin Cramer wins GOP Senate nomination in North Dakota.
9:30: In South Carolina, with 48% reporting, Arrington (51.9%) leads Sanford (45.3%).
9:25 PM: Lieutenant Governor Henry McMaster will head to a runoff against John Warren.
9:00 PM: In South Carolina, Katie Arrington (50.6%) leads Sanford (46.5%) with 15% reporting.
8:55 PM: AP Calls Race for Corey Stewart in Virginia. He’ll face Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) in the general election.
8:40 PM: In Virginia, Corey Stewart has the lead in the GOP Senate primary (44.4%, 126, 042 votes) over Nick Freitas (43.6%, 123, 809 votes) and E.W. Jackson (12%, 34, 078 votes)–92% reporting (2,368 of 2,569 precincts).
8:35 PM: In South Carolina, with 6% of the votes in, Arrington (48.9%, 2,267 votes) with a slim lead over Sanford (48%, 2,224 votes) in SC-1. In South Carolina’s gubernatorial primary, McMaster (45%) leads Warren (25%) and Templeton (21%) with 16% of the votes in.
8:00 PM: Polls now closed in Maine. Only first-choice results will be released tonight.
7:45 PM: In South Carolina (SC-1), Sanford and Arrington tied at 48% after the first 1,000 votes. In the gubernatorial contest, McMaster leads (36.7%) John Warren (32%) and Catherine Templeton (21%) after roughly 3,000 votes have been counted.
7:15 PM: Polls close in about an hour in Maine, the first state to use ranked-choice voting. Maine Governor Paul LePage is reportedly considering not certifying the results.
7 PM: Polls are closed in South Carolina and Virginia. Trump urged South Carolinians to vote for McMaster and Arrington hours before polls closed. He also supported Nevada Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt. House Speaker Paul Ryan (D-WI) let it be known that he is supporting Sanford, who Trump said “has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA.”