Voters tonight will go to the polls in five states—Ohio, Michigan, Kansas, Washington, and Missouri.
The race between Republican Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny O’Connor in Ohio’s 12th congressional district will have the biggest national implications. President Donald Trump endorsed and campaigned for Balderson in a race over the weekend in a race that is essentially tied, according to most recent polling. The race is the last special election before the midterms.
Trump also endorsed Kansas gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach, and Tuesday’s GOP gubernatorial primary results in the Sunflower State will be another test of how much GOP primary voters value Trump’s endorsement.
On the left, candidates backed by Democrat-socialist darlings Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders face off in key primaries in Michigan and Kansas. Victories by these candidates will only push Democrats further to the left heading into 2018 and 2020.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates of all of the important races throughout the evening. All times eastern.
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9:07 AM: With 100% of precincts reporting, Kobach appears to have maintained a slim lead.
https://twitter.com/RyanGirdusky/status/1027175413079003136
2:20 AM: BINDER: Wilson County is now fully reporting all precincts, giving Kris Kobach a larger lead of about 864 votes ahead of Gov. Jeff Colyer. Now, the remaining about 400 precincts in Johnson County are the only votes out. Kobach will need to keep a moderate pace in that county to remain ahead and win.
1:55 AM: Kobach addresses supporters:
1:33 AM: BINDER: Kobach now leads Colyer by 883 votes as Johnson County reports 106 of more than 500 precincts. There are now 88 percent of precincts in for the Kansas GOP gubernatorial primary. There is a chance that Kobach pulls off a win if he can hold Colyer back in the southern and northern neighborhoods of the suburban county.
1:05 AM: BINDER: Everything rests on Johnson County. There are only 17 precincts left in the state aside from the hundreds that have yet to be reported in Johnson County. Kobach, in order to keep a lead against Colyer, has to hope for a tiny loss or moderate win in the Johnson County suburbs.
12:52 AM: BINDER: With Miami County fully in now, Kobach is leading by 860 votes against Colyer. Johnson County — the suburbs — still needs to come in, as well as all 16 precincts in Morris County. This is with 86 percent reporting. Wilson County and Morris County, both of which should go for Kobach, are still out. Johnson County is looking increasingly like a win for Colyer, though too much of the vote is still out to be clear.
12:30 AM: What’s going on in Kansas?
12:05 AM: Trump congratulates “MAGA” candidates he endorsed for their victories:
11:45 PM: WASHINGTON:
11:40 PM: BINDER: Kobach takes back the lead: With nearly 75 percent reporting, Kobach has retaken the lead against Colyer by about 650 votes. Still, the suburban region of Johnson County has yet to come in.
11:28 PM: BINDER: With nearly 70 percent reporting, Trump-backed Kobach is down by about 600 votes to Gov. Jeff Colyer in Kansas gubernatorial GOP primary. Still remaining to be counted is Johnson County, the affluent moderate suburbs outside of Kansas City. Kobach will need to have a strong showing in that region to overtake Colyer.
11:09 PM: Balderson says he is honored to represent the voters of the 12th congressional district. Balderson thanks Trump and Vice President Pence. Balderson does not thank Kasich. Balderson reminds the crowd to “get ready” because he has to earn their votes for a second time in November when O’Connor gets a rematch.
11:03 PM: Hawley challenging McCaskill to debates:
11:02 PM: Trump declares victory:
11:01 PM: U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Jim Renacci congratulates Balderson: “I want to congratulate Troy Balderson on a hard-fought campaign. In election after election, the people of Ohio have made it clear they are tired of liberal politicians like Danny O’Connor and Sherrod Brown who only serve as a rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer’s left-wing agenda.”
10:57 PM: NRCC declares victory for Balderson as O’Connor comes on stage and calls the race a “tie ballgame” and seems to be setting the stage for a rematch.
“Congratulations to Congressman-Elect Balderson on his hard-fought victory tonight. Nancy Pelosi and her liberal donors flooded this district with money and ads in an attempt to buy this seat. However, Troy’s focus never wavered from the issues central Ohioans care about like fighting opioids, creating jobs, and lowering taxes,” NRCC Chair Steve Stivers said.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel: “Today, the voters of Ohio’s 12th District elected a true conservative committed to pro-growth policies that have already brought new jobs and economic confidence to the state under President Trump’s leadership. Voters are tired of Democrats’ message of resist and obstruct, and Danny O’Connor’s empty campaign rhetoric was no exception. With President Trump’s support that helped lead him to victory, Troy Balderson’s win tonight is another example of the so-called ‘blue wave’ being nothing but a ripple.”
10:43 PM: All of Delaware County in:
10:35 PM: BINDER: All eyes will be on Johnson County in Kansas: As Kris Kobach trails Jeff Colyer by less than 2,000 votes, much of this race will depend on Johnson County, where all 502 precincts have yet to be counted.
10:25 PM: Balderson now has a much more comfortable lead of 1,600 votes as the Green Party celebrates that it is trending on Twitter.
10:20 PM:
Another Trump-backed candidate, John James, has won the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in Michigan against Sandy Pensler. Another win for the president on Tuesday evening. James will face incumbent Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) in November in a working class rust belt state that Trump flipped to the GOP side in 2016 against Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton.
10:10 PM: A huge win for President Trump as he endorsed Schuette, the Attorney General, over the establishment-backed next in line Lt, Gov. Brian Calley
10:05 PM: Back and forth in Kansas as well:
BINDER: Colyer has retaken the lead in Kansas GOP gubernatorial primary. Colyer leads conservative Kris Kobach by about 2,000 votes with 32 percent reporting.
10:01 PM: Back and forth in OH-12: Balderson up by 741 votes with 95% reporting:
9:59 PM: Race called in Michigan (Dem. gubernatorial primary) for Whitmer. Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders could not push insurgent left-wing candidate El-Sayed across the finish line.
9:54: BINDER: Kobach widening lead: Kobach has taken a 2,400 vote lead against establishment-backed Colyer, a major turnaround from where the conservative had started at the beginning of this race. A majority of the vote is still out.
https://twitter.com/RyanGirdusky/status/1027009517077385216
9:50: BINDER: Trump Bump? Kansas tracking poll says Kris Kobach shot up in polls after Trump endorsed the conservative against Gov., Jeff Colyer. Kobach, after trailing Colyer, now leads by about 400 votes with about 20 percent reporting.
9:43 PM: MISSOURI: HAWLEY projected to win GOP Senate nomination and take on Claire McCaskill in the fall.
9:42 PM: BINDER: Kobach takes lead in Kansas: In a twist, conservative Kris Kobach takes the lead with a little more than 150 votes against incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer. Kobach must continue performing well in Sedgewick County to keep his lead.
9:41 PM: In OH-12, O’Connor back on top with a slight lead (50.1% go 49.3%) with 81% reporting.
9:35 PM: BINDER: Conservative Kris Kobach has seemed to close his gap with incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer in the Kansas GOP gubernatorial primary. Kobach now only trails Colyer by 100 votes in the state with almost 15 percent reporting. To continue to make up ground, Kobach needs to pull out a strong showing in the state’s rural counties and Sedgwick County
9:25 PM: BINDER: With more than 200 out of 3.5K precincts reporting in the Kansas GOP gubernatorial race, Colyer leads Kobach by more than 1,700 votes. In all-important Shawnee County, Colyer leads Kobach by more than 600 votes.
9:20 PM: Balderson stakes a slight lead in OH-12 (50.3% to 49.0%) with 66% reporting.
9:10 PM: In Michigan’s Dem. gubernatorial primary, with nearly 12% reporting, Gretchen Whitmer has a 16.5-point lead over left-wing insurgent El-Sayed (50.1% to 33.5%)
9:07 PM: BINDER: With now 2% reporting in the Kansas gubernatorial GOP primary, establishment-backed Colyer has taken a more than 1,000 vote lead over Trump-supported Kris Kobach. To overcome Colyer, Kobach will need to pull out strong numbers in Shawnee County and Sedgewick County, as well as in the west side counties of the state.
9:05 PM: Dems are cautiously optimistic as the early votes come in, but it looks like it’s going to be a long night in OH-12.
9 PM:
8:55 PM: With 30% of the vote in in OH-12, O’Connor leads Balderson 53.6% to 45.8%.
Binder on Kansas: With 1 percent reporting in the Kansas GOP gubernatorial primary, the establishment-backed Colyer has doubled his lead over Trump-endorsed Kris Kobach. About 630 votes separate the two front runners. In the all-important county of Shawnee, Kobach is down by about 100 voters to Colyer’s 39 percent with only 1 out of 224 precincts reporting. In order to make headway, Kobach will need to pick up a lot of support in those Shawnee County precincts, an area where he campaigned hard.
8:50 PM” From Breitbart’s John Binder: Kobach’s run for governor in Kansas is most certainly a test of how much influence President Trump has in the state. In the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton, Trump won all but two counties in the state. In the 2016 GOP presidential primary, though, Trump lost the state to conservative Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who won Kansas by almost 50 percent of the vote.
8:40 PM: From Breitbart’s John Binder: Kobach slightly trails incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer in the Kansas gubernatorial election by a little more than 200 votes with less than 1 percent of precincts reporting. Kobach has relied on a America First-style campaign message, running on reducing tax burdens for small businesses and ending state benefits for illegal aliens. While Kobach has the backing of President Trump, Colyer has the support of the state’s Republican establishment.
KS-Dem primary: In Kansas’ Democrat primary for governor, the Planned Parenthood-supported Laura Kelly leads the pack with a wide margin, though only about 14 of more than 3,500 precincts are reporting thus far.
8:35 PM: With 1% reporting in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, who was backed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has a slight lead.
8:30 PM: In OH-12, O’Connor leads 58.6% to 40.6% with 41 of 591 precincts (7%) reporting.
8 PM: O’Connor with early lead with early votes from Dem precincts:
7:45 PM:
7:35 PM: Polls now closed in Ohio.
7:00 PM: Polls will close in Ohio at 7:30 PM ET as Balderson tries to win a seat in a district Trump carried by 11 points in 2016. Trump campaigned for Balderson over the weekend in Ohio. Polls close in Michigan, Kansas, and Missouri at 8 PM ET and polls will close in Washington at 11 PM ET.
MAGA candidate Kobach touting his Trump endorsement:
https://twitter.com/KrisKobach1787/status/1026900795969757184
https://twitter.com/KrisKobach1787/status/1026871019343147010
Trump v. Biden: Joe Biden recored a robocall for O’Connor:
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