Trump-Endorsed Candidates 129-8 in Primaries After Big Wins in SC, NV, ND

Candidates backed by former President Donald J. Trump had a near-perfect night in the South Carolina, Nevada, and North Dakota primaries Tuesday evening as 12 candidates secured their nominations, while only one lost her race. Trump’s endorsement record now stands at 129-8 in Republican primaries this midterm election cycle.

South Carolina:

State Rep. Russell Fry thumped incumbent Rep. Tom Rice in the primary race for South Carolina’s Seventh Congressional District. Rice joined nine other House Republicans in voting for Trump’s impeachment for “incitement of insurrection,” which led to the South Carolina Republican Party censuring him, Breitbart News previously reported. 

Trump slammed Rice in his endorsement of Fry, dubbing him “the coward who abandoned his constituents by caving to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left, and who actually voted against me on Impeachment Hoax #2.” He added the representative “must be thrown out of office ASAP — and we have just the man to do it.”

Trump said Fry is “a leading fighter on Election Integrity, is pro-Life, pro-God, pro-Gun and, very importantly, pro-LOW Taxes,” and he crowned him as an “America First Champion.”

The Republican nominee for the Seventh Congressional District appeared on Breitbart News Saturday this past weekend and minced no words when speaking of his opponent.

“When you want conservative fighters in the ring, people who stand up for the America First agenda, right here in South Carolina, look no further than the Russell Fry campaign,” Fry said. “People are fed up with Congressman Tom Rice, and he has been, you know, I think the impeachment vote really showed us who he was, and quite frankly, exposed a big frustration with him in general, which is where has he been on some of these issues that matter to the American people. And we see this continued: leftward lurch.”

Fry will run in the general election against Democrat nominee Daryl Scott.

The Trump-backed former state Rep. Katie Arrington lost her race to incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace in the First Congressional District. Mace, who earned former Gov. and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s (R) endorsement in the race, has been critical of Trump. Over the weekend, the 45th president laid into the sitting representative while endorsing Arrington. Mace will face off against Democrat nominee Annie Andrews in the general election.

Per the AP election results compiled by the New York Times, the remaining seven candidates who received Trump endorsements and earned their respective nominations Tuesday include: 

• Sen. Tim Scott (R) – Nominee for U.S. Senate
• Gov. Henry McMaster (R) – Nominee for Governor
• Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) – Nominee for Attorney General
• Rep Joe Wilson (R) – Nominee for the Second Congressional District
• Rep. Jeff Duncan (R)– Nominee for Third Congressional District
• Rep. William Timmons (R) – Nominee for the Fourth Congressional District
• Rep. Ralph Norman (R)– Nominee for the Fifth Congressional District

Nevada:

Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt became the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Tuesday after beating out Army Veteran Sam Brown. Laxalt will take on Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) in the fall general election. On Thursday, Nevada’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate appeared on Breitbart News Daily and forecasted a “red wave” in November.

“The reality is, like every other crisis we’re facing right now, it doesn’t matter that the mainstream media is ignoring it and that they’re covering for Biden because Nevadans are living it — they’re experiencing it,” he told Breitbart News editor-in-chief Alex Marlow. “They understand that in my state, Democrats are in charge of everything, and obviously, at the federal level, Democrats are in charge of everything, which is why we are due for a massive red wave in November.”

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo took home the Republican nomination for governor, beating out a crowded primary field, according to the Nevada Independent. Lombardo will vie to unseat sitting Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) in the general election later this year.

North Dakota:

Sen. John Hoeven (R) handily secured his nomination for a reelection bid against challenger Riley Kuntz. Hoeven, a former governor of North Dakota, will vie for his third term in the U.S. Senate in the general election against Democrat nominee Katrina Christiansen. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R) also officially earned his nomination for the At-Large Congressional District Tuesday.

Coming into the evening, Trump was 117-7 in his Republican primary endorsements following sweeping wins by all 17 Trump-backed candidates in California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota last week. The strong resurgence on June 7  was preceded by perfect picks in Alabama, Texas, and Arkansas in the May 24 elections. However, Trump-endorsed candidates hit a snag in Georgia, where four who earned his nod came up short of winning their nominations.

The previous week, 23 Trump-endorsed candidates were victorious in their races in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Idaho, while only two lost. On May 10, three candidates who earned the 45th president’s nod won races in West Virginia and Nebraska, which came on the heels of declarative wins in Ohio and Indiana, where all 22 Trump-backed candidates brought home their respective nominations. In Texas, 33 Trump Republicans either won their March 1 races or forced runoffs, while no one lost.

The 2022 midterm elections cycle picks back up next week in Virginia.