Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions fell short in a fight for his political life. Democrats chose their candidate to face Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins in the fall, and former Trump physician Ronny Jackson won a Republican Party runoff run for a seat in the Texas Congress.
Those were some of the main conclusions from a series of Tuesday’s primary and runoff elections in Maine, Alabama and Texas.
Tuberville, who was backed by the president, will now advance to the general election when the Republican candidate faces Democratic Senator Doug Doug in November. The race is likely to be the best gathering opportunity for the Republican Party cycle.
Jones, who achieved a deep red state upset in a 2017 special election, is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat facing reelection in 2020.
The result of Tuesday’s Republican Party tiebreaker race marks a significant political defeat for Sessions, who had been struggling to claim a former Senate seat.
Sessions was the first United States senator to endorse Trump in the 2016 presidential race and was once a prominent figure in the Trump administration as the top official who heads the Justice Department.
But he fell out of favor with the president and became a target of Trump’s attacks after he recused himself while serving as attorney general for the FBI’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.
Sessions became a loser in the fight for his old job after losing the support of the President.
Trump was quick to celebrate his election candidate’s victory Tuesday night, tweeting: “Tommy Tuberville WON big against Jeff Sessions. He will be a GREAT Senator for the amazing people of Alabama. @DougJones is a terrible Senator who is just a liberal Super Puppet for Schumer and Pelosi. He misrepresents Alabama. Until November 3. “
Democrats choose their candidate to face Susan Collins in Maine
Another highly anticipated November Senate race will take place in Maine. Republican Senator Susan Collins is defending her seat in the state in what is expected to be a close battle.
Democrats chose their candidate to face Collins on Tuesday, and CNN projects that Speaker of the House of Representatives Sara Gideon will win the primaries.
The Maine Democratic Senate primary had three candidates and voters had an opportunity to rank them by preference in the state-mandated election voting system, which was used federally in Maine for the first time in 2018.
Gideon had the most money and the highest profile, while activist Betsy Sweet, who had finished third in the 2018 Democratic primary election for governors, and attorney Bre Kidman were trying to run to her left.
National Democrats have made Collins a prime target in his effort to try to win the Senate majority back in 2020. The senator faces the toughest re-election of her career, a race in which the Inside Elections newsletter rates a ” launching”.
Former Trump doctor wins the Republican Party’s second primary round for the Texas Congressional seat
Trump had endorsed Jackson, who is a Texas native, while his opponent Josh Winegarner had the support of outgoing District 13 Representative Mac Thornberry, who announced last year that he would not run for re-election.
The district is very conservative and was run by Trump for more than 60 points. As a result, the Republican candidate is well positioned to keep the seat in the hands of the Republican Party in the November general election.
The president defended Jackson’s candidacy, tweeting in February: “Ronny is strong on Crime and Borders, GREAT for our military and veterans, and will protect his # 2A.”
Jackson, a retired Navy rear admiral, withdrew from consideration as Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 2018 on charges that he was “abusive” toward his colleagues, handled prescription pain medications, and was periodically intoxicated. . Jackson denied all the charges against him, calling them “completely false and untrue.”
During his career, Jackson, who also served as a White House physician during the Obama administration, embraced the right-wing conspiracy, promoted by President Trump without offering evidence, that then-President Barack Obama spied on the Trump campaign. , a move that angered some of Obama’s aides who had served alongside him in the White House.
In March, he finished second in the 15-person GOP field, far behind Winegarner.
MJ Hegar will face John Cornyn in Texas
Air Force veteran MJ Hegar won a Democratic second round in the Texas Senate on CNN bills, settling in against Republican Senator John Cornyn in the fall.
Hegar, who narrowly lost a House race in 2018, and her allies had been spending massively on her main opponent, State Senator Royce West, who attacked her for voting in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries for Carly Fiorina, Hegar called a protest vote. against Trump
However, Hegar will face an uphill battle by November. Inside Elections rates the Senate race as “Lean Republican”.
Hegar’s victory, along with Gideon’s victory in Maine, also means that the National Democratic Senate elections continue his winning streak.
The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee endorsed Hegar in Texas and Gideon in Maine. EMILY’s list also supports both women.
At least one session is happy with Tuesday
Former Republican Party representative Pete Sessions achieved a victory in his own comeback effort Tuesday after his Republican Party main opposition businesswoman Renee Swann admitted.
The sessions lost in 2018 when Democrat Colin Allred dismantled it in the 32nd District of Texas. On Tuesday, he ran as a Republican candidate in a runoff primary for a different congressional district in the state: the 17. He prevailed in that race with his opponent by granting Tuesday night.
Sessions had originally considered running for Allred, but when Republican Rep. Bill Flores announced that he would not run for re-election, the all-red District 17 opened and Sessions stepped in.
In the second round on Tuesday, she faced Swann, who announced earlier this month, near the start of the early vote, that she and her husband had tested positive for coronavirus and would be quarantined.
The former 11-term congressman, allegedly caught up in efforts to oust the former United States ambassador to Ukraine, will be in a solid position by November. The general election is a “solid Republican” race.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Simone Pathe and Alex Rogers contributed to this report.
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