Big Trump wins in South Carolina, Texas, Nevada

He wasn't on any ballot, but Donald Trump was the big winner as returns came in from five more state primaries on Tuesday.

Trump notched a significant victory in South Carolina, where his preferred candidate easily ousted five-term Rep. Tom Rice, the first Republican to be booted from office after voting to impeach the former president last year. Meanwhile, in Nevada on Tuesday, Trump’s pick, Adam Laxalt, won his U.S. Senate primary, and in Texas a 150-year Democratic House seat went Republican.


SPLIT DECISION IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Rep. Nancy Mace was able to survive a challenge from another Trump-backed candidate. 

Mace stated on national TV that Trump’s “entire legacy was wiped out” by the attack, while Rice became an apostate for joining a small group of Republicans who voted with Democrats in favor of Trump’s impeachment.

Voters ultimately rendered different judgments on the duo, reflecting a split within the GOP about how to move forward from the Trump era. Rice’s largely rural district is representative of Trump’s America, where crossing the former president carries a steep cost. Even as Trump railed against both lawmakers, he chose to hold a rally in Rice’s district earlier this year.

That’s because Mace’s district, which centers on Charleston, is full of the type of moderate suburban voters who fled the GOP under Trump. It is one of the few districts in an overall red state where Democrats have been even moderately competitive in congressional races.

The results demonstrate that the Trump factor can’t be underestimated in solidly Republican territory, a potential warning sign for other Republicans, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who also voted to impeach Trump and has helped lead the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 protest. She’s facing a competitive primary in August from a Trump-backed challenger.


TRUMP, MCCONNELL ALIGN ON LAXALT IN NEVADA

Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell don’t agree on much. One rare exception is Laxalt, who won Nevada’s Republican Senate primary.

The two Republican leaders both endorsed Laxalt, who defeated retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, a West Point graduate and Purple Heart recipient who ran an unexpectedly strong campaign as a conservative outsider.


TEXAS HOUSE SEAT FLIPS

A once solidly Democratic district in South Texas will now be represented by a Republican after Mayra Flores won a special primary election to finish the term of former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela, who resigned this year to become a lobbyist. 

Mexican-born Flores will be the first Republican to represent the district since 1870.

Flores, a GOP organizer who is the daughter of migrant workers, will only hold the seat for several months before the district is redrawn to be more favorable to Democrats. But her victory in the heavily Hispanic Rio Grande Valley is an ominous sign for Democrats.


FROM SOUTH CAROLINA TO THE WHITE HOUSE?

Also in South Carolina, Republican Tim Scott coasted to an easy and unopposed primary win Tuesday for what he says will be his last term in the Senate. But another state is also on his mind — the presidential proving ground of Iowa.

It’s become an article of faith that there are no “accidental” trips to Iowa by ambitious politicians. And Scott, the Senate’s sole Black Republican, has made several visits, including one last week.

He certainly has the money to contend. As he campaigned for reelection to the Senate, Scott amassed a jaw-dropping $42 million. That’s more than double the $15.7 million average cost of a winning Senate campaign in the 2018 midterms. It’s also more than enough to launch a Republican presidential campaign in 2024.

Even before his recent appearance at an Iowa Republican Party event, Scott has been raising his profile. He spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention and delivered the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s first joint congressional address. He’s also visited New Hampshire, another early-voting presidential state, and delivered a speech at the Reagan Presidential Library, another frequent stop for Republicans eyeing the White House.



South Carolina Rep. Russell Fry celebrates his win over U.S. Rep. Tom Rice for his congressional seat in the Republican primary, at the 8th Avenue Tiki Bar in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Tuesday, June 14, 2022.(Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)