‘Great guy’: Trump endorses Dr Mehmet Oz in Republican primary for Senate race
With almost all the results now in from Tuesday’s key primary elections, Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to baselessly suggest mail-in ballots were fraudulent in Pennsylvania, where his chosen Senate candidate Dr Mehmet Oz is locked in a tight battle with former hedge fund executive David McCormick.
With only a small portion of the vote yet to be counted, the two men are just a tiny number of votes apart, putting them within the 0.5-point margin that triggers an automatic recount – and raising the possibility that mail-in votes could put Mr McCormick ahead.
Elsewhere, strong performances by several Trump-backed candidates indicate the former president still has plenty of clout within the party, but it was far from a perfect scorecard. North Carolina Republicans threw out the far-right congressman Madison Cawthorn in his primary.
That result met with celebration even within the Republican Party, whose establishment increasingly wanted to see the congressman removed from office because of his extreme statements and outlandish behaviour.
PA Republicans rally around extreme Mastriano in face of Democratic attacks
As the Republican Party rallies around its Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, a hardcore theocratic conservative who travelled to Washington, DC on 6 January 2021, even some supporters of more moderate candidates are trying to paint him as the beneficiary of Democratic “dark money” spent to try and nominate an unelectable GOP candidate.
Andrew Naughtie19 May 2022 14:40
Report: On being kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s election night party
The Independent’s John Bowden took a trip to North Carolina this week to witness what turned out to be the downfall of Madison Cawthorn, the young far-right congressman who lost his primary this week after a long string of astonishing scandals.
Read his full dispatch below.
Andrew Naughtie19 May 2022 14:04
Focus on Idaho as far right makes strides at state level
Solidly Republican Idaho has long been a stronghold for hardcore right-wing politics, but the recent far-right drift among state Republicans is attracting increasing attention from beyond the state’s borders.
While several extremist challengers to incumbent officials lost their races on Tuesday, a very different dynamic played out in the state senate, where mulitple incumbents were ousted by candidates holding extreme views.
Boise State Public Radio has a detailed report on the situation here.
Andrew Naughtie19 May 2022 12:59
Oz-McCormick: the state of play
As things stand this morning, only a tiny proportion of votes in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary remain to be counted, and the gap between first-placed Dr Mehmet Oz and chaser Dave McCormick has closed to a mere 1,240 votes out of more than 1.3 million already counted.
It is not entirely clear how many votes remain outstanding, but Mr McCormick appears to have an edge in mail-in ballots (much to Donald Trump’s chagrin). The state’s counties have until next Tuesday to certify their results. And if the result ends with a margin of less than 0.5 points, as currently seems likely, an automatic recount will be…