It was an early evening in Ohio.
Despite questions about turnout in bad weather, Tuesday’s primaries results were not much of a surprise.
In the biggest race of the night, JD Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” who remade himself as a die-hard supporter of Donald J. Trump, won the closely watched Republican Senate primary after his struggling campaign was overthrown. lifted by a crucial approval from the former chairman last month.
Here are a few key tips from one of the first big primary nights of the 2022 midterm cycle:
It was a good night for Donald Trump, and not just because of Vance.
Mr. Vance’s victory over a crowded field, in which he consolidated support the day of the vote, was undeniably good news for Mr. Trump. The former president’s approval on April 15 came when Mr. Vance was virtually left for dead. Instead, with the help of Mr. Trump and allies, including Donald Trump Jr., turned Mr. Vance’s campaign to.
“If Trump supports Vance, we know he will be good,” said Kurt Oster, 59, a voter in Eaton, Ohio.
Mr. Vance followed by a relatively wide margin Josh Mandel, a former Ohio treasurer who had run as a hard-right Trump loyalist—and, like Mr. Vance, was criticized for twisting himself in the process—and Matt Dolan, a state senator who sought more moderate voters. Mr Dolan appeared to be gaining ground during the early vote and other campaigns had closely monitored his apparent turnout.
But the fact that Mr. Vance and Mr. Mandel together received more than 50 percent of the vote as pro-Trump candidates spoke to the former president’s abiding hold on certain races — most notably Senate primaries, where voters to fight for them in Washington instead of to run their states.
In the general election, Mr. Vance, who has improved as a campaigner over the course of the primaries, will take on Representative Tim Ryan, a moderate Democrat who also claims to understand the concerns of Ohio’s white working class. Part of Mr. Trump’s rationale in approving Mr. Vance was his belief that Mr. Ryan would be a strong candidate, and that Mr. Vance was in the best position to hire him, according to a Republican named informed of the approval.
It’s not clear how much Mr. Vance’s message will change before the general election in a state that has become increasingly hostile to Democrats. Ryan, who is trying to win back workers to his party, has indicated that he will try to portray Yale Law School graduate and venture capitalist Mr. Vance as a creature of the cocktail party circuit and Silicon Valley. † But he faces an uphill battle in Ohio.
Ohio Republican voters preferred a familiar face for governor.
The night didn’t quite belong to Mr. Trump and Trumpism.
Gov. Mike DeWine easily won the Republican nomination for another term, despite angering many in the Trump wing of the party over what they saw as his heavy hand in managing the pandemic. Last month, Mr. DeWine said he could not attend a Trump rally in his state because he was determined to celebrate Ulysses S. Grant’s 200th birthday.
His main opponent, Jim Renacci, sought Trump’s approval but failed to get it, largely because he never posed a serious threat. Mr Renacci’s “Ohio First” campaign clearly echoed Mr Trump’s presidential bids, but it never gained traction.
A Trump ally stood up, while a Republican who supported impeachment leaves.
One of Mr. Trump’s other victories in Ohio was Max Miller, a young former aide who worked for him in the White House.
With Trump’s encouragement, Mr. Miller ran to Congress in a state where his family has deep ties, initially as an attempt to take down a House Republican who had voted to impeach Mr. Trump after the riots in the United States. Capitol. That congressman, Anthony Gonzalez, dropped out. But when the seats were redistributed during the reshuffle, Mr. Miller ran in another district and won his primary on Tuesday night.
Despite some ugly headlines — Mr Miller was accused of domestic violence by ex-girlfriend Stephanie Grisham, one of Mr Trump’s press secretaries, a claim he denied before filing a lawsuit for defamation — he is expected to the safe conservative district will easily bear in November.
And if he wins, another House member whose candidacy started as a revenge game will owe his political rise to the former president.
It is better to be the only Trump acolyte than the only incumbent Republican in a race.
Splitting the pro-Trump vote didn’t save Mr. Dolan’s candidacy in the Senate primaries, but splitting the Republican vote from the establishment landed a pro-Trump candidate a surprise victory in the Ninth Congressional District in the northwest from Ohio.
JR Majewski, a burly businessman who painted his sprawling back lawn into one huge Trump sign in 2020, earned the right to challenge Representative Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat who has served in Congress for decades. Her district was being redrawn by the Republican-controlled state legislature to try to thwart her bid for a 21st term.
The new borders attracted two GOP state lawmakers, state senator Theresa Gavarone and state representative Craig Riedel, to enter the primaries. Then, almost as an afterthought, came Mr. Majewski, who ran ads carrying an assault rifle, posted a “Let’s Go Brandon” rap on his website, and earned a somewhat disjointed acknowledgment from Mr. Trump at a rally in Ohio.
The battle between Mrs. Gavarone and Mr. Riedel, however, seemed to force Mr. Majewski through, though Mrs. Kaptur may have the last laugh.
Ohio Democrats showed little interest in adding a new “squad” member.
Last August, Shontel Brown, a little-known chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, came seemingly out of nowhere to win a special House election in Cleveland against Nina Turner, a former co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. and an activist hero left.
In Washington, the Democratic establishment had Mrs. Turner was very happy to be kept away from the House. She had made a career of bashing centrist Democrats, intending to be a brash voice in the growing “squad” of progressive members of Congress. Mrs. Brown was seen by many on the left as the creation of the establishment.
Mrs. Turner didn’t surprise anyone when she called Mrs. Brown challenged to a rematch in this year’s Democratic primaries.
Her pitch was that this year would be different. Crossover Republicans from the Cleveland suburbs who helped Ms. Brown in the special election would not be available this time, as they would vote in the Republican primaries. A redrawn district, still mostly Democratic, was more concentrated in and around Cleveland, home of Ms. Turner.
But Ms. Brown did not act this year as an unknown, but as an incumbent, who could point to her vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The Congressional Progressive Caucus approved her, decrying any boost Ms Turner would have gotten from Mr. Sanders’ endorsement and the late support of New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
And in a disheartening blow to Ms. Turner and the activist who left, Ms. Brown easily won the rematch.
Kevin Williams contributed reporting from Eaton, Ohio.