CHARLSTAN, W.W. – Roads, bridges and former President Donald Trump will be in the minds of West Virginia and Nebraska voters when they elect Republican candidates in the primary from Republicans on Tuesday.
Two incumbent Republican congressmen, who have taken radically different approaches to their time in office, meet in the 2nd constituency of the West Virginia Congress, one of the most popular primaries of the House of Representatives in House of Representatives on election day. Representatives of David McKinley and Alex Mooney, who supports Trump, opposed each other after West Virginia lost its seat in Congress following the 2020 U.S. Census.
The West Virginia election is the first of five primaries to feature two incumbents in the US House of Representatives. He will be followed by similar competitions in Georgia and Michigan and in two Illinois counties.
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The primaries are held after the victory of Trump-backed Conservative J. D. Vance, author of the best-selling memoir Elegy of the Highlander, who defeated six other candidates to win the Republican primary in Ohio to the U.S. Senate last week. A contest in West Virginia will once again test the former president’s influence if his name is not on the ballot.
Nebraska voters will nominate candidates Tuesday to take the seat left by U.S. envoy Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican who resigned and completed his re-election application after being found guilty of lying to federal authorities about illegally contributing to the campaign. Fortenbury’s name will still appear on ballots in Congressional Election 1 because he withdrew after the deadline to certify the ballot, but Senator Mike Flood, a former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, seems to have an advantage over five other candidates. from the Republicans.
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Voters will also select candidates for the 2nd Nebraska Constituency in the Omaha area. A Republican MP who holds three terms, Don Bacon is facing a long-term problem with Steve Kuhl, a consultant from Omaha who received a shout out from Trump when the former president visited him earlier this month.
Trump called Bacon a “bad guy” during a recent rally in the state and had previously criticized him for supporting the federal infrastructure bill, which was opposed by most Republican lawmakers. Bacon has also been slightly critical of Trump in the past, saying the former president has some responsibility for the January 6 uprising at the U.S. Capitol.
However, Trump spoke in favor of formally approving Kuel, saying: “I think Steve will do well. Good luck, Steve, whoever you are. ”
Nebraska Democrats will nominate State Senator Tony Vargas of Omaha or Alicia Shelton, a mental health therapist from Omaha, to challenge Bacon in the state’s 2nd, only competitive district.
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In the rural, geographically vast 3rd district of Congress, U.S. Republican Adrian Smith faces a rival but is expected to win a nomination from his party. Two Democrats are vying to nominate their party in the constituency, which is overwhelmingly Republican.
In West Virginia, incumbent MP Carol Miller is expected to take a seat in Congressional 1st constituency against four Republican contenders.
In the 2nd constituency of the State Congress, where McKinley and Mooney are vying with each other for a Republican nomination, openly gay, former Morgantown City Council counselor Barry Wendel is competing with security operations manager Angela Dwyer in the Democratic primaries.
Mooney attacked McKinley because he, along with 12 other Republicans, voted in favor of President Joe Biden’s $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Trump, who won every constituency in West Virginia in two presidential elections and said Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill should be “ashamed of themselves”, backed Mooney the same day Biden signed the infrastructure law.
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David McKinley, a civil engineer by profession, received approval and praise from U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, and Republican Gov. Jim Justice for his vote on infrastructure. He said it was time to put party politics aside to meet the needs of his constituents.
“It wasn’t for Joe Biden – it was to help West Virginia,” he told the Associated Press.
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Associated Press writer Grant Schulte of Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
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