What to know about the primaries in Nebraska and West Virginia
Voters went to the polls Tuesday in Nebraska and West Virginia, with Democrats vying for the chance to run in an open Nebraska seat that the party has long coveted.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon retires in Januaryleaving an open seat in a district that has voted Democratic in three of the last five presidential elections. Several Democrats are vying for the opportunity to take on Republican candidate Brinker Harding, an Omaha City Council member who ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
Also in Nebraska, Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts defeated a large number of primary challengers. and Cindy Burbank won the Democratic nomination, CBS News projected — but the state Democratic Party backed Dan Osborn, who is running in November as an independent.
And in West Virginia, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito fended off five primary challengers, while Democrats nominated Rachel Anderson.
Nebraska’s 2nd District
Top Democratic candidates in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District are battling over whether a candidate’s campaign will hurt the party’s competitiveness in the region.
Nebraska state Sen. John Cavanaugh and political organizer Denise Powell are leading a crowded Democratic primary for Bacon’s Omaha-area seat, which he has held for five terms. But Mr. Trump lost the district in his last two presidential elections, and Democrats have long seen it as an opportunity to win a seat.
Another issue in the race is how deep-red Nebraska divides its Electoral College votes in presidential elections. The state currently allocates most of its votes by congressional district, giving Democratic presidential candidates a chance to deny Republicans at least one vote in the 2nd Congressional District.
Powell argues that Cavanaugh’s potential success gives Republicans the opportunity to change how the state allocates its Electoral College votes to a winner-take-all system because, if Cavanaugh leaves the state legislature, GOP Gov. Jim Pillen will be able to appoint an interim replacement.
Nebraska Senate Seat
Ricketts was nominated in 2023 to complete the remainder of the former GOP senator. Ben Sasséand he won a special election the following year to complete the term. He is now seeking his first full term.
Ricketts, a former governor and son of Nebraska billionaire Joe Ricketts, defeated four primary challengers on Tuesday, with Ricketts being endorsed by President Trump and the Nebraska Farm Bureau. Ricketts is already focused on a match against Osborn in November.
Osborn, a former union leader from Omaha, is running as an independent, but he was endorsed by the Nebraska Democratic Party for the general election. Osborn faced incumbent Republican Senator Deb Fischer in 2024 and came within 7 points of her in a state that Mr. Trump won by more than 20 points. But Ricketts was also on the ballot that year and won his race by more than 25 points against a Democratic challenger.
Nebraska hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2006, when Sen. Bill Nelson defeated Ricketts.
Two Democrats were on the ballot Tuesday, although Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen sought in March to remove the projected winner — Burbank — from the ballot for not being a “bona fide” candidate, as she said she would support Osborn for the general election. The Nebraska Supreme Court later reinstated his candidacy, saying Evnen’s suit was filed too late.
Burbank’s campaign website accused the other Democrat on the ballot, Pastor William Forbes, of trying to get on the ballot in November to siphon votes away from Osborn. His campaign website said Osborn deserved a “fair chance against Ricketts.”
“William Forbes is a Ricketts factory,” Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb said on social media last week. “Don’t let MAGA Republicans ruin our primary. Vote for Cindy Burbank.”
Ricketts and Forbes insisted that Forbes’ candidacy was in good faith. Forbes, who is anti-abortion, told CNN he had voted for Mr Trump several times but said he was a lifelong Democrat.
There are also two Legal Marijuana NOW party candidates running Tuesday, although one candidate, Early Starkey, and the party’s former chairman have accused the other candidate, Mike Marvin, of being a “Dan Osborn plant,” which Marvin denied to the Nebraska Examiner. The Examiner also reported that Burbank paid Marvin’s filing fee, which she said was because “Mike’s check was ten dollars too much.”
Osborn, who is not on the primary ballot Tuesday because he is running as an independent, has raised more than $3.8 million this year and faces an Aug. 3 deadline to get enough signatures to appear on the ballot in November. Ricketts has raised more than $4.8 million.
Other races
Pillen defeated five GOP primary challengers in Nebraska’s gubernatorial race, and former state Sen. Lynne Walz won the Democratic primary, CBS News projected.
And in West Virginia, incumbent Sen. Moore Capito, a Republican, defeated Sen. Tom Willis and four other challengers on Tuesday, CBS News projected. Moore Capito received support from Mr. Trump. Five Democrats ran for the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat, and Anderson is expected to emerge victorious.
