Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska primaries 2024: Alsobrooks beats Trone, GOP incumbents survive

This week's primaries are ovah, so we're calling it a night! Here are the most important races where ABC News has reported a projection:

- Maryland's Senate matchup is set. In the GOP primary, former Gov. Larry Hogan easily dispatched his primary opposition, giving Republicans their best possible nominee for what will still be a very tough general election in deep-blue Maryland. In the Democratic primary, meanwhile, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks edged out Rep. David Trone in an expensive, hard-fought race. She now has the chance to become just the third Black woman elected to the Senate in U.S. history.

- In Maryland's 3rd District, state Sen. Sarah Elfreth won the very crowded Democratic primary, defeating Harry Dunn, the former Capitol Hill police officer who helped defend the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Given the district's blue lean, Elfreth should win in November, adding more women to the House, where women are still just 29 percent of its members.

- Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won the Republican primary for West Virginia governor in a close race over former state Del. Moore Capito. He's heavily favored to win in November in this red state and will likely be a hardline conservative governor, as he's associated with the tea party wing of the party.

- In the GOP primary for West Virginia senator, Gov. Jim Justice easily defeated Rep. Alex Mooney, carrying all but four counties in exurban Washington, D.C. Justice will be heavily favored to win the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who announced his retirement last year.

- In the Republican primary for West Virginia's 1st District, incumbent Rep. Carol Miller fended off a far-right challenge from former state Sen. Derrick Evans, who'd previously served three months in jail after being found guilty in a case related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. She'll be favored to comfortably hold on to her seat in November.

- In the Republican primary for West Virginia's 2nd District, state Treasurer Riley Moore romped to victory over several other GOP candidates vying to succeed Mooney (who ran for Senate). Moore is the nephew of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and the grandson of former Gov. Arch Moore; he'll be a shoo-in this fall for the deeply Republican seat.

- In Maryland's 6th District, which was vacated by Trone for his ill-fated Senate bid, Democrats went with a familiar name in their primary: April McClain Delaney, a former Biden administration official whose husband, John Delaney, held this seat for six years before Trone. On the Republican side, voters once again expressed their support for Neil Parrott, a local lawmaker who was the GOP nominee in 2020 and 2022. Delaney will be favored in the general election, but this is a seat that could get competitive under the right circumstances for Republicans.

- In Maryland's 2nd District, Democratic voters nominated Baltimore County Executive John "Johnny O" Olszewski Jr. to face off against Republican political commentator and frequent political candidate Kimberly Klacik. Biden won general election voters in this district 59 to 39 percent in 2020, so it's highly likely Johnny O will be the next representative of this northern-Baltimore seat.

- In Nebraska's 2nd District, Rep. Don Bacon easily turned back a primary challenge from right-wing Republican Dan Frei. That's bad news for Democrats, who would've had a much easier time beating Frei than Bacon in November in this swing seat.

—G. Elliott Morris, Monica Potts, Nathaniel Rakich and Geoffrey Skelley, 538; Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor; and Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

According to the AP, incumbent Brandon Scott has defeated former Mayor Sheila Dixon in the Democratic primary for Baltimore mayor. (With 67 percent of the expected vote reporting, Scott's lead is 51 percent to 41 percent.) Scott will be heavily favored in November in this deep-blue city.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538

Money can buy you a lot of things, but it's not all-powerful. Trone found that out the hard way tonight when he hit a ceiling of about 42 percent of the vote (with 61 percent of the expected vote reporting), despite spending untold millions. If Trone had spent $30 million less, I'm not sure he would have done all that much worse. If he had spent $60 million less, he probably wouldn't have registered at all.

It was obvious that money was a big part of victories elsewhere in the state and country. In Maryland's 3rd District, Elfreth was able to ride a wave of outside support to a comfortable but tough projected win over Dunn — without that money, I'm not sure she would have succeeded. And the third-place finisher, Lam, was not coincidentally the only other candidate to go on TV. In Maryland's 6th District, the only two Democrats with money to go on TV were also the ones to place in double digits, Delaney and Vogel, and the bigger spender won more votes. And in West Virginia's 2nd District and Nebraska's 2nd District, big spending by incumbent GOP representatives and their outside allies ultimately staved off underfunded challenges from right-wing opponents.

Anyway, my biggest takeaway is that Maryland has something to offer for everyone! And our flag is the best in the nation. With that: Good night.

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

Although the table here suggests a lot of Democratic women lost tonight, that's because a lot of Democratic women ran. But Democrats nominated women in a number of places that will be competitive or safe in November, like Maryland's Senate race, and in Maryland's 3rd and 6th Districts. As I mentioned earlier on the blog, as of May 8, 41 percent of Democratic nominees are women, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Tonight will likely boost that number.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor