Primary election results: Trump rages as Dr Oz struggles and Madison Cawthorn crashes out

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.

Key points

• Why we won’t know the outcome of the GOP Senate primary in Pennsylvania just yet

• Fetterman wins Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania Senate race

• Election denier Doug Mastiano wins Pennsylvania Republican primary for governor

• Trump-backed Ted Budd wins GOP nomination in North Carolina Senate primary

• Madison Cawthorn loses re-election bid

Who is Dr Oz, the Trump-backed celebrity doctor running for the GOP primary in Pennsylvania’s Senate race?

Wednesday 18 May 2022 23:04 , Alex Woodward

The daytime television personality who millions of Americans have turned to for wellness advice made a surprising turn into Pennsylvania politics last year.

Now he’s the possible Republican nominee in a Senate race in a midterm election that could determine the balance of power in Congress.

Who is Dr Oz, the Trump-backed celebrity doctor running for Senate?

Why we don’t know the results in Pennsylvania’s GOP senate primary just yet

Wednesday 18 May 2022 23:37 , Alex Woodward

Dr Oz and Dave McCormick are just a few tenths of one percentage point apart in the Republican primary for a US Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

It may be several days or weeks to determine who won the race, with several thousand mail-in or absentee ballots left to be counted and processed.

Thousands of printing errors involving mail-in ballots from Lancaster County must also be manually remarked, with a team of 50 volunteers and county employees working with election administrators.

The errors impacted about 16,000 of 22,000 mail-in ballots that were returned.

Once all ballots counted, the race is likely headed to a recount, if the men can’t escape the .5 per cent threshold that separtes them. That threshold triggers an automatic recount, under state law. That process would have to start by 1 June and end no later than 7 June.

Then, of course, the winner in the GOP primary will face John Fetterman, who won every county in the state in the Democratic primary. That general election will put the GOP candidate against Fetterman on 8 November.

“I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand"

Thursday 19 May 2022 01:00 , Alex Woodward

What was the vibe like at the auto detail shop/campaign party as Madison Cawthorn’s re-election bid came crashing down?

The Independent’s John Bowden was there. He got kicked out.

I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand

Kinzinger: Cawthorn’s loss is ‘good for the country'

Thursday 19 May 2022 02:00 , Alex Woodward

Illinois Republican congressman and Trump critic called the loss of the former president’s pick in North Carolina “good for the country.”

“It’s good for the party. It’s good for the 11th District of North Carolina,” he told CNN.

“DC has become kind of a growing ground for people that are just more interested in fame than governing, that are more interested in becoming famous than in actually doing the really serious work, at a time when we have a lot of challenges here at home and a lot of challenges overseas.”

Kinzinger is notably not running for re-election. He joins Liz Cheney as the only two Republican House members on the congressional committee investigating the Capitol attack. Both of them are routinely attacked by far-right members of their party.

“The Pennsylvania primary showed a Republican party in disarray"

Thursday 19 May 2022 03:10 , Alex Woodward

The midterms are still months away, but Tuesday night was proof that the GOP is getting very good at shooting itself in the foot, writes Nathan McDermott:

Pennsylvania primary showed a Republican party in disarray

ICYMI: Here is why we don’t know the winner in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary

Thursday 19 May 2022 04:00 , Alex Woodward

Dr Oz and Dave McCormick are just a few tenths of one percentage point apart in the Republican primary for a US Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

It may be several days or weeks to determine who won the race, with several thousand mail-in or absentee ballots left to be counted and processed.

Thousands of printing errors involving mail-in ballots from Lancaster County must also be manually remarked, with a team of 50 volunteers and county employees working with election administrators.

The errors impacted about 16,000 of 22,000 mail-in ballots that were returned.

Once all ballots counted, the race is likely headed to a recount, if the men can’t escape the .5 per cent threshold that separtes them. That threshold triggers an automatic recount, under state law. That process would have to start by 1 June and end no later than 7 June.

Then, of course, the winner in the GOP primary will face John Fetterman, who won every county in the state in the Democratic primary. That general election will put the GOP candidate against Fetterman on 8 November.

Defeated GOP primary candidate blames Sean Hannity for her loss accusing him of ‘flat out lies’

Thursday 19 May 2022 05:00 , Alex Woodward

Far-right candidate Kathy Barnette, who is trailing in third in the Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania, is blaming her finish on Fox News host Sean Hannity.

In a video posted to her Twitter account early on Wednesday morning, she thanked her supporters and attacked the Fox personality.

She said: “I do want to say: never forget what Sean Hannity did in this race. Almost single-handedly, Sean Hannity sowed seeds of disinformation, flat-out lies every night for the past five days. And that was just extremely hard to overcome, apparently”.

Defeated GOP primary candidate blames Sean Hannity for her loss

Trump says ally Dr Oz should declare victory in Pennsylvania primary

Thursday 19 May 2022 06:00 , Alex Woodward

The former president baselessly suggested that his preferred candidate Dr Oz simply declare himself the winner in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary, and falsely claimed election officials are “unable” to count ballots – keeping up his bogus narrative that elections, if they don’t go his way, are rigged against him, throwing a wrench into the democratic process.

Trump whines that ally Dr Oz should declare victory in Pennsylvania Senate primary

Do Republicans like ‘Big Lie’ supporter Doug Mastriano suddenly now believe in legitimacy of elections?

Thursday 19 May 2022 07:00 , Alex Woodward

Doug Mastriano spent the months after the 2020 presidential election demanding an audit of results and amplifying Trump’s lie that his loss was due to fraudulent outcomes.

Last night Mastriano declared victory almost immediately after news networks predicted his GOP primary win for Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race, relying on the same electoral process that saw Trump lose two years ago.

Why do Mastriano and all the other previous deniers who won their races now believe the election process is fair?

The governor in Pennsylvania appoints the secretary of state, an immensely powerful position that runs the state’s elections and signs off on electors.

Do Republicans like Doug Mastriano suddenly now believe in legitimacy of elections?

How mailed ballots slow results in Pennsylvania

Thursday 19 May 2022 08:00 , Stuti Mishra

Former President Donald Trump blasted Pennsylvania's elections procedures on social media on Wednesday, even though there are no indications of any wrongdoing with those ballots other than a printing error that was slowing the tally in one county.

He has relentlessly criticised the state's voting procedures since his loss in Pennsylvania two years ago when it took several days to tally the results from all mailed ballots.

Here's an explainer on how the state's mailed ballot system works and what is causing the delay:

EXPLAINER: How mailed ballots slow results in Pennsylvania

How Mastriano's win in Pennsylvania could turn election lies into action

Thursday 19 May 2022 09:00 , Stuti Mishra

Doug Mastriano was deeply involved in Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the last election. He was at the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection.

If he's elected in November, Mr Mastriano has pledged to end the no-excuse vote by mail, a process that hundreds of thousands used in this week's primary. He also wants to force millions of registered voters to register again.

Here's what his victory would mean for the state with his far-right brand of politics:

How Pa. GOP gov pick could turn election lies into action

Madeleine Dean endorses John Fetterman

Thursday 19 May 2022 10:00 , Stuti Mishra

Democrat Madeleine Dean, who represents the 4th congressional district of Pennsylvania and has stayed away from endorsing any candidate so far, has backed lieutenant governor John Fetterman in the race.

“I am delighted to get behind John Fetterman,” Ms Dean said on Wednesday, adding that she ran against him for lieutenant governor for a period of time in 2018 and saw “a genuineness — willing to be himself, willing to be outside the box”.

Catch up: Who really won this week’s primaries?

Thursday 19 May 2022 10:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Eric Garcia has taken the measure of this week’s primary results – the ones that are final, anyway – and he has this analysis of what they tell us about the state of the two parties, and about Donald Trump’s inconsistent power to shape the electorate’s preferences:

Read his piece below.

Who really won and lost on Trump’s big primary night?

Hannity complains about failed far-right candidate

Thursday 19 May 2022 11:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Kathy Barnette’s supposed last-minute surge in the Pennsylvania Senate primary turned out to be an illusion, as she polled several points behind the near-tied Mehmet Oz and David McCormick. But she earned herself quite an audience on the right with her exuberantly extreme persona, and she is now using her newly earned platform to complain about Fox News’s Sean Hannity and his efforts to tarnish her as dangerous in his efforts to boost Dr Oz.

Here’s what Mr Hannity had to say about the matter last night:

Oz-McCormick: the state of play

Thursday 19 May 2022 12:15 , Andrew Naughtie

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 triggered.

In the meantime, catch up below on why the mail-in ballot process has slowed the count down so much.

EXPLAINER: How mailed ballots slow results in Pennsylvania

Focus on Idaho as far right makes strides at state level

Thursday 19 May 2022 12:59 , Andrew Naughtie

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.

Report: On being kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s election night party

Thursday 19 May 2022 14:04 , Andrew Naughtie

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.

I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand

PA Republicans rally around extreme Mastriano in face of Democratic attacks

Thursday 19 May 2022 14:40 , Andrew Naughtie

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.

Opinion: The Democratic party has a sore loser problem

Thursday 19 May 2022 15:10 , Alex Woodward

As progressive and centrist Democrats pick over their various successes and failures in this week’s primaries, Andrew Feinberg writes that the party as a whole has a serious problem: the number of candidates who cannot help kicking up a fuss when they lose a race.

Read the full piece below.

The Democratic Party has a lot of Sanders-backed sore losers. That needs to change

State of play: Oz v McCormick

Thursday 19 May 2022 16:03 , Alex Woodward

A day and a half after their primary, Mehmet Oz and Dave McCormick still have not settled who will be the GOP’s Senate nominee in Pennsylvania. As things stand, Dr Oz is ahead by 1,241 votes out of 1,334,374, giving him a margin of 0.1 points.

If the two remain within a half-point of each other when all the votes are tallied, a recount will be triggered. As things stand, everything hinges on the outstanding postal and overseas votes. Donald Trump has called on Dr Oz to declare victory prematurely.

Trump whines that ally Dr Oz should declare victory in Pennsylvania Senate primary

What (if anything) is Madison Cawthorn planning?

Thursday 19 May 2022 16:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Defeated in his primary earlier this week, scandal-prone extremist Congressman Madison Cawthorn has been left to pick up the pieces. So far, with no formal concession speech in the offing, all he’s offered is a gnomic tweet hinting that his career is not yet over...

In case you missed it, here’s John Bowden’s dispatch from what was meant to be the Cawthorn victory party.

I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand

Is Cawthorn done with politics?

Thursday 19 May 2022 17:24 , Alex Woodward

Despite hinting that he’s not done yet, with some time left in his congressional term, it doesn’t seen Congressman Madison Cawthorn has the financial fuel to remain in office after his GOP primary election loss on Tuesday night.

His “Making A Difference In Service to Our Nation” (or MADISON) leadership PAC filed its termination with the Federal Election Commission, less than 24 hours after results rolled in, according to Business Insider.

The Trump-backed candidate and once-ascendent young Republican in Congress conceded his loss to Chuck Edwards for the Republican nomination for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district race.

17,000 ballots remain uncounted in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary

Thursday 19 May 2022 20:11 , Alex Woodward

Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State reports 17,000 ballots remain uncounted in the state’s Republican primary elections, as of Thursday morning, with all eyes on the outcome of the GOP Senate race, with Trump-backed Dr Oz only slightly ahead of David McCormick based on current returns.

The race is almost guaranteed to head into a recount under state law.

‘Election subversion’ bills – and candidates who are counting on them – are all the rage

Thursday 19 May 2022 20:55 , Alex Woodward

Candidates who denied the outcome of the 2020 presidential election are running for contests across the US. One of them, Doug Mastriano, won the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania’s next governor, a position that appoints the secretary of state, who can confirm the state’s slate of electors and certify the results.

Meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers have filed dozens of bills to change the rules of election administration and undermine the workers who run the nation’s elections.

At least 33 states are considering at least 229 such bills, according to a new report from States United Democracy Center, Protect Democracy and Law Forward.

Since 2021, a total of 50 bills have been enacted or adopted.

“This report should sound an alarm for anyone who cares about free and fair elections,” said Victoria Bassetti, Senior Advisor, States United Democracy Center. “It shows that state legislatures are becoming bolder and more creative in their attempts to interfere with the trusted public servants who administer our elections. These bills are responses to a crisis that doesn’t exist. We know the 2020 election was free, fair, and accurate.”

In first post since election loss, Cawthorn invokes violent far-right ‘dark MAGA’ aesthetic

Thursday 19 May 2022 21:20 , Alex Woodward

In his first post on Instagram since his election loss in Tuesday’s primaries, Madison Cawthorn says his remaining time in office will allow for “Dark MAGA to truly take command,” invoking the name of a violent fringe, far-right online aesthetic that depicts a vengeful Trump-fuelled movement.

He says he is on a mission to “expose those who say and promise one thing yet legislate and work towards another, self-profiteering, globalist goal.”

“Their days are numbered. We are coming,” he writes.

Fetterman raised $1.6m after primary victory

Thursday 19 May 2022 22:20 , Alex Woodward

After carrying every Pennsylvania county in the Democratic Senate primary, John Fetterman’s campaign hauled in more than $1.6m within 24 hours.

“Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your support,” he said in a statement. “I am deeply honored to be your nominee, and I am looking forward to turning this seat blue in November.”

Fetterman will face the victor in the GOP primary – likely either Dr Oz or David McCormick – in the general election in November.

SCOTUS opinion on abortion rights could energize Democratic voters, poll suggests

Thursday 19 May 2022 23:00 , Alex Woodward

The results of a NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll released on Thursday shows that 66 per cent of Democratic voters say the leaked draft opinion of a US Supreme Court case that could overturn constitutional protections for abortion rights has made them more likely to vote in November.

That figures compares to only 40 per cent of Republicans.

Twenty-one per cent of respondents said they haven’t heard about the opinion.

The poll also found that 47 per cent of respondents would cast their vote for the Democratic candidate in their district if the election were held today, compared to 42 per cent who would support the Republican.

Friday 20 May 2022 01:06 , Alex Woodward

A baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from Donald Trump has fuelled a wave of state-level efforts to subvert democratic elections with legislation that makes it easier for partisan officials to undermine voters, according to a new report.

Pro-democracy groups found more than 200 attempts to change the rules of election administration and strip oversight from election officials, efforts that democratic advocates have warned could invite bogus fraud investigations or try to overturn results entirely.

GOP pushed dozens of ‘election subversion’ bills to hijack results, report finds

“I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand"

Friday 20 May 2022 03:18 , Alex Woodward

Two days before he invoked far-right violent rhetoric to describe what’s coming from his lame duck term in Congress, Madison Cawthorn’s campaign party was off to a rocky start.

The Independent’s John Bowden reports from North Carolina:

I was kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s primary party. Here’s what I saw beforehand

Oz and McCormick are in a virtual tie with thousands of ballots still to count

Friday 20 May 2022 04:00 , Alex Woodward

Where things stand in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary:

Dr Oz’s margin has narrowed in the past day, as county election officials continue to count mail-in ballots, but election workers still have thousands of left to count.

Pennsylvania’s Department of State, which oversees elections, reported roughly 51,000 mail-in and absentee ballots – including 17,000 in the Republican primary – yet to be tallied up.

Most Americans disapprove of Biden, Congress, and Supreme Court performance, new poll finds

Friday 20 May 2022 05:00 , Stuti Mishra

Nearly two-thirds of Americans give Biden negative marks on his handling of the US economy, while seven in 10 now want Supreme Court justices to serve term limits, according to a newly released Quinnipiac University poll.

Andrew Feinberg dives into the numbers:

Majority of Americans disapprove of Biden, Congress, and Supreme Court performance

With more primaries on the way, progressive Democrats face a stark choice

Friday 20 May 2022 06:00 , Stuti Mishra

Progressives had plenty to smile about after Tuesday’s primary contests, writes Eric Garcia.

But thanks to a few upcoming primaries, progressive Democrats still have their work cut out for them.

Read more:

With more primaries on the way, progressive Democrats face a stark choice

Report: On being kicked out of Madison Cawthorn’s election night party

Friday 20 May 2022 07:11 , Stuti Mishra

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.

In the end, the finale of Mr Cawthorn’s campaign mirrored his entire House career: Contempt for journalists, who were not allowed inside the building for the entirety of his watch party Tuesday evening and ushered out when it ended, amid a stunning and sudden desertion of his closest supporters and allies.

Failing even to limit Mr Edwards to a runoff in June, the first-term congressman will now serve out the next six-and-a-half months of his two year House tenure as a lame duck, while a state-level lawmaker previously completely unknown outside of North Carolina just proved to the nation that defeating a Trump-anointed champion is possible, albeit under very specific circumstances.

Read his full dispatch below.

ICYMI: Oz-McCormick: the state of play

Friday 20 May 2022 08:00 , Stuti Mishra

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 triggered.

In the meantime, catch up below on why the mail-in ballot process has slowed the count down so much.

EXPLAINER: How mailed ballots slow results in Pennsylvania

ICYMI: ‘Election subversion’ bills – and candidates who are counting on them – are all the rage

Friday 20 May 2022 09:00 , Stuti Mishra

Candidates who denied the outcome of the 2020 presidential election are running for contests across the US. One of them, Doug Mastriano, won the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania’s next governor, a position that appoints the secretary of state, who can confirm the state’s slate of electors and certify the results.

Meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers have filed dozens of bills to change the rules of election administration and undermine the workers who run the nation’s elections.

At least 33 states are considering at least 229 such bills, according to a new report from States United Democracy Center, Protect Democracy and Law Forward.

Since 2021, a total of 50 bills have been enacted or adopted.

“This report should sound an alarm for anyone who cares about free and fair elections,” said Victoria Bassetti, Senior Advisor, States United Democracy Center. “It shows that state legislatures are becoming bolder and more creative in their attempts to interfere with the trusted public servants who administer our elections. These bills are responses to a crisis that doesn’t exist. We know the 2020 election was free, fair, and accurate.”

Opinion: The Democratic party has a sore loser problem

Friday 20 May 2022 10:00 , Stuti Mishra

As progressive and centrist Democrats pick over their various successes and failures in this week’s primaries, Andrew Feinberg writes that the party as a whole has a serious problem: the number of candidates who cannot help kicking up a fuss when they lose a race.

Read the full piece below.

The Democratic Party has a lot of Sanders-backed sore losers. That needs to change

How Madison Cawthorn crashed out after just one term

Friday 20 May 2022 11:00 , Stuti Mishra

While Tuesday's result is truly embarrassing for an incumbent congressman of any stature, it was particularly so for someone with as national a presence as Madison Cawthorn – doubly due to continued support from GOP kingmaker and Mar-a-Lago baron Donald Trump, who has lorded over the GOP and primary races virtually since the day he left the White House, writes John Bowden.

Despite a slew of scandals and a feud with House Republican leadership – which could easily have played into his hands among the party’s anti-establishment base – Mr Cawthorn maintained support from Mr Trump throughout his campaign right up to Tuesday’s primary.

A day earlier, however, Mr Trump made his thoughts clear on his support, with a statement that confirmed his continued endorsement but also rebuking the congressman harshly for “foolish” mistakes.

Read more:

‘It is what it is’: On the scene of Madison Cawthorn’s stunning loss

Trump weighs in again on PA vote count

Friday 20 May 2022 11:45 , Andrew Naughtie

Irked at the possible defeat of his preferred candidate Dr Mehmet Oz, Donald Trump is still raging at the slowness of the count in Pennsylvania’s Senate primary. Here’s a message he sent on Truth Social last night:

The race remains too close to call. Dr Oz is ahead by only 1,127 votes out of 1,338,186 counted, with more mail-in and provisional ballots yet to be counted.

Friday 20 May 2022 12:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Madison Cawthorn initially seemed in a quiet and collegial mood after being trounced by a Republican in Tuesday’s congressional primary, but any sense of calm has now been dispelled by a post on his Instagram page where he shares a list of “America First patriots” who supported him – among them some of the US’s most notorious far-right figures, including Steve Bannon and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

In a characteristically belligerent comment accompanying the post, he identifies himself with a growing tendency calling itself “Dark MAGA” and threatens “the cowardly and weak members of our own party” with defeat. “Their days are numbered,” he writes. “We are coming.”

The Dark MAGA term has indeed been spreading online recently, but those who cover far-right extremism closely are warning not to indulge it with too much attention.

Dr Oz slams John Fetterman on weed legalisation

Friday 20 May 2022 13:14 , Andrew Naughtie

Dr Mehmet Oz, who is still waiting to see if he can eke out a win in Pennsylvania’s senate primary, used a Newsmax interview last night to stake out positions against John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the crucially important seat. And on one issue, he had a very strange take, arguing that the effect of legalising marijuana would be to keep unemployed people at home when they should instead be going out to get jobs.

Why Trump’s PA endorsements went down so badly

Friday 20 May 2022 13:50 , Andrew Naughtie

Politico has a great write-up of the consequences of Donald Trump’s two high-profile Pennsylvania endorsements. In the Senate race, the former president backed Dr Mehmet Oz, whose current lead is down to a margin of less than 0.1 per cent, over the objections of many Republicans who considered the celebrity medic insufficiently conservative; and in the gubernatorial primary, he threw his support behind radical theocrat and 6 January attendee Doug Mastriano.

In various quotes from local Republican officials and better-known party grandees like Rick Santorum, the profile details just how badly the endorsements went down with an audience that matters greatly for Mr Trump’s re-election chances.

Read the piece below.

Georgia: Another Trump endorsee on the ropes

Friday 20 May 2022 14:25 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump months ago gave former Georgia senator David Perdue his blessing to challenge incumbent governor Brian Kemp, who refused to endorse the lie that the state was stolen for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. But whereas several other Trump endorsements have seen the president make a major impact, the Perdue campaign has made almost no dent in Mr Kemp’s standing at all – and ahead of Tuesday’s primary, the challenger has been reduced to insisting that his 30-point polling deficit can’t be as bad as it looks.

The campaign is no longer airing TV ads in the state, and it seems Mr Trump is not planning a visit there before Tuesday’s primary. Mr Kemp, meanwhile, will be hosting none other than Mike Pence for a get-out-the-vote effort on Monday.

New York Democrats prepare for a bitter primary season

Friday 20 May 2022 15:00 , Andrew Naughtie

It’s not just Republicans having a nightmare with competing primary candidates. Thanks to a redistricting fiasco in New York, some of the most senior House Democrats suddenly find themselves going head-to-head in suddenly redrawn districts.

Among the more awkward clashes is that between Jerrod Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, two New York city representatives who are clearly gearing up for a bitter fight:

Eric Garcia has more on the party’s acrimonious primary fights between sitting members, which have thrown up allegations of racism as well as renewed ideological purity tests.

With more primaries on the way, progressive Democrats face a stark choice

Alabama’s Mo Brooks still touting withdrawn Trump endorsement

Friday 20 May 2022 15:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Mo Brooks, an Alabama congressman who spoke at Donald Trump’s “stop the steal” event outside the White House on 6 January, initially had the ex-president’s backing in his campaign for his state’s US Senate seat – but then lost it after first suggesting Republicans should “move on” from the 2020 election and then tanking in the polls, both serious violations of the Trump playbook.

Now, he is struggling to recoup whatever momentum he once had – and as spotted by the Alabama Political Reporter, he is still sending out mailers with an approving quote from Mr Trump alongside a shot of him speaking at the infamous rally that heralded the insurrection.

Bill DeBlasio running for Congress

Friday 20 May 2022 16:07 , Andrew Naughtie

New York’s redrawn congressional boundaries have thrown the state’s midterms landscape into disarray, with incumbents forced to decide between running against each other or adopting new districts to try and cling on to a seat. And to top things off, the new map has enticed others who might not have mounted a challenge to stick their oar in.

The latest addition to the list of Democratic candidates is Bill DeBlasio, who served as mayor of New York City until 1 January this year. He will be targeting a new district – the state’s 10th – which takes in territory from both Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announces run for Congress

Oz v McCormick: The state of play

Friday 20 May 2022 16:31 , Andrew Naughtie

There is still no sign of a final result in Pennsylvania’s hard-fought GOP Senate primary, but Dr Oz’s margin has incrementally shrunk since this morning.

At the moment, he leads challenger Dave McCormick with 418,156 to 417,041, meaning the two men are still headed for an automatically triggered recount.

Tight PA senate race puts focus on discounted ballots

Friday 20 May 2022 16:59 , Andrew Naughtie

As we wait for a result in the tortuous Oz-McCormick primary race, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Lai has pulled together a rundown of the reasons ballots are being rejected in the excruciatingly tight contest:

Record early voting reported in Georgia

Friday 20 May 2022 19:52 , Josh Marcus

Georgia was one of the hotbeds of energy and controversy during the 2020 presidential election, and that momentum looks set to continue into the 2022 primaries.

Georgia officials were reporting record early voting numbers on Friday morning, the last day to cast an early ballot in the state, with more than 20,000 making their voices heard so far.

“As of 10am 20,028 Georgians had cast their ballots,” Georgia’s deputy secretary of state Gabriel Sterling wrote on Twitter on Friday.

The contest in the Peach State will help determine the extent of Donald Trump’s influence in the Republican party going forward, as the former president has endorsed a primary challenger, former Georgia senator David Perdue, to challenge incumbent governor Brian Kemp.

How progressive are Democrats willing to go this primary season?

Friday 20 May 2022 20:22 , Josh Marcus

There’s an “all-out blood feud” brewing between progressive and incumbent Democrats in races around the country, exposing fissures on tricky issues like race, abortion, and bipartisanship.

Find out more about what’s at stake this primary season with DC correspondent Eric Garcia’s latest column.

With more primaries on the way, progressive Democrats face a stark choice

Results of Dr Oz primary race may not be known until 8 June deadline

Friday 20 May 2022 20:52 , Josh Marcus

The Republican primary race for Pennsyvlania’s open US Senate seat remains too close to call.

The contest, between the Trump-endorsed celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, remains so close that it could trigger the state’s automatic recount law, meaning a result may not be known until 8 June.

At midday, Dr Oz led Mr McCormick by about 1,000 votes, or less than a tenth of once per cent of all votes cast in the race.

Both campaigns have been lawyering up and hiring on recount specialists in anticipation, the AP reports.

This one race in Georgia has seen more than $1m in political ad spending

Friday 20 May 2022 21:46 , Josh Marcus

The race for secretary of state usually doesn’t get the highest billing when it comes to politics, but the 2020 election reminded people of just how crucial it is to have solid election administrators in place when controversy rolls around.

In Georgia, one of the center’s of Donald Trump’s persistent attempts to change the election results, the secretary of state race attracted more than $1m in political ad spending, The New York Times reports.

The biggest portion of the campaign cash came from Bee Nguyen, a Democratic state rep who has framed herself as a defender of voting rights.

“When our voting rights are attacked, we all lose,” she says in one ad.

She’s running against incumbent Brad Raffensperger, who famouly resisted Donald Trump’s call to “find” him enough votes to win the state in 2020.

What is “Dark MAGA” the new philsophy advocated by Madison Cawthorn and other Republicans online?

Friday 20 May 2022 22:16 , Josh Marcus

Madison Cawthorn scorched his former Republican colleagues in Congress, writing in his first Instagram post since losing North Carolina’s GOP primary to state senator Chuck Edwards of his fury toward “cowardly and weak members of our own party.” Instead of their brand of “genteel politics,” it’s time for “Dark MAGA” to take charge.

“I am on a mission now to expose those who say and promise one thing yet legislate and work towards another, self-profiteering, globalist goal,” Mr Cawthorn wrote on Thursday. “The time for genteel politics as usual has come to an end. It’s time for the rise of the new right, it’s time for Dark MAGA to truly take command. We have an enemy to defeat, but we will never be able to defeat them until we defeat the cowardly and weak members of our own party. Their days are numbered. We are coming.”

“Dark MAGA,” a term that began cropping online earlier this year in far-right circles, refers to a meme-heavy strain of Donald Trump fandom calling on the former president to return to power and exact extreme revenge on his political enemies, often accompanied with sci-fi or fascistic aesthetics.

The long tail of the 2020 election

Friday 20 May 2022 23:33 , Josh Marcus

The 2022 primaries may be under way, but we’re still learning more about the legacy of the 2020 presidential, and the strange cast of characters who populate its more conspiratorial corners.

Ginni Thomas, the wife of a Supreme Court justice, asked two Republican Arizona lawmakers to help Donald Trump overturn his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden, says a new report.

It was already known that Ms Thomas, 65, a long-time conservative activist and the wife of justice Clarence Thomas, 73, had sent text messages in the days after Mr Trump’s loss one of his senior aides, chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, urging him to “Help This Great President stand firm”.

It has now been reported that her efforts to stop Mr Biden becoming president went even further, and that she sent emails to two state legislators in Arizona, asking for their assistance in blocking Democrats from taking the White House.

Andrew Buncombe has more.

Ginni Thomas ‘asked Arizona lawmakers to help Trump overturn 2020 election defeat’

The Justice Democrats are on a roll

Saturday 21 May 2022 00:33 , Josh Marcus

The Justice Democrats are on a roll this primary season.

Candidates endorsed by the progressive group, an outgrowth of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, haven’t lost a congressional primary yet in 2022, as noted by The Daily Beast’s Ursula Perano.

First, former Austin city councilman Greg Casar won his primary in March for a district covering Austin and San Antonio, while on Friday it was announced Summer Lee won a hotly contested and expensive race in Pennsylvania.

Next up is Jessica Cisnero’s runoff against moderate incumbent Henry Cuellar, for Texas’s 28th District, an area which includes parts of San Antonio and the US-Mexico border.

Here’s reporting from our Eric Garcia on the background of this specific contest.

Jessica Cisneros and Henry Cuellar advance to a runoff in Texas border district

Vermont House candidate has friends in high places

Saturday 21 May 2022 01:30 , Josh Marcus

Want to know what it takes to win a congressional seat?

Financial disclosures from a candidate for Vermont’s lone place in the House provide an interesting window into congressional fundraising.

Democrat Molly Gray, who is currently Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, raised $628,000 between December and March, about 16 per cent of which came from the Washington DC area.

Her donors include former employees of presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well her previous bosses congressman Peter Welch and outgoing US Senator Patrick Leahy.

"I won’t here tonight say that I won’t accept state or federal lobbyist contributions, but I will be disclosing every dollar," Ms Gray said at a debate last month, "and Vermonters can judge who supports the campaign for themselves."

ICYMI: Madison Cawthorn crashes out in spectacular fashion after Trump’s ‘foolish’ rebuke

Saturday 21 May 2022 02:30 , Josh Marcus

Two very different scenes developed in Hendersonville on Tuesday as a pair of rivals faced off for the title of GOP nominee to represent this quiet part of western North Carolina in the House of Representatives.

With the scenic Blue Ridge mountains rising in the background, state senator Chuck Edwards gathered with supporters at a small lodge with a man-made waterfall on the city’s outskirts, awaiting the night that could send him hundreds of miles away to Washington.

Across town at a small auto detailer and tire shop rented out by his campaign, Madison Cawthorn huddled with close allies and awaited his fate, left to the hands of voters in North Carolina’s 11th congressional district.

That fate was revealed shortly before 10pm on Tuesday evening as networks began calling the race and it became clear that first-term congressman Mr Cawthorn was not even going to make it to a June runoff.

Read more of John Bowden’s campaign dispatch.

Facebook accused of failing to detect ‘rampant election fraud’ campaign ad bought by Trump-backed Republican

Saturday 21 May 2022 03:30 , Josh Marcus

Facebook has been accused of failing to detect and stop a campaign advert repeating the “Big Lie” about the 2020 election bought by a Republican candidate who backed by Donald Trump.

In the aftermath of Mr Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden, several social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook, embarked on efforts to address false information spread that the election had been rigged.

Mr Trump, who was one of the biggest spreaders of falsehoods about the election, was banished from both platforms, and social media companies said they were working to address disinformation in the months ahead of November’s midterm election.Yet, a report in the Washington Post said the company’s systems had failed to detect an advert bought and posted in May by Joe Kent, a Trump-endorsed former special forces solider, competing in the race for Washington’s third congressional district.

Andrew Buncombe has more.

Facebook ‘fails to detect’ ‘Big Lie’ campaign ad by Trump-backed candidate

The Pennsylvania primary showed a Republican party in disarray

Saturday 21 May 2022 04:30 , Josh Marcus

John Fetterman won his primary from a hospital bed Tuesday night, but the Democratic Party is the healthiest it has been this campaign cycle. That’s in no small part because of his landslide victory, at least in Pennsylvania. Republicans meanwhile, have found themselves divided. Talk show host, doctor, and Oprah acolyte Mehmet Oz is in a virtual tie with David McCormick, a hedge fund manager and former official in the George W. Bush White House, and the outcome for that race won’t be known for days. Both are competing against the other to challenge Fetterman to become the state’s next senator.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, the Republican establishment tried in vain to stop state Senator Doug Mastriano from becoming the party’s nominee for governor. Mastriano is a far-right candidate who denies the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. It’s no surprise then that, while other Republicans dropped out of the gubernatorial race to stop his toxic candidacy from leading the ticket, the Republican whose opinion matters the most — Donald Trump — endorsed him.

Read more of Nathan McDermott’s election analysis.

Pennsylvania primary showed a Republican party in disarray

The Democratic Party has a lot of sore losers. That needs to change — and quickly

Saturday 21 May 2022 05:30 , Josh Marcus

Even before polls were open in some primary states on Tuesday, a two-time Democratic presidential primary runner-up was making excuses as to why candidates he’d backed might not fare well. In a letter to Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders complained about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s PAC spending money to air TV ads criticizing Sanders-backed candidates who have made negative statements about Israel’s government. Sanders claimed the “billionaire-funded effort” was meant to “crush the candidacies of a number of progressive women of color who are running for Congress”.

His statement was slightly less antagonistic than what his protégé, former Ohio state senator Nina Turner, said after losing the first of two consecutive primaries to Representative Shontel Brown.

At the time, Turner said “evil money” had been used to “manipulate” and “malign” the election away from her. A year later, she ended her 2022 rematch against Brown by claiming “corporate special interests” had “bought” the district by supporting her opponent.

Get Andrew Feinberg’s take on why Democrats need to change their tone around the primaries.

The Democratic Party has a lot of Sanders-backed sore losers. That needs to change

Need a hand on your campaign? Call Eric Adams.

Saturday 21 May 2022 06:30 , Josh Marcus

Democrats are increasingly turning to New York mayor Eric Adams for inspiration and messaging, Politico reports.

He was invited by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to speak at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Issues Conference and Weekend last week.

“Mayors don’t have the luxury of talking about problems — they have to go fix them,” Representative Sean Maloney wrote of the decision in a statement to the publication. “Eric Adams is a guy who has taken action while a lot of politicians are still talking. He brings a valuable perspective to our party and shows how Democrats can tackle all the important challenges and issues without falling victim to the false choices.”

At the event, Mr Adams told his fellow Dems they must “be better storytellers” and “highlight how the Republicans are failing on crime.”