WASHINGTON -Voters in Illinois and Colorado picked candidates for the U.S. Congress and other offices in primaries on Tuesday, in another test of former President Donald Trump’s influence in the Republican Party ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
Maryland and Oklahoma also held nomination contests. Following are four key races:
ILLINOIS’ 15TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Trump’s influence appeared ascendant in central Illinois, where newly drawn district boundaries pitted two incumbent Republicans against each other. Trump had endorsed U.S. Representative Mary Miller, who on Tuesday defeated U.S. Representative Rodney Davis, a more traditional conservative who had supported creating a congressional inquiry into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters. Miller, who is also an ally of U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent far-right Republican, is seen as likely to carry the district in November.
ILLINOIS’ 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Illinois’ newly drawn districts also pit two Democratic U.S. representatives against each other in the state’s 6th district. Representative Sean Casten defeated Representative Marie Newman, who has faced an ethics investigation for allegedly promising a job to a potential political rival.
U.S. SENATE SEAT IN COLORADO
In the Republican nomination contest for the U.S. Senate race in Colorado, construction company owner Joe O’Dea defeated state Representative Ron Hanks, who had marched in the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol. O’Dea now will face incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who is seen as potentially vulnerable in the November election.
COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE
In the Republican primary for the state’s top elections official, former Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson won the contest after rejecting Trump’s baseless claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Anderson trounced Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who has publicly backed Trump’s claims. Anderson will face incumbent Democrat Jena Griswold in November.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)
