There are primary elections Tuesday in Kentucky, Alabama, Idaho, Oregon and Pennsylvania. These contests will be a further test of President Donald Trump’s grip on Republican voters.
The Latest:
Why Trump is angry with Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie
Massie angered Trump by voting against his signature tax legislation over concerns of adding to the national debt, pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and opposing his decision to go to war with Iran.
His positions, Massie insists, reflect the America First promises Trump initially made on the campaign trail.
In a Kentucky district where the president won by 35 points two years ago, Massie told The Associated Press that this primary is “by far the most challenging reelection I’ve ever faced.”
Voters have sent Massie back to Congress ever since his first election in 2012, embracing his stalwart independence and jaunty personality. Back in 2020, they brushed off Trump’s social media demand to throw Massie out of the Republican Party because he was a “third rate Grandstander.”
The Democrats running for US Senate in Kentucky
Their names may seem familiar.
The Democratic field in Kentucky includes former state lawmaker Charles Booker and former Marine pilot Amy McGrath. McGrath beat Booker and several other candidates in the 2020 Democratic primary to face McConnell.
Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate race in Kentucky since 1992.
Josh Shapiro tests his political clout
Pennsylvania’s governor is also a potential 2028 presidential candidate. With his own primary uncontested, he’s been spending money and support on Democrats running for U.S. House and the state Legislature.
Shapiro is on track to break his own campaign spending record and, in a step to help races up and down the ballot, has plunged more than $900,000 so far this election cycle into the state Democratic Party’s accounts.
The election year is an opportunity for Shapiro to show his political strength in a premier battleground state should he decide to run for president in 2028.
Coons says Hegseth stumping against Massie is part of Trump’s ‘retribution’
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, said Trump is continuing a “campaign of retribution” against his political enemies.
He suggested that the latest example is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth campaigning — “during a war” — against U.S. Rep. Tom Massie ahead of Kentucky’s primary on Tuesday.
“That continues to prevent Republicans from having the courage to speak out on matters of principle, which I think is putting all of us at risk,” Coons told reporters in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.
Massie angered Trump by opposing his signature tax legislation over concerns about the national debt, pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and opposing his decision to go to war with Iran.
Oregon voters to decide to fate of gas tax increase
They are being asked whether to approve a 6-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature last fall.
They’ve been casting ballots as prices at the pump have skyrocketed because of the war with Iran.
Democrats increased the tax and other fees to help pay for road improvements and plug a hole in the state’s transportation budget. Republicans responded by launching a successful referendum campaign to refer the tax and fee increases to the ballot, saying they drive the cost of living even higher.
Democrats say the main cause of skyrocketing gas prices is Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. But they’ve acknowledged the difficult timing of the ballot measure, which has also complicated national Democrats’ affordability messaging in midterm campaigning.
The Associated Press
