ALLY MUTNICK, CAMPAIGN REPORTER: I think the member-vs-member primary in West Virginia between McKinley and Mooney is the most interesting one of the cycle. No matter who wins on Tuesday, some big rule of politics will be broken. Either Trump’s endorsed candidate (Mooney) loses, or he wins despite voting against bringing millions of federal dollars to rebuild the state’s crumbling infrastructure.
ALEX ISENSTADT, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I’m looking to see how Herbster fares in the Nebraska governor’s race. Trump has gone in big for Herbster, flying in to host a rally for him and holding a conference call on his behalf. But it’s a risk for Trump: Herbster has been accused of sexual assault by eight women, and if he falls short it would mark one of the first major defeats for Trump in a Republican primary.
ZACH MONTELLARO, STATE POLITICS REPORTER: The big statewide race today is in Nebraska, where Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts is term-limited. The race has been a proxy battle between former President Donald Trump and the outgoing governor, who have endorsed candidates on opposite sides in this contest. Trump is backing longtime ally Herbster — memorably described in a POLITICO headline as a “bull semen baron” — while Ricketts is behind Jim Pillen, a member of the University of Nebraska board of regents. Those two men, alongside state Sen. Brett Lindstrom, are all viable candidates to win the party’s nomination (and effectively the governorship, because solid-red Nebraska won’t be competitive in November.).
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