State Sen. Doug Mastriano — who secured a late endorsement from Donald Trump and has trumpeted the former president’s lies about nonexistent, widespread fraud costing him the 2020 election — won the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s open governor’s office on Tuesday. Mastriano’s victory extends Trump’s winning streak in major Republican primaries around the country. But it also raises immediate questions about whether Mastriano, who was outside the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 when a mob overran it in a deadly insurrection, can attract enough moderate swing voters to prevail in November’s general election. Mastriano will face Democrat Josh Shapiro, who was unopposed in his primary. A more closely watched race on the Democratic side saw John Fetterman, days after a stroke sent him to the hospital, easily winning Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary — notching a major victory for his party’s left flank. Whom Fetterman will face in the fall wasn’t yet clear as Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate contest was too early to call. Celebrity heart surgeon Mehmet Oz, former hedge fund CEO David McCormick and commentator Kathy Barnette were all vying for the party’s nomination. Oz is the preferred candidate of Trump, who has sought to wield the power of his endorsement to lift his loyalists and reshape the GOP. Trump scored a far easier victory early in the night when U.S. Rep. Ted Budd clinched the GOP nomination for Senate in North Carolina. Trump’s surprise endorsement last year lifted Budd, a little known congressman, over better-known rivals, including a former governor. He quickly pivoted to a general election message focused on breaking Democratic control of Washington. “Under Joe Biden, America is woke and broke,” he said at a victory rally. “We need to put the brakes on this agenda for the sake of hardworking North Carolinians.” Budd will face Democratic former state supreme court justice Cheri Beasley, who is aiming to become North Carolina’s first Black senator. She told supporters “this is our moment.” “We have the power to restore our values to our government in Washington,” she said. “In this moment, we have the power to protect our rights.” Tuesday marked the busiest night of the nascent primary season, with contests also being waged in Kentucky, Oregon and Idaho. Both parties are choosing candidates to enter the fall general election, when control of Congress, governor’s mansions and key elections posts are up for grabs. Much of the attention was on Pennsylvania, a perennial political battleground that could decide control of the Senate. The 52-year-old Fetterman is known for his hulking, 6-foot-8 stature frame, and tattoos that helped him build a political persona as an outsider. That, combined with his support of top progressive causes such as universal, government-funded health care, helped him easily dispatch Democratic rival U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate in the mold of President Joe Biden. “Fetterman’s victory shows that voters are fed up and want fighters. This should be a wake up call to the entire Democratic Party establishment to fight harder against the fascists and those who obstruct a popular agenda,” Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement. Robert Sweeney, a 59-year-old resident of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, said he voted for Fetterman because “he seemed like a decent guy and knows what he’s doing.” Fetterman, who is Pennsylvania’s lieutenant […]

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