Two Republican U.S. House incumbents in South Carolina who have drawn the ire of former President Donald Trump now find themselves facing tough primary challenges on Tuesday from candidates he has endorsed. Reps. Nancy Mace and Tom Rice criticized Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection, with Rice among the 10 House Republicans who crossed party lines to vote to impeach him. In Nevada, Democratic Rep. Dina Titus is being opposed by a progressive, while Republican Rep. Mark Amodei drew a challenge from a son of one of the state’s most famous sports figures. In Maine, a former Republican congressman is looking to reclaim his old seat. In Texas, a special primary election is being held to serve the remaining months of former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela’s term. Key congressional races to follow in Tuesday’s primary elections in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Texas: CROSSING TRUMP: SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICANS FACE CHALLENGERS Rep. Tom Rice, a five-term congressman, attracted a half-dozen GOP challengers after his vote to impeach Trump. All have cited the vote as a mark of disloyalty to both the former president and Rice’s constituents in the 7th Congressional District, which heavily supported Trump in his two campaigns. Trump has endorsed state Rep. Russell Fry in the race. Rice, an otherwise consistent supporter of Trump’s policies, has stood by his vote, acknowledging it may lead to his ouster but saying he followed his conscience. With a field of seven Republicans, it’s likely no candidate will capture more than 50% of the vote and the primary will head to a June 28 runoff. Rice’s district includes the tourist hotspot of Myrtle Beach and a number of inland, rural areas. Taking a somewhat different approach, Rep. Nancy Mace has sought to make amends for angering Trump, filming a video in New York this year outside Trump Tower to remind her constituents that she was one of the former president’s “earliest supporters.” She worked for his 2016 campaign and had his backing in her 2020 run. Besides criticizing Trump for the Jan. 6 insurrection, Mace went against the former president’s wishes by voting to certify President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election and to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the committee investigating the Capitol insurrection. Trump is supporting Mace’s opponent, former state Rep. Katie Arrington, who won the GOP nomination for the seat in 2018 by defeating incumbent Mark Sanford. She went on to lose the seat to Joe Cunningham in the general election in Democrats’ first flip of a South Carolina seat in decades. Mace, who narrowly defeated Cunningham in 2020, has spent one term representing the politically diverse 1st Congressional District, which includes Charleston and stretches south to other coastal areas including Hilton Head Island. PRIMARY CHALLENGE IN NEVADA’S SAFEST GOP HOUSE SEAT Rep. Mark Amodei is facing a primary challenge from a perennial candidate with a famous last name. Danny Tarkanian, son of legendary University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, is trying to knock off the six-term incumbent in the sprawling, rural northern district that no Democrat has won in its 40 years. Over the years, Tarkanian has launched two Senate campaigns and lost numerous congressional bids in two other districts. But he created enough of a […]

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