Congressional primaries next week in Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia feature three Senate Democrats facing a competitive midterm, a handful of open House seats and the brother of Vice President Mike Pence.

Indiana

In Indiana, Democrat Joe Donnelly is seeking his first Senate reelection starting with an unopposed primary.

The Republican primary, however, features two Indiana congressmen – Luke Messer and Todd Rokita – whose college rivalry has apparently spilled over to adulthood. But the frontrunner in the Senate primary appears to be Mike Braun, a former state legislator who’s outraised Messer and Rokita 2-to-1 largely through self-funding.

Greg Pence, the brother of vice president Mike Pence, has raised nearly $1.2 million to replace Messer’s open seat in the 6th Congressional District.

Ohio

Senate Democrat Sherrod Brown can go to bed early Tuesday. He’s unopposed in the primary. But he’s also one of 10 Senate Democrats running in a state Trump won in 2016.

Brown will face the winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary, which is essentially a three-man race with Rep. Jim Renacci having raised over $4 million.

Renacci, however, is suffering from a bout of bad press thanks to allegations he was involved in a straw donor scheme that’s also implicated Indiana’s Messer and Rokita.

West Virginia

Not long ago, coal magnate Don Blankenship was eating jailhouse food. Now, he’s one of three Republicans vying for Senator Joe Manchin’s seat in November.

Blankenship’s the wild card whose checkered past and conspiracy-theorizing has the party worried that a Roy Moore rerun could botch the party’s shot at ousting Manchin from Washington.

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“Wasn’t he convicted of a crime?” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said in an interview with Politico in reference to Blankenship’s role in the deaths of 29 miners. “Being convicted of a crime is a real liability.”

Blankenship’s Trumpian bravado and wealth will meet two established candidates – U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Republican leadership doesn’t want Blankenship to win. With his criminal record, however, you can imagine Manchin’s campaign does.

Others are secretly liking and disliking him as well, as The Daily Beast reported this week.

Jenkins’ departure from the House leaves an open seat for the 3rd Congressional District, where Republican Carol Miller has nearly raised twice as much as her two closest challengers.

North Carolina

There’s no Senate race this year in the Tar Heel state, and incumbents are running in all 13 of its congressional districts.

Two midterm House races are considered competitive, however, both of which are held by Republicans.

In the 9th District, incumbent Robert Pittenger is expected to face Democrat Dan McCready. McCready, who has raised $1.9 million to Pittenger’s $1.1 million, would be the first Democrat elected to the seat since the early 1960s.

In the 13th District, Democrat Kathy Manning has raised $1.3 million in her bid to replace first-term incumbent Ted Budd.



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