Early takeaways from the Maryland primaries

Maryland on Tuesday night served as the latest battleground between warring factions within the Republican and Democratic parties.

In the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Republicans aligned with Gov. Larry Hogan went head-to-head with those loyal to former President Trump in a high-profile proxy battle that could signal the party’s direction ahead of 2024. Meanwhile, hotly contested Democratic primaries exposed fissures within the party of President Biden.

Mail ballots have yet to be counted in the Old Line State, and some races may take several days to be called. Still, results on Tuesday night offered insight into where both parties currently stand heading into the midterms.

Here are some early takeaways from Tuesday night’s primaries.

Trump scores a key victory against Hogan

Trump scored a major win against one of his fiercest GOP critics, Hogan, after the former president’s favored candidate won in the Republican gubernatorial primary. 

Trump endorsed state Del. Dan Cox, a conservative firebrand, while Hogan got behind former state Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz. The Associated Press called the race for Cox Tuesday night, despite the delay in counting mail-in and absentee ballots. 

Cox organized buses to attend Trump’s rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and has referred to former Vice President Mike Pence as a “traitor.” 

Hogan, who is term-limited, has called Cox a “QAnon whack job.” 

The race could be a harbinger of other proxy battles between Trump’s wing of the GOP and the establishment flank. All eyes were on Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial primary on Monday after Pence formally endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson, who also has the support of the state’s governor, Doug Ducey (R), who is term-limited. But Trump has thrown his support behind former TV news anchor Kari Lake. 

Republicans outside of Trump’s wing of the party have warned that candidates like Cox and Lake could turn off voters with their focus on touting Trump’s unfounded claim that he won the 2020 presidential election. Meanwhile, candidates like Robson and Schulz have focused on issues like inflation. 

Cox will likely face headwinds going into the general election. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Maryland race as “lean Democratic.”

GOP endorsements fail to sway in a competitive district

Former Washington Free Beacon reporter Matthew Foldi was unable to advance out of the GOP primary for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District despite a stunning slate of endorsements from national Republicans. 

Foldi, 25, received the support of Republicans ranging from Hogan to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Donald Trump Jr. 

The candidate was portrayed as something of a possible rising star within the party and spoke about his goals of uniting Republicans during the campaign. 

“What we’ve been doing, big picture, is uniting the Republican Party at a time when sometimes that’s easier said than done,” Foldi told Fox News Digital prior to the primary. “But one of the messages that I’m making to voters in the final stretch of this campaign is that we’ve got support and endorsements from the entire spectrum of the Republican Party because we need a unified GOP here in order to defeat one of the wealthiest members of Congress, David Trone.”

Yet state Del. Neil Parrott (R) came out on top in the crowded six-person primary, setting up a rematch with incumbent Rep. David Trone (D).

Parrott lost to Trone two years ago by nearly 20 points. The Republican nominee will likely face another uphill climb going into November, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rating the seat as “lean Democratic.”

The Democratic establishment braces for a possible blow

The Democratic primary in Maryland’s gubernatorial contest was too close to call as of Wednesday morning, as officials awaited the counting of a significant number of mail ballots. But the early returns showed Wes Moore, an author and entrepreneur who earned the support of celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Spike Lee, leading his rivals by significant margins.

They included not only Peter Franchot, the state’s comptroller, but also Tom Perez, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a former Obama administration Cabinet official.

Moore said he would not declare victory until all the votes had been counted, and it’s possible Perez could narrow the gap once mail ballots are taken into account. But Moore’s significant lead is still a blow to figures like Perez and Franchot, both of whom have been fixtures in politics for years.

Moore ran as an outsider taking on what he called “career bureaucrats and 40-year politicians” in a recent MSNBC interview, suggesting that Democratic voters are hungering for new blood in an increasingly pessimistic national environment where Biden’s poll numbers have plummeted.

Whoever ends up winning the Democratic primary will go up against Cox, Trump’s endorsee, in a bid to succeed the term-limited Hogan.

AIPAC’s spending pays off

Israel became a notable flashpoint in the Democratic primary in Maryland’s 4th District, where former Rep. Donna Edwards is running for her old seat against Glenn Ivey, the former Prince George’s County state’s attorney. The race had yet to be called as of early Wednesday, but Ivey held a firm lead over Edwards with nearly 50 percent of the vote counted.

Should Ivey pull off a win, the race would prove a remarkable victory for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel organization. The United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, has spent a whopping $6 million in the race to boost the former state’s attorney. Edwards, on the other hand, has the support of the more left-leaning pro-Israel group J-Street, which has spent more than $700,000 in the race.

The former Maryland congresswoman drew opposition over her past stances on Israel.

AIPAC’s involvement in the primary, as well as others around the country, has sparked fierce criticism from some Democrats, who worry the organization’s involvement is stamping out voices in Congress who deviate from mainstream positions on Israel and Palestinian rights.

Nonetheless, a victory for Ivey would be a further sign of the organization’s clout as it seeks to flex its muscles more in electoral politics.