CNN projects Trump-endorsed Moreno wins key Ohio GOP Senate primary

Ohio state Rep. Derek Merrin will win the Republican nomination for the state's 9th Congressional District, CNN projects, setting up what is likely to be a highly competitive general election against Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in congressional history.  

Merrin, who received a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, advanced out of a crowded field that included former state Rep. Craig Riedel. Riedel was originally seen as the party favorite in the primary for this Toledo-anchored seat, which includes Toledo, but he lost significant support after he was caught on tape criticizing Trump.  

Party leaders then scrambled to recruit a new candidate who was seen as both sufficiently pro-Trump and viable in the general election, ultimately settling on Merrin.

Republicans, who are defending a narrow House majority, are eyeing the 9th District seat as a pickup opportunity, given that Trump would have narrowly carried it under its present lines in 2020. 

The district gained the national spotlight in 2022 when Republican nominee J.R. Majewski, an ardent Trump supporter and a January 6, 2021, rally participant, faced allegations that he repeatedly shared pro-QAnon material and misrepresented his military service.  

Majewski, who ended up losing by a wide margin to Kaptur, ran for the seat again this cycle. But he dropped out of the primary earlier this month after making derogatory comments about people with mental disabilities. Kaptur, who was unopposed in her primary Tuesday, was first elected to Congress in 1982. She is among just five House Democrats who represent districts that would have backed Trump four years ago. 

Republicans are targeting two other Democratic-held seats in the Buckeye State:

Ohio's 1st District: Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman and Republican Army veteran Orlando Souza will meet in the general election for this Cincinnati-area seat. Both were unopposed in their primaries Tuesday.

Ohio's 13th District: Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes will face off against former Ohio state Sen. Kevin Coughlin. Sykes, a former minority leader in the Ohio House, was unopposed in her primary while Coughlin, who had the backing of Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, easily won a three-way GOP contest for this northeast Ohio seat, which includes Akron and Canton.

CNN's Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju contributed reporting for this post.

Several House Democrats in Illinois' congressional delegation will easily beat back primary challengers Tuesday, CNN projects. These lawmakers represent safely blue seats in the Chicago area and will be heavily favored for reelection in November.

Illinois' 4th District: Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García will win the Democratic primary, CNN projects, overcoming a challenge from Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez. A longtime fixture in Illinois politics, García is seeking a fourth term in this Hispanic-majority seat. Lopez, who is Mexican American like the incumbent, struck a more centrist tone on the campaign trail and had the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune editorial board.  

Illinois' 6th District: Rep. Sean Casten will win the Democratic nomination for a fourth term, CNN projects. Two years ago, Casten defeated progressive Rep. Marie Newman in the primary after the two were drawn into the same suburban seat following redistricting. Newman backed progressive candidate Mahnoor Ahmad in her challenge to Casten this year.  

Illinois' 7th District: Longtime Democratic Rep. Danny Davis will win his primary, CNN projects, fending off four challengers in his bid for a 15th term in this deep-blue Chicago seat. For the third straight election, Davis, 82, was challenged by progressive activist Kina Collins. Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin also launched a bid for the seat. Davis was first elected to the US House in 1996. He previously served on the Chicago City Council and the Cook County Commission.  

Illinois' 11th District: Democratic Rep. Bill Foster will win his primary, CNN projects, fending off a challenge from his left. Foster faced lawyer Qasim Rashid, a progressive who made the war in Gaza a key campaign platform. Since Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel, Democrats have grappled with criticism of President Joe Biden’s handling of the conflict and the impact it could have on the November election. Foster, who was first elected to Congress in 2008, is seeking a ninth full term in November.

Bernie Moreno, an Ohio businessman, will take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in a fall election that will be crucial to deciding Senate control, CNN projects. It's likely to be one of the most competitive races of the upcoming cycle.

Here are key things to know about the Republican challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump:

Arizona, which is holding presidential primaries today, is a key battleground state that helped deliver Joe Biden his 2020 win, and then helped Democrats win control of the Senate in 2020 and maintain it in 2022.

In 2016, Donald Trump carried the state by more than 91,000 votes over Hillary Clinton. But in 2020, Biden won Arizona by a margin of less than 11,000 votes, making him the first Democratic nominee to win Arizona since Bill Clinton in 1996.

What to know about the state demographics:

A closer look at the electorate in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix:

Pima County, home to Tucson, often tilts Democratic as well.

Bernie Moreno will win the Republican Senate primary in Ohio, CNN projects, a victory for the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, who had endorsed the Cleveland businessman in the three-way contest.  

Moreno will take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in a fall election that will be crucial to deciding Senate control. As one of two Democrats running for reelection in a state Trump twice carried, Brown is a top target for Republicans looking to pick up the one or two seats they need to flip the chamber, depending on who wins the White House.  

Tuesday’s GOP primary was this year’s first test of Trump’s clout in a contested Senate race. The former president backed Moreno in December at the urging of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, but his stamp of approval didn’t initially lock things up for Moreno in what became one of the most expensive races of the cycle so far. Trump made a last-minute trip to the state over the weekend to help his preferred candidate get over the finish line. 

Sen. Sherrod Brown is one of the last Democrats standing in Ohio – and the only one to hold a statewide office here. As he seeks a fourth term in the Senate while Ohio turns increasingly red, he knows he is facing the most challenging headwinds of nearly a half-century in elected office

Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine knows, however, that running against Brown is no easy feat. He himself lost his Senate seat in 2006 by double digits to Brown, who at the time was a congressman.

“He’s very, very good at campaigning. He’s going to be tough to beat. Can he be beaten? Absolutely. Matt Dolan is by far the strongest person to do it,” DeWine told CNN, expressing confidence in Matt Dolan, a state senator, who he has endorsed.

There’s no question Ohio’s Senate race will be competitive in November, but just how competitive may be determined by the outcome tonight.

President Joe Biden heralded the importance of the Latino vote and railed against former President Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric during a Tuesday visit in the battleground state of Arizona.

While celebrating the launch of the “Latinos Con Biden-Harris” coalition at a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix, the president reiterated how critical the Latino turnout was to his victory in 2020, and said he needs the community to do the same this year.

Biden pointed to Trump's inflammatory rhetoric: “This is a guy who ... [in] 2016 he called Latinos criminals, drug dealers and rapists. … Now he says immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country. What the hell is he talking about?”

He drew a contrast to that as he highlighted his accomplishments in office. “Because we turned out in 2020, we achieved the lowest unemployment rate for Latinos in a long, long time. We cut Hispanic child poverty to record lows. We lowered health care costs. We made historic investments in Latino small businesses, and we addressed gun violence in communities.”

The visit comes as Biden takes his reelection pitch to a pair of Western battleground states this week, heading to Nevada and Arizona to shore up support in key states he’s looking to defend.

Ohio’s Republican Senate primary – this year’s first test of Donald Trump’s clout in a contested Senate race – will help determine a key question this fall: What is the fate of Sen. Sherrod Brown and the Democratic majority?

“Are we ready to win and retire Sherrod Brown from Ohio politics?” state Sen. Matt Dolan, one of three Republican rivals locked in the bitter primary, asked supporters Monday night in Columbus.

Yet for all of the GOP’s focus on trying to defeat Brown in November, there was far more conversation about Trump and a weekend rally near Dayton that reverberated on the eve of the election.

The former president’s warnings about a “bloodbath” for the auto industry largely overshadowed the reason for his Buckeye State rally, which was to pull his preferred candidate, businessman Bernie Moreno, over the finish line.

Trump’s involvement in this race is noteworthy because national Republicans – who decided to play in primaries this year, in part to avoid the kinds of candidates who emerged as flawed general election nominees in 2022 – have stayed out of this one.

Despite already having clinched the GOP presidential nomination last week, Trump has a lot on the line in Ohio on Tuesday.

Read more on how the GOP primary could shape Senate control this fall.

It's 8 p.m. ET and polls are closing in Florida, where a GOP presidential primary is being held. While it was once a key presidential battleground state with record-close elections, Florida has become a more consistently Republican state in both state and federal elections.

Donald Trump improved his standing with Latinos in the Sunshine State in the last election. In 2016, Latinos made up 18% of the presidential electorate, and Trump won 35% of them. In 2020, the demographic made up 19% of the Florida electorate, and Trump won 46% of the group.

There is no Florida Democratic primary on Tuesday.

Polling is also closing in Illinois. The state is holding down-ballot primaries, including for the US House, along with its presidential contests. Illinois has increasingly become a solid Democratic state in presidential politics. Democrats have fared better here than nearly anywhere else nationwide in every presidential election since 1980.

Democratic strength in Illinois is especially driven by support in Chicago, while Republicans do better in the areas outside of Chicago and the so-called collar counties. Central and Southern Illinois are especially friendly areas for Republicans.

Most polls also closed at 8 p.m. ET in the presidential primaries in Kansas, though a few will close at 9 p.m. ET because of varying time zones. Republicans have carried Kansas in 20 of the last 21 presidential elections, dating to 1940.