GOP primary voters reject 2 prominent pro-Trump election deniers, pick 1 pro-choice male


Voters went to the polls Tuesday in Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma, Utah, and South Carolina to pick their candidates for the November midterms. The Democratic governors of Colorado, Illinois, and New York — Jared Polis, J.B. Pritzker, and Kathy Hochul, respectively — all won their primaries, setting up potentially competitive races against Republicans Heidi Ganahl (Colorado), Darren Bailey (Illinois), and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.).
Zeldin easily beat a slate of Republicans that included Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy Giuliani. Bailey, recently endorsed by former President Donald Trump, beat Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, in a campaign where GOP billionaire Ken Griffin invested $50 million to boost Irvin while Bailey got help from advertising paid for by Priztker and the Democratic Governors Association. Democrats judged Bailey, a hardline anti-abortion Trump loyalist, the weaker opponent.
Democrats also spent $2.5 million to help Colorado state Rep. Ron Hanks (R) win the state's GOP Senate primary, but businessman Joe O'Dea (pictured) won and will face Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) in November. O'Dea is "one of the only abortion-rights-supporting Republicans in the nation to win a statewide primary this year," The Associated Press reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Also in Colorado, Republicans rejected prominent pro-Trump election conspiracist Tina Peters for secretary of state, choosing Pam Anderson to face Democratic incumbent Jena Griswold. Hanks also promoted Trump's lies about winning the 2020 election. In Mississippi, Rep. Michael Guest (R), who had voted for an independent Jan. 6 commission, survived a challenge from Trump loyalist Michael Cassidy.
Two controversial pro-Trump hardliners survived challenges. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) beat a GOP state representative who had focused on her extremism, and Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) defeated five-term Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill). Miller, a first-term congresswoman most famous for favorably quoting Adolf Hitler, praised Friday's Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade as "a victory for white life," a statement her spokesman later clarified was supposed to be "right to life."
In Nebraska's historically GOP 1st Congressional District, Republican Mike Flood beat Democrat Patty Passing Brooks by 4 percentage points to fill the rest of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's (R) term. Fortenberry, sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation for lying to the FBI, won the district by 22 points in 2020. "The specific cause of the margin wasn't immediately unclear, although there was evidence of higher turnout in one Democratic-leaning county that could be related to the Roe decision," AP speculates.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Today's political cartoons - March 16, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - head games, skyfall, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 explosively funny cartoons about Musk's faulty spacecrafts
Cartoons Artists take on trading up, blowing up, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Russia's spies: skulduggery in Great Yarmouth
In the Spotlight 'Amateurish' spy ring in Norfolk seaside town exposes the decline of Russian intelligence
By The Week UK Published
-
Schumer: Democrats will help pass spending bill
Speed Read The Democrats end the threat of government shutdown
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pulls nomination of anti-vax CDC pick
Speed Read Former Florida congressmen Dr. Dave Weldon was nominated to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Judges tell Trump to rehire fired federal workers
Speed Read Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE team face a big setback in their efforts to shrink the federal workforce
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump trade war heats up as Canada, EU retaliate
Speed Read The president imposes 25% steel and aluminum tariffs in an effort to revive US manufacturing, though it may drive up prices for Americans instead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump hawks Teslas, slashes more federal jobs
Speed Read The Education Department cut its workforce in half ahead of an expected Trump order to shutter the agency
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine agrees to ceasefire, ending US aid freeze
Speed Read Kyiv made peace with the Trump administration by agreeing to an immediate ceasefire in its war against Russian invaders
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
ICE arrests Palestinian advocate with green card
Speed Read Recent Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil has had his visa revoked, despite his status as a permanent resident
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump doesn't rule out recession as tariffs bite
Speed Read In an interview for Fox News, Trump acknowledges the economic turbulence caused by his tariffs but claims his policies will be worth it in the long run
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published