WASHINGTON—Two of Congress’ staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist alternatives to lock up Republican nominations, even as the party’s voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi.
Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller won her primary over fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis just days after she called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a “historic victory for White life” during a weekend rally with former President Donald Trump. Her spokesperson said she misspoke. She also voted against certifying Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election and is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.
Rep. Miller bested Davis for the GOP nomination in a sprawling, heavily red district in central Illinois that was redrawn after the state’s shrinking population cost it a congressional seat.
Rep. Davis was a co-chair of Trump’s 2020 Illinois campaign but voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results.
Another Trump ally, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of Congress’ most polarizing members, easily beat back a challenge from a more mainstream Republican.
Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo lost in a rare runoff to Sheriff Mike Ezell. But his Republican House colleague, Michael Guest, won a runoff race in the state, despite defying Trump and voting to create an independent commission to investigate last year’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In Illinois, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten beat progressive Rep. Marie Newman for a seat in suburban Chicago after a declining population cost the state a House seat.
In all, six states held congressional primary elections, primary runoffs or special elections.
Some of the top elections:
Rep. Boebert, a first-term firebrand, saw her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado become even more Republican after redistricting. She had little trouble with moderate state Rep. Don Coram, a rancher and hemp farmer, who slammed what he calls Boebert’s extremism. Rep. Boebert trumpeted her gun-toting Second Amendment credentials and opposition to COVID-19 restrictions that briefly shuttered her “Shooters” restaurant.
In Colorado’s deeply conservative El Paso County, eight-term Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn staved off a challenge from the right from state Rep. Dave Williams for his 5th Congressional District seat.
Rep. Williams failed to get the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon,” code for an obscenity against President Joe Biden, added to his name on the ballot. Rep. Lamborn faces an ongoing House ethics investigation over whether he misused official resources for personal purposes.
Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, emerged from a crowded field vying to replace 15-term Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, the only lawmaker who has ever beaten Barack Obama in a race. Mr. Obama challenged Rush in a 2000 U.S. House primary and lost.
The heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District that Mr. Jackson will now run in November to represent was redrawn after the 2020 census and now stretches from Chicago’s South Side to Kankakee.
In Illinois’ heavily Democratic 7th District, longtime Democratic Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago beat progressive and gun violence prevention activist Kina Collins on June 28—though the margin was far narrower than his commanding primary win over her in 2020. (AP)