NPR

Tuesday's Primaries: Spotlight On GOP Senate Battles In West Virginia And Indiana

An ugly West Virginia contest features controversial coal executive Don Blankenship. President Trump said he could jeopardize a key GOP Senate target. Ohio Democrats have a big contest for governor.
Republican Senate candidate Don Blankenship, a former coal executive who spent a year in prison, speaks at a town hall meeting at West Virginia University on March 1.

Republicans in Indiana and West Virginia will settle two bitter Senate primary fights today, with hopes that the nominees will not be too battered to take down vulnerable Democratic incumbents in November and secure the slim GOP Senate majority.

Candidates in both parties seem to agree on one thing: President Trump is the issue in 2018. While Republicans compete to prove who is most loyal to Trump, Democrats insist it's a tactic that will backfire come November, motivating more Democratic voters than Republicans.

Democrats haven't faced intense intra-party battles this year, but the primary race for Ohio governor has seen endorsements split between the party establishment and progressive activists, echoing the divisive 2016 presidential primary.

Final polls close at 7 p.m. ET in

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