Eric Schmitt wins GOP primary for Senate in Missouri, defeating former governor Eric Greitens, CNN projects

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt will win the Republican nomination in the state’s Senate race, CNN projects. 

His victory will soothe the concerns of national Republicans who were anxious that scandal-plagued rival Eric Greitens, the disgraced former governor, could flop in the general election. 

Schmitt and Greitens shared an eleventh-hour endorsement from Trump, who said he was backing “Eric,” but that he would leave it up to Missouri voters to decide which one. Both candidates blasted out tweets and emails boasting of Trump’s support, but Show-Me State Republicans broke decisively for Schmitt, who in the final stretch of the campaign said he would like to replace Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell as the GOP’s leader in the Senate. (Greitens said the same earlier in the campaign.)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who along with Greitens appeared to be a distant second to Schmitt on Tuesday night, was endorsed by Sen. Josh Hawley, the state’s junior senator. Hartzler had been critical of Trump in the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021, but still voted against certifying the presidential vote and touts her voting record with Trump on the trail. 

Rep. Billy Long and Mark McCloskey, a lawyer who became famous after he and wife wielded firearms from their property as a protest against police violence passed by in June 2020, were also on the long GOP ballot.

Kansas on Tuesday became the first state in the nation to let voters weigh in on abortion since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The closely watched vote offers the first popular look at voter sentiment in the wake of the decision striking down Roe, which eliminated a federal right to abortion and sent the matter back to the states.

Voters regardless of political affiliation were asked whether to amend the state constitution to remove a protected right to abortion. The procedure is currently legal up to 22 weeks in Kansas, where people from Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri have traveled for services amid Republican-led efforts to roll back abortion rights.

A majority vote for “yes” would result in the state constitution being amended to say that it “does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion.”

While such a vote would not ban abortion, it would be up to the GOP-controlled state legislature to pass laws regarding the procedure, including ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy without exceptions for rape and incest. And removing state constitutional protections would significantly curtail the ability of an individual to challenge a restrictive abortion measure.

A “no” vote would leave the state constitution unchanged, and abortions up to 22 weeks would remain legal. Lawmakers could still pass restrictive abortion laws, but the state would have to meet a higher threshold proving that it has a reason to enact the law in court.

Until now, the courts have recognized a right to abortion under the state constitution. Lawmakers had passed a restrictive abortion law in 2015 that would have banned the dilation and evacuation procedure, but it was permanently blocked by the courts.

When the Kansas state Supreme Court in 2019 ruled on the law, it said that the right to an abortion was protected under Section 1 of the Kansas constitution’s Bill of Rights, which reads, “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The issue was placed on the primary ballot, rather than the general election, which abortion rights advocates believe was intended in order to limit turnout. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in the state by more than 350,000, according to the latest figures from the Kansas Secretary of State’s office.

The constitutional amendment has already raised voter interest in the primary election, according to the Kansas Secretary of State’s office.

CNN’s Nick Valencia and Devon Sayers contributed to this report.

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At a bar in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where dozens of his supporters have gathered for election night, Republican Rep. Peter Meijer was mingling with the crowd as results trickled in, telling them that mail-in ballots that he expects to break in his favor could take days to count.

He walked through days of delays in 2020’s results while talking with a group of six supporters on the patio of the Social House Kitchen & Bar. 

The earliest results showed Meijer trailing in his primary against John Gibbs, a conservative election denier endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Meijer told the group that those early results wouldn’t be representative of the eventual outcome as mail-in ballots that he expects to favor him are counted.

“So we’re here until Thursday,” one of the supporters joked. 

Meijer, who did not talk to reporters, is one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. 

Incumbent Rep. Cori Bush will win the Democratic nomination for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, CNN projects.

Trish Gunby will be the Democratic nominee in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District, CNN projects. She defeated one other challenger on the ballot.

Gunby will face GOP incumbent Rep. Ann Wagner in November, who CNN projects won her primary election on Tuesday.

With no swing seats in Missouri, the GOP’s 6-2 edge in the state’s US House delegation is expected to hold in November. Republicans currently control six of the state’s eight US House seats.

Tudor Dixon, who was endorsed by former President Trump, will win the Republican nomination in Michigan’s governor’s race, CNN projects.

Her victory sets the stage for one of the highest-stakes statewide races of the fall, as Republicans seek to unseat Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is seeking a second term. 

Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature in Michigan and Whitmer is main Democratic bulwark to GOP domination of the crucial presidential swing state. Trump won Michigan in 2016, then lost four years later. It then emerged as a hub of his election denial movement.

Dixon defeated a crowded field of Republicans, though not as large a field as some expected earlier this year before five candidates were disqualified after thousands of forged signatures were found on nominating petitions.

A Republican political commentator, she touted the backing of groups like the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Susan B. Anthony List.  

Just days before the Tuesday primary, Trump threw his support behind Dixon.

Like most of her rivals, Dixon sought Trump’s backing and centered her criticism of Whitmer on the Democratic governor’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. More recently, though, she hedged when asked on Fox News whether Trump won the 2020 election in Michigan – a sign, perhaps, that Dixon has already begun a general election pivot.  

She is also backed by Michigan’s GOP establishment, including former US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s family.

Incumbent Jerry Moran will win the Republican nomination in Kansas’ Senate race, CNN projects.

Incumbent Laura Kelly will win the Democratic nomination for Kansas governor, CNN projects.

She will face off against GOP nominee Derek Schmidt in November.

Derek Schmidt will win the Republican nomination for Kansas governor, CNN projects.