Rice, a five-term lawmaker, was defeated on Tuesday by state lawmaker Russell Fry, who was ratified by Trump. Rice was an ardent supporter of Trump’s policies in Washington, but said he had no choice but to blame Trump for his failure to appease the mob that tried to stop Joe Biden’s victory. South Carolina lawmaker Nancy Mays also angered Trump, but tried to make amends and won her GOP qualifier against a Trump-backed challenge. In other races Tuesday, Democrat Dina Titus in Nevada aptly defeated her progressive challenger, while Republican MP Mark Amodei drew a challenge from the son of one of the state’s most famous sports figures. In Maine, a former Republican lawmaker hopes to reclaim his seat in November in a rematch with the Democrats who defeated him four years ago. In Texas, Republican Myra Flores reduced the Democratic majority in Nancy Pelosi’s House by winning a special primary to serve the remaining months of former Democrat Filemon Vela’s term. Key congressional races in Tuesday’s primary in Maine, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas: Rice, who attracted half a dozen Republican challengers after his vote to oust Trump, stood by his decision, acknowledging it could lead to his ouster, but saying he followed his conscience. Fry, the majority whip in Parliament, has served in the South Carolina State House since 2015. Trump had campaigned with Fry earlier this year in the 7th Congressional District, a Republican stronghold that includes the U.S. tourist attraction and a number of inland, rural areas. Trump had vowed to take revenge on the 10 House Republicans who crossed the party’s borders to oust him. Four out of 10 decided not to seek re-election. The fifth, spokesman David Valadao from California, is still waiting to hear the results of his by-elections from last week. is vying for second place in a race where the top two finish in the November general election. Trump was less fortunate in his attempt to oust Mays, who managed to suspend a primary challenge on Tuesday from former Katie Arrington in the 1st District of South Carolina, which includes Charleston. Despite his anger at Mays for criticizing him for his role in the Capitol uprising on January 6, he congratulated her on Tuesday and predicted she would win in November. In her opening remarks, Mays thanked her high-profile supporters, including former UN Ambassador Nicki Haley and former White House Chief of Staff Mick Malvey. Asked how she would work to keep the constituency, which has changed political hands in the last two rounds, Mays appeared to be committed to the same bipartisan approach that Arington had criticized. “I’m willing to work with anyone who is willing to work with me, period,” Mays told reporters. Unlike Rice, Mays tried to make amends for Trump’s anger. Earlier this year, she shot a video in New York outside the Trump Tower to remind her voters that she was one of the former president’s first supporters. Mays will face Republican Annie Andrews in the general election. Republicans have won an additional seat in Parliament for the rest of the year in a special election victory that they see as a sign of what will follow along the Spanish-speaking southern border of Texas. Flores will complete the last months of the term of the former Democratic MP Filemon Vela. He left Congress earlier this year for the private sector. Tuesday’s victory over three other contenders – including two Democrats – is a symbolically significant victory for Republicans, who have spent the past two years aggressively trying to make new incursions with Hispanic voters in South Texas. Flores is the daughter of migrant workers and a local GOP organizer. She will also be the GOP candidate for the seat in November, but this election will be based on a new district map that is more favorable to Democrats. Her opponent will be Democratic MP Vicente Gonzalez, who moved from a neighboring district due to redistribution. Spokesman Mark Amodei faces a prime challenge from a perennial candidate with a famous last name. Danny Tarkanian, the son of the legendary basketball coach of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Jerry Tarkanian, is trying to overcome his six-year tenure in the vast, rural north that no Democrat has won in 40 years. Over the years, Tarkanian launched two Senate campaigns and lost many congressional nominations in two other constituencies. But it created quite a stir in 2018 in a major challenge to Senator Dean Heller that Trump intervened to persuade him to step down and run for parliament again. Amodei won a special election for the presidency in 2011 after Heller was appointed to fill a term in the Senate that had not expired. A member of Parliament’s Credit Committee, Amodei easily overturned past key challenges in the past. Titus, the dean of the Nevada Congressional delegation, easily overcame a progressive challenge from Amy Villela in the state’s most liberal area. Villela, who lost a qualifying bid in a neighboring county to lawmaker Steven Horsford in 2018, was ratified by Vermont Sen. Bernie Saunders and Missouri MP Corey Bush. Titus, who holds one of the most liberal voting records in Congress, was a leading supporter of Biden during his 2020 presidential campaign. He has served six terms in this House and chairs a subcommittee on transport. He has complained about how Nevada reformed congressional districts after the 2020 census, turning its secure Democratic district into an area where the party’s registered voters have only a single-digit margin. A former lawmaker vying to return to his old position in Maine has turned down a challenge from a Republican. Bruce Poliquin represented the 2nd District of Maine from 2015 to 2019 until he lost to incumbent Democrat Jared Golden. Golden’s victory over Poliquin was the first congressional election in U.S. history to be voted on. This year, Poliquin is hoping to win a rematch against Golden in one of the closest races to the 2022 midterm elections. Our Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
