Eyes on 2024: Senate GOP grapples with primaries in top targets

Republican James Craig’s entrance into the Michigan Senate race on Tuesday ensures that Senate Republicans will have contested primaries in at least half of their top pick-up opportunities — with more potentially to come.

Craig, a former Detroit police chief, joins former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers in the Michigan race. There are also contested primaries in Ohio and West Virginia, two of Senate Republicans’ best pickup opportunities as states former President Donald Trump won in 2020 that Democrats currently represent. The third such state — Montana — could also see a GOP primary if GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale decides to run against former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy for the nomination. 

Republicans are also facing down a primary in Nevada, where candidates have been sparring over their support for Trump. There’s another primary brewing nearby in Arizona, where Republican Kari Lake filed paperwork to run for Senate on Tuesday and is expected to formally launch her Senate run next week, joining Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb in the race for the GOP nomination. 

The GOP field in Wisconsin is still taking shape, with no prominent Republican in the race yet.

But Republicans do appear to have avoided a messy primary in Pennsylvania, where Dave McCormick is making another run for Senate after losing the primary to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz last year. Over the weekend the Pennsylvania GOP unanimously endorsed McCormick’s bid. 

In other campaign news … 

Speaker drama: Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., implied former President Donald Trump supported his move to oust McCarthy, but multiple Trump advisers and supporters were skeptical of that claim, NBC News’ Matt Dixon, Katherine Doyle and Vaughn Hillyard report.

Trump trial: As Trump returned to court Tuesday for his civil fraud case in New York, he told reporters he does plan to testify. The judge in the case issued a partial gag order on “posting or publicly speaking about any member of my staff,” admonishing Trump for posting about his law clerk on social media, per NBC News’ Adam Reiss, Lisa Rubin and Dareh Gregorian

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Knowing Vivek: NBC News’ Alex Seitz-Wald, Allan Smith and Henry J. Gomez unpack businessman Vivek Ramaswamy’s background at three elite schools, writing that he developed “his reputation as a disruptive brainiac who was willing, and even eager, to dance on political third rails and challenge conventions.” And Gomez unpacks Ramaswamy’s political roots in Ohio, where Republicans thought he might run for Senate. 

Trump’s target: The New York Times unpacks how Trump has started upping his attacks against former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as she catches attention in the GOP primary. 

Face-off is off: The Republican National Committee pushed back on Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s plans to face off against each other on Fox News, warning that the event would bar them from participating in future debates, per Politico. The event was canceled.

Curtis staying put: Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, wrote in a Deseret News op-ed that he is not running for his state’s open Senate seat. 

Buckeye State bucks, part two: GOP state Sen. Matt Dolan’s Ohio Senate campaign raised $4.1 million in the third quarter, including $3 million from Dolan himself, per Politico.

Youngkin rakes it in: Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin raised $4.4 million in 48 hours from “several billionaires” for his efforts to support Republicans in this year’s state legislative races, per CBS News.