DEMS/ELECTION/GOP/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The heart of the political primary season begins Tuesday [5-8-18], with Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia holding contests to select candidates for November’s general elections. Eight more states will pick nominees in the next two weeks and 18 more have primaries in June. The two biggest races Tuesday are the GOP Senate primaries in Indiana and West Virginia. The winners of both will face vulnerable incumbent Democrats in states President Donald Trump carried by large margins in 2016…Mr. Trump was embarrassed the last time he inserted himself into a Senate GOP primary contest, when Alabama Republicans picked Roy Moore over Sen. Luther Strange last fall. Mr. Trump has put his political capital to the test again in Tuesday’s West Virginia Senate primary, urging Republicans there to reject Don Blankenship —who served a year in prison and remains on probation following a conviction for violating mine-safety standards after 29 miners were killed in a 2010 disaster—in favor of either Rep. Evan Jenkins or state Attorney General Patrick Morrissey.”
–Reid J. Epstein, “Primaries to Test Trump’s Sway Over GOP Voters,” The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2018 5:30 am