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      Leavitt Upsets Mowers, Winning New Hampshire House G.O.P. Primary

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      Karoline Leavitt, a 25-year-old hard-right Republican who served as an assistant in President Donald J. Trump’s White House press office, won her party’s nomination on Tuesday for New Hampshire’s First Congressional District, according to The Associated Press. The race had devolved into a nasty battle with Matt Mowers, a former Trump administration colleague, over who carried the mantle of Trumpism.“Unfortunately, tonight’s results did not go our way,” Mr. Mowers wrote in a concession statement on Twitter at 11:25 p.m.Ms. Leavitt’s upset victory means she will face off in November against Representative Chris Pappas, a two-term Democratic congressman representing the highly competitive district in the eastern and southern parts of the state. Mr. Pappas is one of the most vulnerable Democrats this cycle, with his re-election race considered a tossup. If she wins, Ms. Leavitt would be among the youngest people ever elected to Congress. The Constitution requires House members to be at least 25 years old to serve. Ms. Leavitt turned 25 last month.The State of the 2022 Midterm ElectionsWith the primaries over, both parties are shifting their focus to the general election on Nov. 8.A Fierce Primary Season Ends: Democrats are entering the final sprint to November with more optimism, especially in the Senate. But Republicans are confident they can gain a House majority.Midterm Data: Could the 2020 polling miss repeat itself? Will this election cycle really be different? Nate Cohn, The Times’s chief political analyst, looks at the data in his new newsletter.Republicans’ Abortion Struggles: Senator Lindsey Graham’s proposed nationwide 15-week abortion ban was intended to unite the G.O.P. before the November elections. But it has only exposed the party’s divisions.Democrats’ Dilemma: The party’s candidates have been trying to signal their independence from the White House, while not distancing themselves from President Biden’s base or agenda.Ms. Leavitt defeated Mr. Mowers, 33, a veteran of Mr. Trump’s State Department and of his 2016 campaign, who entered the race a year ago as the presumed Republican front-runner and benefited from an infusion of cash from an outside PAC aligned with Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican from California and minority leader, who is campaigning to become speaker.The candidates have few discernible differences on policy, and the race ultimately turned less on any ideological divide than on style and tone. It divided the House Republican leadership, exposing lingering rifts inside the party over Mr. Trump’s influence.Ms. Leavitt, who adopted Mr. Trump’s brash style and taste for inflammatory statements, was backed by a host of hard-right Republicans in Congress, most notably Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 3 Republican, who has also styled herself in the former president’s image. In her campaign, Ms. Leavitt unequivocally repeated Mr. Trump’s lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.Ms. Leavitt leaned into the attacks and the money pouring into the district to defeat her, positioning herself as the America First candidate fighting “the swamp” and claiming that if “establishment Republicans” were spending so much to defeat her then “I must be doing something right.” Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host, also elevated her as the anti-establishment candidate in the race.The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Mr. McCarthy, spent more than $1.3 million supporting Mr. Mowers. Another super PAC that supports moderate Republicans, Defending Main Street, spent over $1.2 million to attack Ms. Leavitt.Ms. Leavitt’s come-from-behind victory was also a win for Ms. Stefanik, who harbors ambitions to rise in the party. Her outside group E-Pac, which supports conservative female candidates, spent the legal maximum, $10,000, supporting Ms. Leavitt’s campaign. Ms. Stefanik also served as an informal adviser to Ms. Leavitt, who previously worked as her communications director.If Republicans win back control of the House of Representatives and Ms. Leavitt wins her seat in November, she could be a wild card for Mr. McCarthy in the mold of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and other hard-right lawmakers who have sometimes proved a thorn in the minority leader’s side.But Ms. Leavitt enters the general election bruised by the bitter primary. Mr. Mowers’s campaign operated a website branding her “fake MAGA Karoline.” It accused her of having “never held a real job outside the swamp,” attending private school in Massachusetts and being registered to vote from the “penthouse” apartment where she lived in Washington before moving back to New Hampshire to run for office. And Ms. Leavitt’s brash style may make for an easier target for Democrats in a general election.“I think she is more beatable because Democrats can portray her as an inexperienced ideologue,” said David Wasserman, an election expert with the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes elections. More

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      Seth Magaziner Wins a Democratic House Primary in Rhode Island

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      Seth Magaziner, the general treasurer of Rhode Island, won a crowded Democratic congressional primary in the state on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, and is now headed into what could be one of the most competitive general elections on New England’s House map.Mr. Magaziner will face Allan Fung, the former mayor of Cranston, R.I., who would be the state’s first Asian American member of Congress. The seat, which represents Rhode Island’s Second District, opened up after Representative Jim Langevin, a Democrat who has held it since 2001, decided against running for re-election. Mr. Langevin endorsed Mr. Magaziner, who also received the Rhode Island Democratic Party’s endorsement.Mr. Magaziner initially ran for governor but switched to the congressional race after Mr. Langevin announced his retirement. Mr. Magaziner was first elected as general treasurer in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018. He is running on a message that includes support for abortion rights and clean energy and for lowering prescription drug costs, and he has emphasized opposition to the “Trump agenda.” The League of Conservation Voters’ affiliated super PAC advertised on his behalf. Mr. Magaziner defeated candidates including Sarah Morgenthau, who served in the Obama and Biden administrations. She is part of a prominent political family that includes her grandfather, Henry Morgenthau Jr., who was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s secretary of the Treasury, among several other notable names. Like Mr. Magaziner, she spent significantly on the airwaves. She had emphasized the history-making potential of her candidacy, noting in advertising that the state has “never sent a Democratic woman to Congress.”Mr. Magaziner also defeated David Segal, a progressive activist and former state representative who was endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.Mr. Magaziner is the son of Ira Magaziner, a veteran of the Clinton orbit. He recently moved from a Providence home in the First District to a new spot in nearby Cranston, R.I., in the Second.The district, which includes much of the southern and western parts of the state, appears heavily Democratic, but a poll this summer — conducted before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — showed Mr. Fung, who has positioned himself as a middle-of-the-road pragmatist, with a lead over all of his potential Democratic opponents.The political climate has changed drastically since that poll, and Mr. Magaziner has indicated that he intends to try to tie Mr. Fung to national Republicans, and to paint him as too conservative for the district.Mr. Fung twice lost governor’s races to Gina Raimondo, who is now the U.S. secretary of commerce. But Republicans hope the contest this year will remain competitive in an environment that has improved for Democrats, even as they still confront significant headwinds. More

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      Rhode Island Primary: How to Vote and Who’s on the Ballot

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      Rhode Island voters are heading to the polls to pick candidates for governor and an open House seat. Here’s what to know about voting in the state:How to voteThe deadline to register for Rhode Island’s primary elections has passed. You can check your registration status on the secretary of state’s website here.In-person voting runs from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., which is also the time by which mail ballots must be received. It is too late to return a ballot in the mail, but you can deliver it by hand to a drop box or to the Board of Elections office in Cranston.If you’ve already mailed your ballot, you can track its status here.Where to voteYou can find your nearest polling place here.Mail ballots can be delivered to drop boxes at designated locations. You can find your town’s drop box location here or use this map.Who’s on the ballotVoters will pick parties’ nominees for governor. Four Democrats are challenging Gov. Daniel McKee, who was appointed last year after former Gov. Gina Raimondo became President Biden’s secretary of commerce.Two Republicans are vying for their party’s place on the November ballot: Ashley Kalus, a health care executive and businesswoman, and Jonathan Riccitelli, who owns a hotel and maintenance company and whose criminal record — much of it under another name — was reported by The Boston Globe. Representative Jim Langevin, a Democrat, is retiring at the end of his term. The state treasurer, Seth Magaziner, leads the pack of six Democrats hoping to replace him. The winner of that race will face Allan Fung, a Republican and former Cranston mayor, in November.There are also Republican and Democratic primaries for lieutenant governor and a Democratic primary for secretary of state. You can see a full sample ballot online here. More