Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), surrounded by fellow Republican lawmakers, said they were there to protest the gag order preventing Trump from speaking.

“We are here of our own volition because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” Gaetz said. “This is a corrupt judge, these are corrupted witnesses, this is a corrupt prosecution that belies any sense of the facts or the law, and so we are going to keep speaking out against this.”

The move by House Republicans to forgo their responsibilities on Capitol Hill garnered the criticism of Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX). 

“You’re paid to be here in Washington legislating, it’s the middle of a work week,” Crockett wrote on x. “I guess we’ll hold down the fort for you while you’re tapdancing on Broadway.”

With nearly a dozen Republicans missing session on Thursday, the GOP lost its slim majority over Democrats, thus jeopardizing control of the floor. A vote was scheduled by Republicans on Thursday afternoon on a bill to rebuke President Joe Biden for pausing an arms shipment to Israel and mandating that he quickly deliver the weapons. However, the bill passed, with 16 Democrats joining in advancing the measure. 

The Republican House members’ excursion to New York led to the Oversight Committee postponing a meeting scheduled to vote on holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. Five of the panel’s members, Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Mike Waltz (R-FL), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), stood in solidarity with Trump outside of the courthouse.

On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) visited New York to show his support for the former president. 

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Johnson’s visit prompted Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) to share with NBC News that he believes Democrats made a mistake by killing the motion to oust him, arguing Johnson’s visit to Trump’s trial in Manhattan has exposed the House speaker’s “true colors.”

“It showed his true colors and why, with good intentions, we made a mistake in strategically saving his job,” Connolly said. “Because now we have enabled him to act with impunity like he did.”

Hogan called himself “pro-choice” in an interview with the New York Times, marking a stark departure from his previous position of deflecting on proposals to protect the procedure while opposing laws that restrict it.

“I support restoring Roe as the law of the land,” the former two-term governor said, a reference to federal abortion rights under Roe v. Wade that were overturned last year. “I’ll continue to protect the rights of women to make their own reproductive choices just like I did as governor for eight years. I think Marylanders know and trust that when I give them my word, I’m going to keep it, and I’ve protected these rights before. And I’ll do it again in the Senate by supporting a bipartisan compromise to restore Roe as the law of the land.”

As governor, Hogan vetoed expanded abortion access in Maryland but said he will vote for a ballot initiative this fall to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

Hogan foreshadowed the policy stance during a Tuesday night speech to supporters after gliding to victory in the Republican Senate primary.

“To the women of Maryland, you have my word that I will continue to protect your right to make your own reproductive health decisions just like I did for eight years when I had the honor and privilege to serve as your governor,” he said.

The contentious issue has the potential to galvanize Democratic voters for Hogan’s opponent, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, and present a roadblock for Hogan as he attempts to make inroads with centrists.

Alsobrooks and other Democrats who once praised his bipartisanship and anti-Trump views have painted the Republican as a “MAGA” stooge who would give Senate control to the GOP and pave the way for further abortion restrictions.

“Larry Hogan is no moderate,” Alsobrooks said in a campaign video posted Thursday prior to Hogan’s announcement. “Time and again, Larry Hogan has refused to support federal protections for abortions rights.”

In her victory speech following a primary upset Tuesday night against Rep. David Trone (D-MD), Alsobrooks insisted that Hogan “will not oppose anti-choice judges, including nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court — even in the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wade.”

“I’ve never had a litmus test beyond a respect for the law and judicial temperament to make the right decisions, according to the law,” Hogan said in response during the New York Times interview. “I don’t think anybody should be gaming the system or having a litmus test on either side.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) downplayed the significance of Hogan’s position, arguing his vote is not enough to counter the anti-abortion views of his party should it win the majority in November.

“And he’s going to get his whole party there, right? Is that the deal?” Warren told the Washington Examiner of his remarks. “If he thinks that Republican control means we’re going to make Roe v. Wade law of the land, I don’t know what that guy’s smoking, but I bet it’s not legal.”

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The Maryland Democratic Party also slammed Hogan.

“He’s not fooling anyone with this weak attempt to cover up the threat he poses to a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions,” spokesperson Lindsay Reilly said.

In a new ad released Thursday dubbed “Democrats for Hogan,” the former two-term governor’s campaign features accolades from high-profile Democrats — including his Democratic opponent, Angela Alsobrooks — to reject claims that electing him would empower Trump-aligned Republicans.

“We have had a really wonderful working relationship with the governor in his administration. I have to tell you that,” Alsobrooks, the executive of Prince George’s County, says in a clip from a prior media appearance. “He really wants to work with Prince George’s. He’s from there.”

The ad, similar to Hogan’s direct messaging to voters, touts him as a “true independent and bipartisan leader.”

“Gov. Hogan put the country over party,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) says in a clip.

The public tune toward Hogan from such Democrats has since changed, as they fight to keep the Senate majority that would almost certainly be lost with a Hogan victory.

“Marylanders understand that a vote for Larry Hogan is a vote to put MAGA Republicans in charge of the Senate,” Van Hollen told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.

In response to being included in the Hogan ad, Van Hollen told the Washington Examiner in a statement that the campaign must’ve “really had to dig for that one” because it’s from a 2016 debate.

“Their campaign can cherry-pick quotes, but it doesn’t change the fact that Angela Alsobrooks is the only candidate who will truly stand up for Maryland values at the federal level, and handing control of the Senate to the MAGA majority isn’t what Marylanders want,” Van Hollen said.

After pulling off an upset on Tuesday in the Democratic primary against Rep. David Trone (D-MD), Alsobrooks blasted Hogan and “his BFF Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump’s Republican Party.”

The Alsobrooks campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the Hogan ad.

Despite the Republican governing a deep-blue state and working for nearly a decade to forge political relationships across party lines, Democrats have sought to don the anti-Trump Senate candidate in a MAGA cloak.

“To my Democratic and independent friends, you know me, and you know my proven track record of reaching across the aisle to find common ground for the common good,” Hogan told supporters Tuesday night after clinching the GOP primary. “You know that I’m not going to be just one more Capitol Hill Republican.”

The campaign ad also features past praise from President Joe Biden, Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), former President Bill Clinton, and Trone.

“As I listen to the governor of Maryland today on the television,” Biden says in a featured clip, “he’s doing a heck of a job.”

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A clip of Trone commended Hogan as having a “very friendly demeanor” and a businessman who “wants to work across the aisle, and that resonates.”

“I’ve known him for years, and I like him,” Clinton is shown saying in the ad.

The campaign to add more flights at Reagan National Airport, known as DCA, has been simmering for over a year, and now, it’s up to the airlines to put applications in to the Department of Transportation over the next 60 days. From there, the agency will evaluate and ultimately determine which airlines and cities will be granted the additional flights.

Proponents of expanding the perimeter rule had been pushing for an additional 28 slots but ultimately only received five after lawmakers from the Washington area pushed back against the expansion, arguing the airport is already strained by traffic and noise disruption. 

The rule limits the number of flights that travel more than 1,250 from DCA. Both Reagan and Dulles International Airport are owned by the federal government, which means Congress can decide how they operate. Over the years, lawmakers have carved out exemptions to allow a small number of flights at the airport that are beyond the 1,250-mile limit.

According to the legislation, the transportation secretary will make eight slots available to “incumbent air carriers qualifying for status as a non-limited incumbent.” According to those familiar with the process, this means the Department of Transportation is likely to grant United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines one round-trip flight each. 

The bill also says there will be two slots “available to incumbent air carriers qualifying for status as a limited incumbent carrier,” which means Alaska or Frontier Airlines will have to compete for the one remaining long-haul, round-trip flight.

When considering the applications, preference will go to flights that “enhance options for nonstop travel to beyond-perimeter airports that do not have nonstop service,” according to the legislation. The sources believe applications proposing flights to cities not currently being served by the airport are most likely to be approved.

Which cities could be chosen?

Large cities such as San Antonio and San Diego, the nation’s seventh- and eighth-largest cities, have been lobbying for the nonstop flights from Reagan since the push for the perimeter expansion began over a year ago. 

The San Antonio International Airport and American Airlines announced a partnership on Wednesday with the goal of securing a nonstop flight from San Antonio to the airport closest to Washington, D.C., according to a press release. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the city has long been pushing for a nonstop flight.

“We have been working for more than a decade to give residents of America’s seventh-largest city the same access to our nation’s leaders as nearly every other major city in the country,” Nirenberg said in a press release. “I am grateful for the hard work of Senator Cruz and our entire congressional delegation and look forward to Secretary Buttigieg’s approval of American’s application to initiate nonstop service from Military City USA to DCA.”

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria lobbied for a nonstop flight in a post on X, emphasizing San Diego is the largest market in the United States “not served by Washington National Airport.”

“This reauthorization included an expansion of slots at DCA, which means we’re closer to securing a nonstop flight. Thanks @SenAlexPadilla and @Senlaphonza. We’ll keep working to get this done,” Gloria said in the post.

Many lawmakers over the last year have attempted to lobby for nonstop flights from their districts. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) called for an exemption through the Federal Aviation Administration for the perimeter rule, pushing for nonstop flights between El Paso and Reagan, during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing last year. Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), who introduced the measure in the House last year, celebrated the new flights. Salt Lake City currently only has one round-trip flight to Reagan, operated by Delta.

“This legislation was designed not for one airport or one airline but for all of us,” Owens said on the House floor on Wednesday. “It gives more convenience and opportunities to families traveling into Washington, D.C.” 

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There could also be trips added from larger markets on the West Coast that have limited flights. According to a 2020 report from the Government Accountability Office, there are 20 daily, beyond-the perimeter round-trip flights currently operating between DCA and 10 cities.

Austin, Portland, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and San Juan only have one round-trip flight that travels into the airport closest to the nation’s capital each day. Seattle has two, San Francisco has two, Phoenix has three, and Los Angeles and Denver each have four daily round-trip flights. 

Fresh off the Tuesday night primaries that cemented the former two-term Republican governor and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks as the party nominees for Maryland’s open Senate seat, Hogan critics are scrambling to box him into a “MAGA Republican” mold who threatens Democratic Senate control and access to abortion.

“I’m confident that the people of Maryland do not want to see a Republican majority,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of Senate Democrats’s campaign arm, told the Washington Examiner. “If you vote for Hogan, that could happen.”

Alsobrooks, the executive of Prince George’s County who pulled off a stunning primary upset over Rep. David Trone (D-MD), panned Hogan and “his BFF Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump’s Republican party” for fighting to flip a Maryland Senate seat red for the first time since 1980.

Hogan will “give Republicans the majority that they need to pass a national abortion ban,” Alsobrooks told supporters Tuesday night. “He will not support a national law to protect abortion rights; he will not oppose anti-choice judges, including nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Hogan’s campaign on Wednesday launched a “Democrats for Hogan” initiative and said in a strategy memo that Alsobrooks’s vulnerabilities included being a “career and insider politician” whose record has so far largely escaped national media’s scrutiny.

“Ms. Alsobrooks is clearly part of the Maryland establishment and would represent the status quo,” Hogan chief strategist Russ Schriefer said.

Democrats are poised to see their one-seat Senate majority reduced to a 50-50 tie if they can successfully defend Maryland and a half-dozen other competitive races. A Republican flip in the Old Line State or any others, or a White House win, could tip the scales in the GOP’s favor.

“Marylanders understand that a vote for Larry Hogan is a vote to put MAGA Republicans in charge of the Senate,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told the Washington Examiner.

Hogan sought to blunt the attacks from the left in a Tuesday night victory speech to supporters.

“To my Democratic and independent friends, you know me, and you know my proven track record of reaching across the aisle to find common ground for the common good,” he said. “You know that I’m not going to be just one more Capitol Hill Republican.”

Hogan further urged voters to tune out “political BS,” “scare tactics,” and “false attacks” from Democrats, particularly on the issue of abortion, which could present a major obstacle even for the anti-Trump Republican in a deep blue state.

“To the women of Maryland, you have my word that I will continue to protect your right to make your own reproductive health decisions just like I did for eight years when I had the honor and privilege to serve as your governor,” Hogan said.

While opposed to national abortion bans, Hogan has consistently dodged what protections he would support.

Arizona Senate Republican candidate Kari Lake, a Trump ally who rejected the 2020 election results and backed previous abortion bans, congratulated Hogan shortly after he was declared the nominee. She urged party unity to win over independents and Democrats as part of the GOP’s quest to win back the Senate.

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A spokesperson for the Senate Majority PAC, a group aligned with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), dinged the unofficial endorsement as a “brutal start” for Hogan.

“We have been watching extremists in this space since the Dobbs decision was leaked,” Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) told the Washington Examiner. “What we’re experiencing with Gov. Hogan is very similar. He is now going to try to convince Marylanders that he is going to stand and support them. He will be in this group, in this body, who will vote for a national abortion ban if they have a majority.”

The Republican Senate candidate has launched “Democrats for Hogan,” an initiative that will seek to siphon voters away from Maryland Senate Democratic candidate Angela Alsobrooks. Former state Sen. Bobby Zirkin (D-MD) helped Hogan make the announcement.

“I’ve been a lifelong Democrat, and as a Democrat, I’m excited to vote and support and work for Larry Hogan for the United States Senate. He is exactly the leader we need,” Zirkin said.

“I encourage all of my fellow Democrats to really review the record of Gov. Hogan, to look at things like fracking and criminal justice reform and cyberbullying, and the way that he was able to hold the line on taxes and still invest in things that are important like education in the Chesapeake Bay. Maybe most importantly, for those of you who believe, like me, from both parties, but I’m talking to the Democrats right now, that the hyperpartisanship in Washington is not what we should expect from our leaders,” Zirkin added. 

“That we should expect them to work together. … And if you believe that like I do, then I would encourage you to come out and support Larry Hogan for the United States Senate,” he added.

Hogan also spent some time appealing to Democrats in his announcement, pointing to his “proven track record of reaching across the aisle.”

“To my Democratic and Independent friends, you know me and you know my proven track record of reaching across the aisle to find common ground for the common good,” Hogan posted on X. “You know that I have the courage to put people over politics and to put country over party. I will continue to be the same strong independent leader for Maryland that I always have been.”

“If you are completely fed up with the divisiveness and dysfunction and want a strong, independent leader who will fight to clean up the mess in Washington — then join us,” Hogan added.

Hogan appealed to Democrats before his 2018 gubernatorial reelection.

However, Maryland Democrats poured plenty of energy into putting down Hogan before he tried to appeal to them. Two Democratic heavyweights in the state, Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) and outgoing Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), have already declared Alsobrooks Maryland’s next senator.

Hogan is likely appealing to supporters of Rep. David Trone (D-MD) after his primary loss to Alsobrooks Tuesday night. Trone is considered the more centrist of the two. The Lugar Center’s Bipartisan Index, which measures how willing politicians are to work across the aisle, ranked him 27th out of 436 eligible House members, just under an “outstanding” rating. 

Trone received at least 188,000 votes in Tuesday night’s primary, falling to Alsobrooks 54% to 41.9%, even after outspending her 10 to 1. For Hogan to win the typically blue Maryland, he will likely have to invigorate some form of Democratic base for himself, and it makes sense for him to start there.

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The Washington Examiner contacted Hogan’s campaign to ask if it is trying to court Trone’s supporters.

“The Governor’s Democrats for Hogan coalition will be open to all Democrats, including Trone Democrats,” a Hogan spokesperson said.

Republican strategists in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District are homing in on voters who abstained from casting their ballots in 2022, hoping to build on the party’s momentum over the last decade to produce high turnout for GOP candidates. Recent polling shows those inactive voters in the district, which is considered to be one of the most competitive of the 2024 cycle, are more likely to back former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden, giving Republicans an edge as they head into November. 

Among voters who did not turn out in 2022, 45% of those in the district say they’d back Trump in the presidential election compared to just 38% who said they’d vote for Biden, according to internal polling conducted by the National Republican Congressional Committee obtained by the Washington Examiner. 

The polling memo cited data showing the district increasingly trending to the right over the last decade, with then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney losing the district by double digits in 2012 before Trump narrowed that margin to just 2 points in 2016. Biden won the district by just 2.8 points. 

“This group has a higher concentration of non-college educated voters and includes 27,000 modeled Republican voters,” the memo said. “These same voters pushed the district 9 points to the right in 2016 and will help Republicans win in 2024.”

That could spell trouble for incumbent Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-OH), who narrowly won the district in 2022 in an upset victory over Republican candidate Madison Gesiotto Gilbert. However, Republican strategists argue their problem was that the party “didn’t have a viable candidate to vote for,” leading to Sykes’s victory. 

Now she must face Republican candidate Kevin Coughlin in a presidential year when Trump’s presence on the ballot could motivate turnout for Republicans. 

“President Trump, for a lot of these competitive congressional races, basically supplies your floor,” a source with knowledge of Coughlin’s campaign strategy told the Washington Examiner. “His voters are coming out … unlike they did in the year that he’s not on the ballot. And so it kind of raises the floor for a lot of these candidates.”

That means Coughlin would only need to outperform Trump’s presidential ticket by roughly 3 percentage points in the district, he said, which “seems pretty doable for a targeted campaign.”

Another national GOP operative familiar with the party’s strategy said Republicans are likely to capitalize on that, along with Sykes’s status as a relatively unknown freshman, to flip the seat. 

“We certainly can capitalize on that by getting Kevin out there early and defining him in a positive light,” the operative said, pointing to the memo’s objective to paint Coughlin as someone who can “connect with the working-class nature of the district.”

However, Democratic strategists pushed back on that narrative, arguing the Republican candidate is out of touch on a slew of issues such as abortion and Social Security. The party also noted the absence of polling on a head-to-head challenge between Coughlin and Sykes, arguing the Democratic incumbent is in good shape for her reelection bid.

“Kevin Coughlin has bragged about voting to restrict abortion access and wants to gut Social Security and Medicare,” Aidan Johnson, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Washington Examiner. “The NRCC had to scrape the bottom of the barrel in this poll because they couldn’t find anything positive to say about their extreme GOP nominee.”

Republicans say they plan to focus on other high-profile issues, including the border and inflation, as part of their strategy in the key battleground state.

Coughlin could also benefit from the high-profile Ohio Senate race between Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and GOP candidate Bernie Moreno, which is expected to attract millions of dollars from national Republicans as they seek to flip the vulnerable Senate seat. 

“If voters are seeing the ads for Bernie and Trump out in their district, I think there’ll be — Coughlin will be able to ride the coattails of those ads a little bit,” the operative said. 

Coughlin, for his part, is not new to challenging Democrats for their seats — and winning. The former state representative managed to flip a blue Ohio House district in 1997 and was reelected twice. He also won election to an Ohio Senate seat in a toss-up district in 2002, winning reelection in 2006. 

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Ohio’s 13th District is one of the most competitive House races of the 2024 cycle and could determine which party wins control of the lower chamber next year. The district is rated as R+1 and has been deemed a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. 

The Washington Examiner contacted a spokesperson for Sykes for comment.

Before even knowing which Democrat he would face, as his race was called over an hour before the Democratic primary, Hogan sought preemptively to address what could be his biggest hurdle to winning the deep blue state in November: abortion access.

“Over the next few months, you are going to hear a lot more of this political BS Marylanders will be inundated with scare tactics and false attacks. Don’t let them get away with it, and let me once again set the record straight tonight,” the former two-term governor told supporters gathered at his victory party. “To the women of Maryland, you have my word that I will continue to protect your right to make your own reproductive health decisions, just like I did for eight years.”

Hogan has dodged which measures he would support to protect abortion access but has vowed to reject national GOP efforts to pass limitations on it.

Democrats were also quick to the punch.

The party’s Senate campaign arm unveiled a new attack ad within minutes of Hogan’s victory, panning the centrist GOP candidate by using his own words that he’s a “lifelong Republican” and tying him to the national party brand.

“Hogan said it himself: A vote for Republican Larry Hogan is a vote to turn the Senate over to Republicans so they can pass a national abortion ban and push forward Republicans’ extreme policies,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokeswoman Amanda Sherman Baity said. “That’s a disqualifying agenda for Maryland voters.”

Hogan vowed not to be “just one more Capitol Hill Republican” and said he plans to “stand up to the current president, the former president, to the Democratic Party, or the Republican Party.”

In what amounted to a major election blunder, Rep. David Trone (D-MD) lost the Democratic primary to Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. The loss was despite Trone, the wealthy Total Wine & More co-founder, pumping some $60 million of his own money to staff his campaign and spend in the hotly contested race.

The open Senate seat is being vacated by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and has become one of the country’s most closely watched races as Democrats fight to maintain their razor-thin one-seat majority in the chamber. A Hogan win would all but zap Democrats’s chances of keeping control.

“Electing Angela Alsobrooks will stop Republicans from taking control of the Senate and ensure that Republican Larry Hogan’s party cannot pursue their dangerous agenda like passing a national ban on abortion,” DSCC Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) said.

Hogan congratulated Alsobrooks on social media and posted that he “value[s] our respectful relationship.” Her upset over Trone saved Hogan from facing a financial onslaught of campaign attacks but could chip away at his ability to convince Democrats to cross the aisle as Alsobrooks looks to galvanize the party and become Maryland’s first black senator.  

Hogan will not only need to win over some independents and Democrats but will also have to motivate the Republican base, some of whom he could have alienated with his disdain for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Still, 52-year-old William Ridgley of Millersville, Maryland, told the Washington Examiner that he would like to seek the pair “work together.”

“I understand Hogan and Trump they don’t like each other. I would like to see them work together,” said Ridgley. The small-business owner attended Hogan’s victory party and said he voted for Trump in the presidential primary earlier that day.

“Put aside their differences and come together. Unstoppable team, Batman and Robin,” Ridgley envisioned for a Trump-Hogan relationship.

Barbara Hopkins, a retired police officer whose father, Alfred Archibald Hopkins Jr., was the Democratic mayor of Annapolis from 1989 to 1997, told the Washington Examiner she admired that Hogan has “respected everyone’s opinions.” She is a Republican who also voted for Trump.

With more than 70% of ballots counted as of Tuesday night, Hogan pulled in roughly 62% of the vote compared to Trump-aligned opponent Robin Ficker’s 30%.

Hogan reflected on the record of his father, Larry Hogan Sr., who served as a Maryland congressman from 1969-1975, in his speech. Hogan boasted of the similarities between his own criticism of the GOP and Trump to that of his late father’s political career.

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“He became the first Republican to come out for the impeachment of President Nixon. He put aside party politics and his own personal considerations. He stepped up to do the right thing for Maryland and the nation,” Hogan said. “I learned a lot about integrity and public service from him, and I have tried to live by the example he set.”

Maryland’s Democratic and Republican Senate primaries saw a whopping $56 million just in advertising spending, with nearly 82% coming from Trone’s campaign, making it the state’s all-time most expensive race, per AdImpact. The money foreshadows the national spotlight that the general election contest is sure to garner in the coming months.

Klacik defeated two other Republicans vying for the nomination including businessman Dave Wallace and Army veteran John Thormann. She was declared the victor early Tuesday night by the Associated Press. With 81% of the votes counted, the New York Times showed Klacik with 63.9% of the vote, followed by Wallace with 23.5% and Thormann with 12.6%.

Klacik’s victory is her second political primary win. She previously won the Republican primary for Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in 2020.

Klacik rose to fame after former President Donald Trump took notice of her campaign video from 2020 in which she was shown walking through the rundown neighborhoods of Baltimore County to highlight what Klacik said were the repeated failures of Democratic politicians who did nothing to help improve the areas. 

“Do you care about black lives?” Klacik asked in the opening of her now-famous political ad from 2020. “The people that run Baltimore don’t. I can prove it. Walk with me. They don’t want you to see this.”

“This is Baltimore, the real Baltimore,” Klacik said. “This is the reality for black people every single day: crumbling infrastructure, abandoned homes, poverty, and crime.”

“Baltimore has been run by the Democrat Party for 53 years,” Klacik said. “What is the result of their decades of leadership? Baltimore is one of the top five most dangerous cities in America.”

Klacik touted the commercial as the “most watched campaign ad in U.S. history” during a recent panel discussion. 

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Klacik was defeated in the 2020 general election by Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD).

Klacik will face Democrat Johnny Olszewski Jr. in the general election in November. Olszewski is the county executive of Baltimore County. He is the son of lobbyist and longtime former Baltimore County Councilman John Olszewski.

Dunn lost the Democratic nomination for Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District, a deep-blue seat held by outgoing Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), to state Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth. Elfreth and Dunn emerged as the top two contenders in the field of 21 other Democratic candidates.

The Associated Press called the race for Elfreth at 10:27 p.m., two hours after polls closed, with Elfreth winning with 36% of the vote with just under half of the vote counted. Coming in second, Dunn had 25.9% of the vote.

The former officer’s name recognition was thought to be a significant advantage after he became well known for defending the Capitol against rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, in response to the 2020 election results. Several supporters of Dunn had praised him as a defender of democracy, drawing on his testimony that he gave before the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack.

Dunn also received prominent several endorsements, including one from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), whom he protected along with several other members on Jan. 6. He also received the backing of former Democratic Whip and current Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 

Dunn raised about $4.6 million from donors across the country, compared to Elfreth’s $1.5 million. However, Elfreth received a large boost from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. 

The political action committee dropped $3.5 million on ads since April to boost Elfreth in the race. Both candidates had nearly identical stances on Israel, so the reason for selecting Elfreth over Dunn remains unclear. 

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Ultimately, neither the money nor the fame was enough for Dunn to sail to victory on Tuesday. Dunn and Elfreth ran on similar platforms that echo the Democratic establishment: protecting rights to abortion, preventing gun violence, and expanding healthcare, among other policies.

Five state legislators, including Elfreth, competed for the open seat, which Sarbanes is vacating after nine terms in Congress. He announced in October last year that he would not seek reelection.