By Makini Brice and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. House Republican Carol Miller on Tuesday fended off a primary challenge by Derrick Evans, who served time in prison after pleading guilty to a role in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters.
That West Virginia race is one of two featuring people who played starkly different roles that day. Former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who defended lawmakers from the violence, is running as a Democrat for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives representing parts of Maryland.
Republicans will be defending a narrow House majority in the Nov. 5 general election. Miller represents a strongly Republican district in West Virginia and is expected to easily win reelection. The seat Dunn is seeking is strongly Democratic and also unlikely to change the balance of power in the chamber.
Miller was among the 139 House Republicans who supported Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden. Evans, a former teacher and state legislator, served three months in prison after pleading guilty to a felony charge related to entering the Capitol illegally on Jan. 6.
Dunn, 40, is one of 22 Democrats running to succeed the retiring Representative John Sarbanes. He has led the field in fundraising and has secured an endorsement from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But early returns, with 27% of the expected vote him, showing him trailing Sarah Elfreth, a state senator, 37%-28%.
Dunn was shoved into the spotlight when he testified to Congress about the attack, describing how rioters taunted him with racial slurs during the riot.
In an interview with Reuters this month, Dunn said the events of Jan. 6 changed his life and prompted him to enter politics.
“I would still be on the force. A whole career there. A good send-off on the (police) radio when you retire and collect my full pension. But those aren’t in the cards anymore,” he said on May 2.
BACON HOLDS OFF CHALLENGER
In a third state, Nebraska, moderate Republican Representative Don Bacon held off Republican challenger Dan Frei. Bacon is known for working in a bipartisan manner with Democrats, including on a vote to certify the results of the 2020 election.
With 37% of the expected vote tallied, Bacon led Frei 70%-30%.
Bacon’s district is expected to be competitive in November.
His Democratic rival in the general election will be Tony Vargas, a former teacher, school board member and current state senator, who ran unopposed for that nomination. Bacon narrowly beat Vargas in the 2022 election.
Maryland is also hosting a U.S. Senate primary. In the Democratic contest, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks was narrowly leading U.S. Representative and alcohol retailer David Trone by 49%-47% with 26% of the expected vote tallied. The winner of that contest will face Republican Larry Hogan, the state’s former governor, in November.
While Maryland has not elected a Republican senator since 1970, Hogan was popular as a governor and the polling suggests the general election could be competitive.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Makini Brice; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Christian Schmollinger)
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