House incumbents in Illinois and Ohio prevailed in their primary races on Tuesday despite the anti-establishment fervor that’s shaken up the presidential campaign.
A handful of Republican and Democratic lawmakers faced tough challenges. They nonetheless all managed to secure victory by comfortable margins largely due to fundraising edges and better name recognition.
Tuesday’s results are consistent with the other four states that have conducted House primaries so far this cycle. Voters in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas also retained incumbent lawmakers over challengers who said their districts needed a change of representation on Capitol Hill.
{mosads}GOP front-runner Donald Trump won the Illinois presidential primary, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich won his home state’s contest.
But the support for Trump at the top of the ticket in Illinois didn’t translate into insurgent upsets over GOP incumbents.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who faced the most significant primary challenge among Illinois House Republicans, easily brushed aside his opponent, Club for Growth-backed state Sen. Kyle McCarter.
McCarter posed the most serious challenge to Shimkus, who’s serving his 10th term, since 2002. In addition to attacking Shimkus’s conservative credentials, McCarter criticized the incumbent’s decision to break a pledge to serve only six terms.
Shimkus nonetheless prevailed, with more than 60 percent of the vote, according to an Associated Press tally that projected him as the victor.
And in Ohio, Republican Rep. David Joyce prevailed in a rematch against former state Rep. Matt Lynch.
Lynch argued that Joyce wasn’t conservative enough, pointing to his votes in support of hiking the debt limit and last year’s omnibus spending package. But recent campaign finance records showed that Joyce far outraised his opponent, taking in more than $1 million while Lynch received less than $200,000.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) barely avoided a runoff earlier this month, but he still managed to clear the minimum threshold. His primary election result has so far been the narrowest margin of victory this cycle.
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) faced the most significant challenge among Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday.
The 12-term lawmaker is a fixture of Chicago’s political scene and a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus. But this year, he faced a challenge from Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins, who had endorsed Rush in his 2000 primary against then-state Sen. Barack Obama.
Rush nearly failed to make this year’s primary ballot after Brookins raised questions about whether the 69-year-old incumbent had collected enough signatures. Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan threw his support behind Brookins in a departure from the norm of endorsing incumbent lawmakers.
Still, Rush won the primary with more than 70 percent of the vote, according to a projection from the AP.
Ohio featured the most high-profile open seat of the night, a GOP primary to replace former Speaker John Boehner (R).
Businessman Warren Davidson emerged as the victor in the crowded 15-way primary. Endorsements from the Club for Growth and fellow Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus that led the push for Boehner’s ouster, boosted Davidson’s campaign.
Like former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who lost his primary two years ago, Boehner might be succeeded by someone likely to join the Freedom Caucus, which frequently upended both ex-leaders’ agenda.