CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Republicans were deciding Tuesday between a brash GOP outsider who embraced Donald Trump's political playbook — but was opposed by the president — and a more traditional party candidate to take on vulnerable Democrat Joe Manchin this fall in an election both parties view as key to Senate control.
Trump and his allies made their preference clear. And it wasn't former coal executive Don Blankenship, who served a year in prison for his role in a deadly mine disaster and more recently attacked the Asian heritage of the top Senate Republican's wife.
As Trump did unsuccessfully in a special Alabama Senate primary last year, the president warned on the eve of this primary election that Blankenship would destroy Republicans' chance of winning this fall. Yet it's unclear whether voters will heed that warning, even in the state where Trump claimed his largest margin of victory in 2016.
West Virginia voter Wayne Sturgeon, who voted Tuesday for Blankenship, said he's a Trump supporter but was bothered by the White House intrusion.
"I think it should be left up to the people," Sturgeon said.
Blankenship has embraced Trump's tactics — casting himself as a victim of government persecution and seizing on xenophobia — to stand out in a crowded Republican field that includes state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Republican Congressman Evan Jenkins.
The West Virginia Republican Senate contest headlined a slate of primary elections across four states Tuesday that will help shape the political landscape in this fall's midterm elections. Control of Congress is at stake in addition to state governments across the nation.
The first Indiana polls closed at 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, while polls close at 7:30 p.m. in West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.
In most cases, the Republican candidates on the ballot Tuesday have competed to be seen as the most conservative, the most anti-Washington and the most loyal to the Republican president.
In Indiana, Republicans will pick from among three Senate candidates to take on another vulnerable Democrat, Joe Donnelly, this fall.
All three fought to paint themselves as being strong Trump supporters. Rep. Todd Rokita sometimes carried around a cardboard cutout photo of the president. Businessman Mike Braun also tied himself closely to Trump.
Indiana voter Chris Thurston said he chose Rep. Luke Messer in the contest because he wants someone who will be an independent thinker.
"Just because the president says to do something isn't necessarily why it needs to be done," Thurston said.
In Ohio, the governor's race was the main attraction. Republicans were likely to nominate a far more conservative candidate than outgoing GOP Gov. John Kasich, a 2016 presidential candidate and frequent Trump critic. Even Kasich's former running mate, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, has pledged to unwind some of Kasich's centrist policies, including the expansion of the Medicaid government insurance program.
One Ohio voter, Jeffrey Whipple, of Toledo, supported Democratic candidate Richard Cordray in the Democrats' primary because he liked his work as the consumer watchdog under President Barack Obama.
"Hopefully what Trump's done can be undone," Whipple said.
Ohio also featured primary elections in both parties to decide the candidates for an August special election to replace GOP Rep. Pat Tiberi, who resigned earlier in the year.
North Carolina Republicans weighed in on Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger, who faced a primary challenger who almost upset him two years ago. Pittenger featured Trump prominently in his campaign, while challenger Mark Harris, a prominent Charlotte pastor, called Pittenger a creature of Washington who refuses to help Trump "drain that swamp."
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.