Laxalt wins Nevada GOP Senate primary, S. Carolina GOP Rep Rice loses primary after impeachment vote

South Carolina incumbent GOP Rep. Tom Rice has been defeated in his primary race, marking in the first time this election cycle that a Republican who voted to impeach President Trump lost their House seat, as four states held primaries Tuesday.

Rice’s loss also marks the first time Trump has won this midterm cycle against an incumbent. 

Rice was among 10 congressional Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He lost to Trump-backed state GOP Rep. Russell Fry in a race with five other contenders, in the state’s 7th Congressional District.

In another closely-watched House race in the state, freshman GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, who was critical of Trump after Jan. 6, survived a challenge from a candidate also backed by the former president, Katie Arrington, in the state’s 1st Congressional District. 

In Nevada, Trump-endorsed former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt won the GOP Senate primary over Army veteran Sam Brown and several other candidates. Laxalt held a double-digit lead in the closing days and weeks of the race, according to most polling. 

He now faces vulnerable Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.

In the state’s other closely-watched race, the GOP gubernatorial primary to challenge Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak, the Republican field includes Trump-backed Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, former Sen. Dean Heller and North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee. 

In the three other states holding primaries Tuesday, North Dakota GOP Sen. John Hoeven sailed to victory over oil field worker and long-shot challenger Riley Kuntz. Hoeven is set in November to face Katrina Christiansen, who won the state's Democratic primary. 

In Maine, the fourth state to hold primaries Tuesday, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills ran unopposed and won her party nomination. She will face former Maine GOP Gov. Paul LePage this fall. LePage also ran unopposed.

LePage left office in 2019 after serving two terms, the maximum consecutive number that Maine permits. 

Also in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster won his GOP primary over Harrison Musselwhite, a conservative trucker who was running against government control such as vaccine mandates. McMaster in the general election will face former South Carolina Rep. Joe Cunningham, who won the Democratic primary.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Mace voted to impeach Trump.