Politics

(WASHINGTON) — In the wake of a bombshell leak last week of a Supreme Court draft opinion indicating the court’s conservative majority could soon overturn Roe v. Wade, Senate Democrats on Wednesday will force a vote to advance a bill that would enshrine abortion rights into federal law.

The Women’s Health Protection Act would codify the Roe v. Wade ruling while also banning requirements some states have put into place related to abortion care, such as waiting periods and mandatory doctor visits before the procedure. But without the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP-led filibuster, the legislation is all but certain to fail in the Senate, sending Democrats scrambling for alternatives.

Still, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer argued Wednesday’s vote is worth taking, to put Republicans on the record.

“There’ll be no more hiding. There’ll be no more distracting. No more obfuscating where every member in this chamber stands,” Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “Senate Republicans will face a choice. Either vote to protect the rights of women to exercise freedom over their own bodies, or stand with the Supreme Court as 50 years of women’s rights are reduced to rubble before our very eyes.”

Schumer filed cloture on Monday on a motion to start debate on the Women’s Health Protection Act, setting the bill up for a procedural roll call vote on Wednesday. The bill cleared the House last year but already failed once to pass through the upper chamber in February, when Schumer failed to get the entire Democratic caucus on board, in a 46-48 vote. Democrats currently control 50 seats in the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, serving as their tie-breaking vote — but 60 votes are needed to end debate on a piece of legislation, under the filibuster rule.

Not only are Democrats lacking the 60 votes needed to get past a GOP-led filibuster, but it’s also unclear whether they’ll have the full support of their caucus, since Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., voted with Republicans to block the measure earlier this year.

Republicans and Manchin have taken issue with how broad the Women’s Health Protection Act is, prompting Democrats to draft a modified version. Still, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — the sole Senate Republicans who support abortion rights — told reporters this week the bill still goes too far for them and that they would be voting “no.”

Collins and Murkowski have their own proposal to codify Roe called the Reproductive Choice Act, which they say would prohibit states from imposing an “undue burden” on the ability of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy pre-viability but allow states to keep other restrictions in place. However, 17 abortion-rights groups this week said would not protect the right to abortion.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told ABC News’ Trish Turner on Tuesday he’s been negotiating with Collins since last week to try to change the Reproductive Choice Act to find a way in federal law to protect access to abortion and contraception.

“We would like to codify the set of holdings beginning with Griswold up through the Whole Women’s Health case,” Kaine said of the bipartisan effort, referring to the Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut upholding a constitutional marital right of privacy. But that measure, again, would need 60 votes to overcome a GOP filibuster.

Anticipating the Senate vote, abortion-rights activists spilled over from outside the Supreme Court to the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night, calling on lawmakers to protect abortion access nationwide.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Lisa Cook to be the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

The vote was 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie.

The confirmation comes as inflation rates continue to soar.

“As President Biden said today, addressing inflation remains a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration, as we work to lower costs for hardworking families,” a White House official said. “It is important to have a fully-staffed Federal Reserve who can take on these challenges for the American people.”

Senate Republicans argued that Cook is not qualified for the position, especially when it comes to interest rate policy.

“Professor Cook has no proven expertise in monetary economics at all, much less fighting inflation,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, on the Senate floor earlier Tuesday.

Senate Democrats defended the nomination.

“We got more letters, I believe, in support of Lisa Cook than any nominee for the Fed,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee chair.

Cook earned her doctorate in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a joint professor at Michigan State University in economics and international relations,. The university lists her expertise as being in macroeconomics, development, innovation, economic history and international finance.

She also served as an adviser for the Federal Reserve, Banking, and Securities Regulators Agency Review Team on the Biden-Harris transition team and on the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 to 2012.

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(NEW YORK) — Of the numerous primary races held Tuesday, two resonated beyond state politics: the Republican gubernatorial primary in Nebraska and the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary in West Virginia — two races that together offered mixed messages about the power of an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

ABC News projected Jim Pillen, a businessman and member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, as the winner in the Nebraska Republican gubernatorial primary, beating Trump’s endorsed candidate, wealthy businessman Charles Herbster, who has been accused of sexual assault by eight women — allegations he has denied.

The former president held a rally in Nebraska last week in support of Herbster, but almost all of Nebraska’s GOP establishment leaders, including Gov. Pete Ricketts, supported Pillen.

Across the country, in the rare matchup between two incumbent lawmakers in West Virginia, ABC News projected Trump-backed Rep. Alex Mooney as the winner.

Rep. David McKinley faced off against Mooney and three other challengers in the primary.

Trump put his weight behind Mooney, who has echoed the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election. McKinley, however, had the support of Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.

Manchin even released an ad denouncing Mooney and declaring his support for McKinley.

“Alex Mooney has proven he’s all about Alex Mooney. But West Virginians know David McKinley is all about us,” Manchin said in the ad.

The impact of congressional redistricting was also on full display in the race.

West Virginia lost one of its three House seats, and while both existing districts lean strongly Republican, there is one fewer seat for Republicans to hold onto, according to analysis from FiveThirtyEight.

West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner told ABC News Live’s Diane Macedo on Monday that he didn’t think the Trump or Manchin endorsements would decide the race.

“He’s certainly very popular… I think people still are tuned in to what he has to say. But I really don’t think that’s going to be the decisive factor in this election,” Warner said of the former president. “Endorsements are important, but I think people really vote their conscience.”

As for Manchin’s endorsement, Warner was unsure of whether it would have “much play at all in this in this particular race,” which was also a test of one of President Joe Biden’s signature policies.

West Virginia is one of the nation’s poorest states, and McKinley is one of 13 Republicans who voted for Biden’s infrastructure bill that is expected to funnel $6 billion to the state. Mooney voted against it and won Trump’s endorsement when Biden signed the bill into law.

Greg Thomas, a Republican political consultant in the state who knows both candidates and once worked for McKinley, was of the belief that Trump’s support for Mooney could, in fact, be a tipping point.

“Trump’s personality isn’t something that we see a lot here in West Virginia. But his issues, these are West Virginia conservative issues and have been before Trump came along,” he told ABC News.

McKinley was also been hurt by Trump’s focus on his vote to establish an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Unfounded claims about the 2020 election overshadow the two races, as both Herbster and Mooney have pushed the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Herbster attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, which preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Mooney has also supported a Texas-led lawsuit seeking to throw out the election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin; and he objected to certifying the election results in Pennsylvania and Nevada.

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(WASHINGTON) — Just weeks before the first midterm primary elections, the Department of Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter reminding postsecondary institutions throughout the country of their legal requirement to distribute voter registration materials and provide voter education.

The 1998 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 began requiring colleges and universities to distribute voter registration information to all enrolled students, but according to Elizabeth Bennion, campus director of the American Democracy Project at Indiana University, South Bend — a university initiative that supports civic engagement for undergraduates — very few campuses were actually doing so.

“This is really a great time just to remind campuses of, you know, their responsibility under the Higher Education Act under federal law, as we head into the primaries and midterm elections,” said Clarissa Unger, co-founder and executive director of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition — the largest nonpartisan coalition dedicated to increasing student voter participation.

Nonprofit coalitions like SLSV exist to serve and support universities as they fulfill their civic engagement requirement.

Katie Montgomery, director of government relations at Cuyahoga Community College, said the college prepares students for primaries by advertising a voter registration day at nearly 70 campus locations. Students are encouraged to have a “voting plan,” whether they are voting in-person, early, or on Election Day, she said.

“Once you register to vote and vote once, you’re more likely to be tagged as a likely voter in the massive databases that campaigns run and that nonprofits run,” said Adam Gismondi, director of impact at the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at the Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. “So then, you’re more likely to be contacted in future elections and reminded about your social responsibility to vote and you’re more likely to be asked for your vote by candidates. That actually perpetuates your involvement.”

The letter, issued by Michelle Asha Cooper, acting assistant secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education, strongly encourages higher education institutions to make preparations over the next several months to fulfill their legal requirement this election cycle. It also includes a clarification that federal work-study funds may be used for voter registration activities on- or off-campus.

“One of the reasons why the Department of Education issuing this letter is so important is they have the reach of all the campuses, which is over 2,000 in the whole country,” Unger said, calling it a step toward greater “equity.”

A reminder like this has not been sent out to colleges and universities since 2013, said Unger, noting her coalition has been calling for one since 2016. Instead, she said, groups like Students Learn Students Vote, a nonpartisan network focused on “student voter participation,” have been helping to educate students while some institutions themselves do not.

Part of the problem has been ambiguity. While the Higher Education Act says colleges and universities have to make a “good faith effort” to educate students, according to Unger it doesn’t specify who at a university should be responsible for handling that role. Her coalition has been pushing the Department of Education to incentivize campuses to participate and give some form of recognition to campuses that already have voter education initiatives in place, she said.

Joy Fulkerson, director of Leadership and Civic Engagement at East Tennessee State University, said the letter helps provide “encouragement” to continue doing the work.

“We’re holding regular voter registration drives and looking at our data in terms of who’s voting and who’s not, and thinking about ways in which we can engage particular populations of students,” said Fulkerson. “We’ve been out tabling and visiting organization meetings or classrooms or residence halls to really make students know about the opportunity to participate in democracy.”

Youth voter participation is generally trending upward, with 50% of young people ages 18-29 voting in the 2020 presidential election. That was an 11-point increase from 2016’s 39% youth turnout and “likely one of the highest rates of youth electoral participation since the voting age was lowered to 18,” according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

It also estimated that voter participation among eligible young people more than doubled in midterm elections from 2014 to 2018 — increasing from 13% to 28%. Data on youth voter participation from the most recent midterm primaries is not yet available.

In addition to educating young voters, college-based voter education programs can also provide meaningful experiences for students who participate through work-study or as volunteers.

Sebastián Canales, a student advisory board member with the Campus Vote Project at Cleveland State University, which partners with the school’s Office of Civic Engagement, said being a democracy fellow with the organization has been “one of the most inspiring, motivating, life-changing experiences” that he’s had in college. As a fellow, he educates peers on registering to vote and navigating their ballots.

He cast his own first ballot in the 2016 presidential election alongside his dad, a first-time voter from Honduras who had just been granted citizenship. He said he and his father felt “lost” in the voting process, but they were able to get through it because they had each other’s support.

“My dad came from a country where voting was not necessarily encouraged, there was a lot of voter suppression, a lot of ballot-box stuffing and we would have conversations about that. He would say, ‘You know, we live in America where your voice should be heard,'” Canales said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to recognize House staff members’ right to unionize after announcing an increase to their minimum pay. The vote was straight down party lines, with 217 Democrats voting for the measure and 202 Republicans voting against it.

“Congressional staffers deserve the same fundamental rights and protections as workers all across the country, including the right to bargain collectively,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement on Friday.

Pelosi also announced on Friday she is increasing the minimum annual pay for House staff members to $45,000 effective Sept. 1. Staff wages come from each congressional office’s budget.

“This is also an issue of fairness, as many of the youngest staffers working the longest hours often earn the lowest salaries,” Pelosi said in the statement.

The Congressional Workers Union launched in February it says after a survey distributed by the Congressional Progressive Staff Association found that 91% of the 516 staff surveyed want more protections to give them a voice at work.

It has since been pushing for the House to take up the resolution introduced by Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich. with 165 House co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats. An earlier April 29 deadline to do so was not met.

“Many of us write and work tirelessly to advance the very laws that protect and promote every worker’s right to organize. We deserve those same rights–Congress should not be above the laws it creates,” The Congressional Workers Union wrote in a letter to Pelosi and other leaders.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the DCCC Staff Union announced they are voluntarily recognizing its staff union Tuesday as well. The union is organized as part of Teamsters Local 238.

“Today’s voluntary recognition is a testament to our shared commitment to live the values we fight for – both at the ballot box and within our places of work,” DCCC executive director Tim Persico wrote in a statement.

The union is now the largest collective bargaining unit in the Democratic Party.

“We are eager to meet at the bargaining table, roll up our sleeves, and secure a contract to guarantee the DCCC is the best place to work in Democratic politics for all current and future staff,” said Jacob Haythorn, a representative for the DCCC Staff Union, in a statement.

The $45,000 minimum pay for congressional staff, however, would still not amount to a living wage in Washington, D.C., according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology living wage calculator.

A report by Issue One, a political reform group that calls itself “crosspartisan,” found one in eight congressional staff members are not paid a liveable wage for Washington, D.C. A 2021 House Compensation and Diversity Study found the median annual earnings for all house staff members is $59,000 and for member offices, staff members earned a median of $50,000 a year.

Traditionally, entry-level staff on capitol hill work long hours and frequently make less money than their peers who work in similar roles in the private sector. Many often leave government work after several years of public service for more compensation outside of government.

A survey distributed by the Congressional Progressive Staff Association found 90% of nonmanagement staff members who participated in the study reported working weeknights after 6:30 p.m. and/or on weekends.

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(WASHINGTON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a “prolonged conflict” in Ukraine, and could resort to drastic measures if the fighting doesn’t go his way, according to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Haines said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has sent a shock through the geopolitical order, “with implications for the future that we are only beginning to understand, but are sure to be consequential.”

Though Putin has focused his forces on Donbas after failing in the north, THE U.S. does not believe he will be content with the eastern part of the country, Haines said.

“The next month or two of fighting will be significant as the Russians attempt to reinvigorate their efforts. But even if they are successful, we are not confident that the fight in the Donbas will effectively end the war,” she said. “We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas.”

But for now Putin’s goal is to take control of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in Donbas and encircle Ukrainian forces from the north and south “in order to crush the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces who are fighting to hold the line in the East,” Haines said.

Putin would also like to “consolidate control of the land bridge Russia has established from Crimea to the Donbas, occupy Kherson, and control the water source for Crimea,” she said.

The U.S. also sees signs his military wants to extend that land bridge to Transnistria, in Moldova, according to Haines.

Haines said Russia might be capable of achieving “most” of those goals in the coming months, but would need to mobilize more troops to achieve the last:

“We believe that they will not be able to extend control over a land bridge that stretches to Transnistria and includes Odessa without launching some form of mobilization. And it is increasingly unlikely that they will be able to establish control over both oblasts and the buffer zone they desire in the coming weeks,” Haines said.

But Putin is “probably counting on U.S. and EU resolve to weaken as food shortages, inflation, energy prices get worse,” she added.

Economic forces are at work in Russia as well, with sanctions from the West having a “pretty significant” impact on Russia, according to Haines.

“Among the indicators that one might look at are, for example, the fact that … we predict approximately 20% inflation in Russia, that we expect that their GDP will fall about 10%, possibly even more, over the course of the year,” she said.

The fighting itself has also worn on Russia’s capabilities.

“Our view is that the ground combat forces have been degraded considerably. It’s going to take them years … to rebuild that,” she said.

But degraded conventual forces could drive Putin to other means of exerting force.

“That may end up meaning that they have greater reliance in effect on asymmetric tools during this period,” Haines said. “So they may rely more on things like cyber, nuclear, precision, etc. And that’s obviously a shift in the way in which they are exercising their efforts for influence.”

The discrepancy between Putin’s high aspirations and his degraded conventional capability could lead to “a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory,” and “a period of more ad-hoc decision making in Russia” in the next few months, Haines said.

This could also manifest itself domestically.

“The current trend increases the likelihood that President Putin will turn to more drastic means, including imposing martial law, reorienting industrial production, or potentially escalatory military actions to free up the resources needed to achieve his objectives as the conflict drags on, or if he perceives Russia is losing in Ukraine,” she said.

What could happen next?

“The most likely flashpoints for escalation in the coming weeks are around increasing Russian attempts to interdict Western security assistance, retaliation for Western economic sanctions or threats to the regime at home. We believe that Moscow continues to use nuclear rhetoric to deter the United States and the West from increasing lethal aid to Ukraine and to respond to public comments of the U.S. and NATO allies that suggest expanded Western goals in the conflict,” she said.

The next step for Putin could be to launch major nuclear drills to command respect from the U.S.

“If Putin perceives that the United States is ignoring his threats, he may try to signal to Washington the heightened danger of its support to Ukraine by authorizing another large nuclear exercise involving a major dispersal of mobile intercontinental missiles, heavy bombers, strategic submarines,” Haines said.

But so far U.S. officials have said they do not believe Russia is preparing to actually use nuclear weapons in Ukraine or elsewhere.

“We otherwise continue to believe that President Putin would probably only authorize the use of nuclear weapons if he perceived an existential threat to the Russian state or regime,” Haines said.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday continued his sharpened attack on what he’s now calling the GOP’s “ultra-MAGA” agenda as he pitched his plan to tackle inflation.

His remarks came as the national average price of a gallon of gas hit a record high of $4.37 a gallon, AAA said.

“I want every American to know that I am taking inflation very seriously,” Biden said as he delivered remarks in the South Court Auditorium. “It is my top domestic priority.”

Inflation is one of the Democratic Party’s biggest problems heading into the 2022 midterm elections. Republicans have seized on higher costs to criticize Biden’s domestic agenda while the White House is pinning the problem on supply chain issues, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden used his speech on Tuesday to tout what he said were recent accomplishments aimed at alleviating the increasing financial burdens on Americans, including a historic release form the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to offset soaring gas prices.

Biden also used the occasion to continue his ramped-up rhetoric against the GOP, accusing Republicans of having no real plan to address inflation.

“My plan is to lower everyday costs for hardworking Americans and lower the deficit by asking large corporations and the wealthiest Americans to not engage in price gouging and to pay their fair share in taxes,” Biden said. “The Republican plan is to increase taxes on middle class families, let billionaires and large companies off the hook as they raise prices and reap profits in record amounts. And it’s really that simple.”

Biden has used one proposal in particular as a target: GOP Sen. Rick Scott’s pitch to have all Americans pay some income tax to “have some skin in the game, even if a small amount.” That would mean a tax increase on Americans whose income is currently too low to owe federal income taxes.

On Tuesday, Biden said Scott’s plan will hurt frontline workers like firefighters and teachers.

Despite Biden’s focus on the plan, Scott’s proposal hasn’t been embraced by Republican leaders. Instead, Sen. Mitch McConnell made a point to distance himself from it shortly after it was announced.

“If we are fortunate enough to have the majority next year, I’ll be the majority leader, I’ll decide in consultation with my members, what to put on the floor,” McConnell said. “Let me tell you what will not be a part of our agenda. We will not have as part of our agenda, a bill that raises taxes on half the American people, sunsets social security and Medicare within 5 years. That will not be a part of the Republican Senate majority agenda.”

Before Biden spoke, Scott tweeted that Biden was “unfit for office” and should resign. Asked about that after he finished his remarks, Biden said, “I think the man has a problem.”

Biden’s remarks on inflation come ahead of the release of April’s consumer price index. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will announce those numbers on Wednesday morning. In March, the consumer price index spiked 8.5% from the year prior–the largest 12-month increase in 40 years.

ABC News’ Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Abortion rights activists gathered outside of Justice Samuel Alito’s Virginia home on Monday night to protest the draft opinion he authored that leaked last week from the Supreme Court, indicating to the public that the court could soon overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

While protests extended to Alito’s home — after Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh also saw demonstrators at their Maryland homes over the weekend — the Senate voted unanimously on Monday evening on a bill to provide security details for the justices and their families. The bipartisan bill, authored by Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, heads to the House for a possible vote. If it passes, it would then go to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Two federal law enforcement sources told ABC News Monday that steps have been taken to increase security details around the individual justices, including at their homes. The U.S. Marshals Service also said they are assisting the Marshal of the Supreme Court regarding increased security concerns in the wake of Politico obtaining the draft opinion, but didn’t comment further on specific security measures.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted the demonstrations Monday evening as an attempt to influence the justices and “replace the rule of law with the rule of mobs,” he said.

“We’ve seen angry crowds assemble at judges’ private family homes. Activists published a map of their addresses. Law enforcement has had to install a security fence around the Supreme Court itself,” McConnell said from the Senate floor. “Trying to scare federal judges into ruling a certain way is far outside the bounds of First Amendment speech or protest.”

McConnell went on to cite a federal law — 18 U.S. Code Section 1507 — that forbids “pickets and parades” intended to influence judges, suggesting the law could make the protestors’ actions illegal.

ShutDownDC, which organized the event, has more demonstrations planned for this week.

More than 100 people turned up for the gathering outside Alito’s home in Alexandria which included speakers, a candlelight vigil, quiet moments of reflection and unified chants, including, at one point, “Alito is a coward! Alito is a coward!”

It wasn’t clear whether Alito and his family were home at the time — but law enforcement officers were on the scene as the protest remained peaceful.

Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin tweeted that state police were also assisting federal and local law enforcement “to ensure the safety of our citizens, including Supreme Court Justices, who call Virginia home.”

The demonstrators are part of the majority of Americans who believe Roe v. Wade should be upheld, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll last week. But across the country, if Roe is overturned, at least 26 states would either ban abortion or severely restrict access to it.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday the White House supports peaceful protests but would condemn any violence.

“I think the president’s view is that there’s a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document,” Psaki responded. “We obviously want people’s privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to protest. That is certainly what the president’s view would be.”

The justices are next expected to convene in person — though in private — in the court building on Thursday for their weekly conference, marking the first official gathering of the nine since the leaked draft sent shockwaves through the court and across the country. The next possible opinion release day is next Monday.

For his part, Alito canceled an appearance at a judicial conference last week after the draft decision leaked.

Democrats will force a vote in the Senate to protect access to abortion on Wednesday. Though it’s all but certain to fail, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday it will be a telling vote.

“Tomorrow, there’ll be no more hiding. There’ll be no more distracting. No more obfuscating where every member in this chamber stands,” Schumer said. “Senate Republicans will face a choice. Either vote to protect the rights of women to exercise freedom over their own bodies, or stand with the Supreme Court as 50 years of women’s rights are reduced to rubble before our very eyes.”

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(NEW YORK) — Of the numerous primary races being held Tuesday, two resonate beyond state politics: The Republican gubernatorial primary in Nebraska and the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary in West Virginia.

After former President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidates won in the Ohio and Indiana primaries, the Nebraska GOP gubernatorial primary will once again test the power of Trump’s endorsement — this time in a race in which established GOP state leaders have backed another candidate.

Former President Donald Trump has put stock in the Nebraska gubernatorial GOP primary by backing wealthy businessman Charles Herbster, who has been accused of sexual assault by eight women — allegations he has denied. He is engaged in a legal battle with state Sen. Julie Slama, the only accuser to be identified by name.

Trump held a rally in Nebraska last week in support of Herbster, but almost all of Nebraska’s GOP establishment leaders, including Gov. Pete Ricketts, support businessman Jim Pillen in the primary.

A third contender, state Sen. Brett Lindstrom, has gained traction partly due to his endorsement from the mayor of Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city.

Meanwhile, in West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District GOP House primary race the impact of congressional redistricting will be on full display.

West Virginia lost one of its three House seats, and while both existing districts lean strongly Republican, there is one fewer seat for Republicans to hold onto, according to analysis from FiveThirtyEight.

One of the House races features a rare matchup between two incumbent lawmakers. Republicans Rep. David McKinley and Rep. Alex Mooney are facing off against each other and three other challengers in the primary.

The McKinley-Mooney matchup is another test of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement power. Trump has backed Mooney, who has echoed the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election. McKinley, however, has the support of Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.

Manchin even released an ad denouncing Mooney and declaring his support for McKinley.

“Alex Mooney has proven he’s all about Alex Mooney. But West Virginians know David McKinley is all about us,” Manchin said in the ad.

West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, however, told ABC News Live’s Diane Macedo on Monday that he doesn’t think the Trump or Manchin endorsements will decide the race.

“He’s certainly very popular… I think people still are tuned in to what he has to say. But I really don’t think that’s going to be the decisive factor in this election,” Warner said of the former president. “Endorsements are important, but I think people really vote their conscience.”

As for Manchin’s endorsement, Warner was unsure of whether it would have “much play at all in this particular race,” which is also a test of one of President Joe Biden’s signature policies.

West Virginia is one of the nation’s poorest states, and McKinley is one of 13 Republicans who voted for Biden’s infrastructure bill that is expected to funnel $6 billion to the state. Mooney voted against it and won Trump’s endorsement when Biden signed the bill into law.

Greg Thomas, a Republican political consultant in the state who knows both candidates and once worked for McKinley, is of the belief that Trump’s support for Mooney could, in fact, be a tipping point.

“Trump’s personality isn’t something that we see a lot here in West Virginia. But his issues, these are West Virginia conservative issues and have been before Trump came along,” he told ABC News.

McKinley has also been hurt by Trump’s focus on his vote to establish an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Unfounded claims about the 2020 election overshadow the two races, as both Herbster and McKinley have pushed the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Herbster attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, which preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Mooney has also supported a Texas-led lawsuit seeking to throw out the election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin; and he objected to certifying the election results in Pennsylvania and Nevada.

Tuesday’s primaries are coming just over a week after a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion was leaked. The impending decision has galvanized abortion rights supporters and anti-abortion rights activists alike.

Warner told ABC News Live the abortion issue could play a role in Nebraska and West Virginia.

“It may excite the [voter] base, but I think we’re gonna have an exciting election either way,” Warner said.

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(WASHINGTON) — West Virginia voters head to the polls Tuesday to vote in primaries for the House of Representatives and state legislature, as well as other statewide and regional offices. Early voting in the state ended Saturday.

Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET.

State significance

The Republican primaries for the House of Representatives in West Virginia are significant because they will help determine which party controls the House and will put the impact of congressional redistricting on full display.

As a result of redistricting — and a decline in the state’s population — West Virginia lost one of its three House seats. Both existing districts lean strongly Republican, but now there is one fewer seat for Republicans to hold onto, according to analysis from FiveThirtyEight.

Redistricting also means one of the House races features a rare matchup between two incumbent lawmakers. Republicans Reps. David McKinley and Alex Mooney are facing off against each other and three other challengers in the primary for the newly drawn 2nd Congressional District.

The McKinley-Mooney matchup is another test of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement power. Trump has backed Mooney, who has echoed the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election. But McKinley, who voted for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, has the support of Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.

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