在周二举行的众多初选中，有两场产生了超越州政治的共鸣:内布拉斯加州的共和党州长初选和西弗吉尼亚州的第二国会选区共和党初选。
在西弗吉尼亚州两位现任议员之间罕见的对决中，ABC新闻预计众议员亚历克斯·穆尼将获胜。
众议员大卫·麦金利在初选中与穆尼和其他三名挑战者交锋。
麦金利-穆尼的对决是对前总统唐纳德·特朗普支持力的又一次考验。特朗普支持穆尼，穆尼呼应了前总统关于2020年大选的错误主张。然而，麦金利得到了共和党西弗吉尼亚州州长吉姆·贾斯蒂斯和民主党参议员乔·曼钦的支持。
曼钦甚至发布了一则广告，谴责穆尼并宣布支持麦金利。
“亚历克斯·穆尼已经证明了他只在乎亚历克斯·穆尼。但是西弗吉尼亚人知道大卫·麦金利就是我们的全部，”曼钦在广告中说。
比尔·克拉克/CQ-点名公司
在2018年5月16日的文件照片中，众议员大卫·麦金利离开众议院共和党会议...
国会选区重新划分的影响也在竞选中得到了充分展现。
西弗吉尼亚州失去了三个众议院席位中的一个，尽管现有的两个地区都强烈倾向于共和党，但根据从五三八分析。
西弗吉尼亚州国务卿麦克·华纳周一告诉美国广播公司新闻直播的黛安·马塞多，他认为特朗普或曼钦的支持不会决定这场比赛。
“他当然很受欢迎……我认为人们仍然在关注他要说的话。但我真的不认为这将是这次选举的决定性因素，”华纳谈到前总统时说。“代言很重要，但我认为人们真的是凭良心投票。
至于曼钦的支持，华纳不确定它是否会“在这场特殊的竞选中发挥很大作用”，这也是对总统乔·拜登的一项标志性政策的考验。
西弗吉尼亚州是美国最贫穷的州之一，麦金利是投票支持拜登基础设施法案的13名共和党人之一，该法案预计将为该州提供60亿美元。穆尼投了反对票，并在拜登签署该法案成为法律时赢得了特朗普的支持。
格雷格·托马斯(Greg Thomas)是该州的共和党政治顾问，认识两位候选人，曾为麦金利工作，他认为特朗普对穆尼的支持事实上可能是一个转折点。
“特朗普的个性在西弗吉尼亚州并不常见。但他的问题，这些是西弗吉尼亚州保守派的问题，在特朗普出现之前就已经存在了，”他告诉美国广播公司新闻。
麦金利还受到特朗普关注他投票成立独立委员会调查1月6日国会大厦袭击事件的伤害。
关于2020年大选的毫无根据的说法给两场竞选蒙上了阴影，因为赫布斯特和穆尼都提出了2020年大选被特朗普偷走的错误说法。赫布斯特参加了2021年1月6日在华盛顿特区举行的“停止偷窃”集会，这发生在美国国会大厦遇袭之前。穆尼还支持了一项由得克萨斯州牵头的诉讼，试图推翻宾夕法尼亚州、佐治亚州、密歇根州和威斯康星州的选举结果;他反对确认宾夕法尼亚州和内华达州的选举结果。
在前总统唐纳德·特朗普的支持下候选人获胜在俄亥俄州和印第安纳州的初选中，内布拉斯加州共和党州长初选将再次考验特朗普支持的力量——这一次是在一场老牌共和党州领导人支持另一名候选人的比赛中。
特朗普也曾出售股票在内布拉斯加州州长共和党初选中，他支持富商查尔斯·赫布斯特，后者被指控对八名女性实施性侵犯，但他否认了这些指控。他正与州参议员朱莉·斯拉玛(Julie Slama)进行一场法律战，后者是唯一一名被点名的原告。
这位前总统上周在内布拉斯加州举行了一次集会，支持赫布斯特，但内布拉斯加州共和党几乎所有的领导人，包括州长皮特·里基茨，都在初选中支持商人吉姆·皮伦。
第三名候选人、州参议员布雷特·林德斯特罗姆的支持率有所上升，部分原因是他得到了内布拉斯加州最大城市奥马哈市市长的支持。
周二的初选将在一周前举行最高法院意见草案这将推翻具有里程碑意义的罗伊诉韦德案中关于堕胎的决定被泄露。这一即将做出的决定激起了堕胎权利支持者和反堕胎权利活动家。
华纳告诉美国广播公司新闻直播，堕胎问题可能会在内布拉斯加州和西弗吉尼亚州发挥作用。
“这可能会让[选民]基础兴奋，但我认为无论如何我们都会有一场激动人心的选举，”华纳说。
Trump-backed Mooney projected winner in West Virginia Republican House primary, delivering the former president another win
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.
In the rare matchup between two incumbent lawmakers in West Virginia, ABC News has projected Rep. Alex Mooney the winner.
Rep. David McKinley faced off against Mooney and three other challengers in the primary.
The McKinley-Mooney matchup was another test of former President Donald Trump's endorsement power. Trump backed 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 toanalysis 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 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, 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 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 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 January 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.
After former President Donald Trump's endorsedcandidates wonin 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.
Trump has alsoput stockin 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.
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, 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.
Tuesday's primaries are coming just over a week after aSupreme Court draft opinionthat 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.
