Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma and Utah Hosted Their Primaries, Mississippi and South Carolina Held Runoff Elections, and Nebraska Hosted a Special Election That Was a Lot Closer than We Anticipated, Although ABC News Has Projected That the Republican, Mike Flood, Will Win.

By: SARAH FROSTENSON ,MONICA POTTS, NATHANIEL RAKICH, GEOFFREY SKELLEY

One of the big stories going into tonight, though, wasn’t former President Trump’s influence — it was just how much Democrats meddled in GOP races, elevating the candidacies of more extreme GOP candidates in the hopes that they’d be easier to defeat in the general election.

In the Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary, Democrats got their preferred candidate, as state Sen. Darren Bailey easily won. The thought was that Bailey, as the more conservative candidate in the race, would face a steep uphill battle against incumbent Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, given Illinois’s blue hue. But Democrats might later regret having backed Bailey as much as they did.

In Colorado, meanwhile, this strategy didn’t pay off for Democrats. Neither state Rep. Ron Hanks in the GOP Senate primary nor businessman Greg Lopez in the GOP gubernatorial primary ultimately prevailed. Nor did Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was arguably the highest-profile election denier running in Colorado. Peters was banned from managing the elections in her home county, but still sought the Republican nomination for secretary of state. (She lost handily to former Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson, who accepts the 2020 election result.)

On that note, some of the night’s biggest election deniers, like Peters, Hanks and Lopez, did not win their primaries, but by our count, 15 candidates who either denied or questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election still won their Republican primaries tonight.

Finally, another big story going into tonight was the potential number of incumbents who could find themselves on the chopping block. For instance, there were two incumbent-versus-incumbent battles in Illinois tonight thanks to redistricting, and in the Democratic-leaning 6th District, it was Democratic Rep. Sean Casten who ultimately prevailed, adding another loss to progressives’ record with Rep. Marie Newman’s defeat. (It should be noted, however, that progressives easily won in the new Illinois 3rd, an unexpected result, and their preferred candidate looks likely to prevail in Illinois’s 1st, as well.) Meanwhile in the Republican primary in Illinois’s 15th District, the Trump-backed Rep. Mary Miller handily defeated Rep. Rodney Davis.

It wasn’t just because of redistricting, though, that incumbents were in danger. Most notably in Mississippi’s runoffs, Rep. Michael Guest faced a strong challenge from Michael Cassidy, who launched a bid against Guest for his vote to create a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Guest ultimately prevailed tonight, but the same cannot be said of Rep. Steven Palazzo, who had been embroiled in scandal. Palazzo lost to Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell.

Here are a few other key races we were watching tonight that have not yet been called:

• In Oklahoma’s 2nd District Republican primary, we have most of the votes, but things are still too close to make a final projection about which two candidates will advance to an August runoff from this extremely crowded race. State Rep. Avery Frix leads with nearly 15 percent, followed by former state Sen. Josh Brecheen with about 14 percent and Muskogee Police Chief Johnny Teehee with 13 percent.
• In Illinois’s 7th District, incumbent Rep. Danny Davis was fending off a challenge from Kina Collins, who positioned herself as the more progressive candidate. But the race was close: With 71 percent of the expected vote reporting, Davis was leading Collins, 52 percent to 46 percent.
• The race was much closer in Illinois’s 11th District Republican primary, where former Trump administration official Catalina Lauf had about 29 percent of the vote, barely leading a crowded field of six total candidates, with about half of the vote in. The winner of the primary will aim to unseat the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Bill Foster.
• Finally, the Republican primaries in Illinois’s 13th and 14 Districts remain too close to call. The race in the 13th is especially close, with nonprofit president Regan Deering slightly ahead of former federal prosecutor Jesse Reising, 35 percent to 33 percent, with 60 percent of the expected vote counted. Whoever wins will face former Biden administration staffer Nikki Budzinski in the general election. Meanwhile in the 14th, Kendall County Board Chair Scott Gryder has more of a sizable lead over Kendall County GOP Chair Jim Marter, 31 percent to 24 percent, with 74 percent of the expected vote in.

Here’s one last look at how all the election deniers and questioners on today’s ballots fared.

How Big Lie supporters are doing tonight

Senate, House, gubernatorial, attorney general and secretary of state candidates who have either denied or questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and their results in  Republican primaries in Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma and Utah, as of 11:17 p.m. Eastern.

CANDIDATE	OFFICE	BIG LIE POSITION	% REPORTING	VOTE SHARE	STATUS
Ron Hanks	CO Sen.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	82%	44.8%	✗ Lost
Greg Lopez	CO Gov.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	82	46.7	✗ Lost
Tina Peters	CO SoS	🚫 Denied legitimacy	81	27.0	✗ Lost
Jennifer Qualteri	CO-01	🚫 Denied legitimacy	40	100.0	✓ Won
Lauren Boebert*	CO-03	🚫 Denied legitimacy	99	64.4	✓ Won
Ken Buck*	CO-04	❓Raised doubts	91	74.8	✓ Won
Robert Lewis	CO-04	❓Raised doubts	91	25.2	✗ Lost
Doug Lamborn*	CO-05	🚫 Denied legitimacy	83	49.7	✓ Won
Dave Williams	CO-05	❓Raised doubts	83	31.6	✗ Lost
Rebecca Keltie	CO-05	❓Raised doubts	83	12.6	✗ Lost
Erik Aadland	CO-07	🚫 Denied legitimacy	88	47.9	✓ Won
Laurel Imer	CO-07	🚫 Denied legitimacy	88	15.7	✗ Lost
Lori A. Saine	CO-08	❓Raised doubts	59	19.9	✗ Lost
Peggy Hubbard	IL Sen.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	71	24.1	Trailing
Matthew “Matt” Dubiel	IL Sen.	❓Raised doubts	71	12.7	Trailing
Robert “Bobby” Piton	IL Sen.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	71	9.1	Trailing
Jimmy Lee Tillman II	IL Sen.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	71	5.0	Trailing
Darren Bailey	IL Gov.	❓Raised doubts	80	55.0	✓ Won
Gary Rabine	IL Gov.	❓Raised doubts	80	6.1	✗ Lost
David Shestokas	IL AG	❓Raised doubts	69	21.4	✗ Lost
Eric Carlson	IL-01	❓Raised doubts	68	40.6	Leading
Geno Young	IL-01	🚫 Denied legitimacy	68	14.5	Trailing
Ashley Ramos	IL-02	🚫 Denied legitimacy	54	27.8	Trailing
Niki Conforti	IL-06	❓Raised doubts	77	11.5	Trailing
Scott R. Kaspar	IL-06	❓Raised doubts	77	6.9	Trailing
Robert “Rob” Cruz	IL-06	❓Raised doubts	77	5.8	Trailing
Chad Koppie	IL-08	🚫 Denied legitimacy	60	13.2	Trailing
Catalina Lauf	IL-11	❓Raised doubts	56	28.9	Leading
Mark Joseph Carroll	IL-11	❓Raised doubts	56	21.1	Trailing
Susan L. Hathaway-Altman	IL-11	❓Raised doubts	56	12.3	Trailing
Mike Bost*	IL-12	🚫 Denied legitimacy	4	100.0	✓ Won
Terry Martin	IL-13	❓Raised doubts	56	8.6	Trailing
James T. “Jim” Marter	IL-14	🚫 Denied legitimacy	74	24.0	Trailing
Jack Lombardi II	IL-14	🚫 Denied legitimacy	74	14.2	Trailing
Jaime Milton	IL-14	🚫 Denied legitimacy	74	10.2	Trailing
Mary Miller*	IL-15	🚫 Denied legitimacy	99	57.6	✓ Won
Darin LaHood*	IL-16	❓Raised doubts	76	66.3	✓ Won
Michael Rebresh	IL-16	🚫 Denied legitimacy	76	8.2	✗ Lost
Lee Zeldin	NY Gov.	❓Raised doubts	44	43.6	✓ Won
Andrew Giuliani	NY Gov.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	44	23.0	✗ Lost
Markwayne Mullin	OK Sen. (special)	🚫 Denied legitimacy	96	43.8	Leading
Jackson Lahmeyer	OK Sen.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	96	26.4	✗ Lost
T.W. Shannon	OK Sen. (special)	🚫 Denied legitimacy	96	17.4	Trailing
Nathan Dahm	OK Sen. (special)	🚫 Denied legitimacy	96	12.0	Trailing
Luke Holland	OK Sen. (special)	❓Raised doubts	96	11.2	Trailing
Joan Farr	OK Sen.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	96	5.8	✗ Lost
Scott Pruitt	OK Sen. (special)	🚫 Denied legitimacy	96	5.0	Trailing
Adam Holley	OK Sen. (special)	🚫 Denied legitimacy	96	0.5	Trailing
Mark Sherwood	OK Gov.	🚫 Denied legitimacy	97	13.3	✗ Lost
Avery Frix	OK-02	🚫 Denied legitimacy	87	14.7	Leading
Johnny Teehee	OK-02	❓Raised doubts	87	13.0	Trailing
John Bennett	OK-02	🚫 Denied legitimacy	87	11.3	Trailing
Wes Nofire	OK-02	🚫 Denied legitimacy	87	6.3	Trailing
David Derby	OK-02	🚫 Denied legitimacy	87	5.5	Trailing
Dustin Roberts	OK-02	🚫 Denied legitimacy	87	4.9	Trailing
Pamela Gordon	OK-02	🚫 Denied legitimacy	87	3.0	Trailing
Frank D. Lucas*	OK-03	🚫 Denied legitimacy	59	61.1	✓ Won
Wade Burleson	OK-03	❓Raised doubts	59	30.6	✗ Lost
Tom Cole*	OK-04	🚫 Denied legitimacy	64	69.8	✓ Won
James Taylor	OK-04	🚫 Denied legitimacy	64	27.0	✗ Lost
Stephanie Bice*	OK-05	🚫 Denied legitimacy	59	68.3	✓ Won
Chris Stewart*	UT-02	🚫 Denied legitimacy	84	72.1	✓ Won
Burgess Owens*	UT-04	🚫 Denied legitimacy	56	60.4	✓ Won

*Incumbent.

Candidates marked as having “denied legitimacy” of the 2020 election either explicitly said Donald Trump’s loss or the 2020 election itself was illegitimate or, if an elected official, took legal measures to try and overturn the election. Candidates marked as “raised doubts” have questioned the fairness of the 2020 election or made references to “election integrity” but have not explicitly said the election or Trump’s loss was illegitimate.

SOURCES: NEWS REPORTS, CAMPAIGNS, ABC NEWS