Donald Trump on Tuesday notched a significant victory in South Carolina, where his preferred candidate easily ousted five-term Rep. Tom Rice, the first Republican to be booted from office after voting to impeach the former president last year. But another high-profile GOP target of Trump in the state, Rep. Nancy Mace, managed to hold back a challenger.Meanwhile, in Nevada, Trump's pick, Adam Laxalt, won his U.S. Senate primary, defeating a populist candidate who is arguably more representative of the Trump base.Takeaways from the latest round of primary elections:SPLIT DECISION IN SOUTH CAROLINARice and Mace have been objects of Trump's anger ever since a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's win.Their transgressions? Mace stated on national TV that Trump's "entire legacy was wiped out" by the attack, while Rice became an apostate for joining a small group of Republicans who voted with Democrats in favor of Trump's second impeachment."He threw a temper tantrum that culminated with the sacking of the United States Capitol," Rice told NBC News on Monday. "It's a direct attack on the Constitution, and he should be held accountable."Voters ultimately rendered different judgments on the duo, reflecting a split within the GOP about how to move forward from the Trump era. Rice's largely rural district is representative of Trump's America, where crossing the former president carries a steep cost. Even as Trump railed against both lawmakers, he chose to hold a rally in Rice's district earlier this year.That's because Mace's district, which centers on Charleston, is full of the type of moderate suburban voters who fled the GOP under Trump. It is one of the few districts in an overall red state where Democrats have been even moderately competitive in congressional races.The results demonstrate that the Trump factor can't be underestimated in solidly Republican territory, a potential warning sign for other Republicans, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who also voted to impeach Trump and has helped lead the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack. She's facing a competitive primary in August from a Trump-backed challenger.Another notable factor in the Mace contest: It amounted to a proxy battle between Trump, who is contemplating a 2024 White House campaign, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is also considering a run.Trump backed former state Rep. Katie Arrington in the race, while Haley, a former South Carolina governor, effectively challenged Trump by campaigning with Mace.Video below: Katie Arrington concedes in South Carolina congressional raceTRUMP, MCCONNELL ALIGN ON LAXALT IN NEVADATrump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell don't agree on much. One rare exception is Laxalt, who won Nevada's Republican Senate primary.The two Republican leaders haven't been on speaking terms since December 2020, when McConnell acknowledged that Biden defeated Trump. But they both endorsed Laxalt, who defeated retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, a West Point graduate and Purple Heart recipient who ran an unexpectedly strong campaign as a conservative outsider.The mutual support, which brought together the Trump and establishment wings of the party, demonstrates the intense focus Republican have placed on flipping the seat held by first-term Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who is considered among the most vulnerable senators. TEXAS HOUSE SEAT FLIPSA once solidly Democratic district in South Texas will now be represented by a Republican after Mayra Flores won a special primary election to finish the term of former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela, who resigned this year to become a lobbyist.Flores, a GOP organizer who is the daughter of migrant workers, will only hold the seat for several months before the district is redrawn to be more favorable to Democrats. But her victory in the heavily Hispanic Rio Grande Valley is an ominous sign for Democrats.They are not only losing ground in a region they long dominated, but Flores' success as a candidate also demonstrates that Republicans are making inroads with Hispanic voters.Her win also has implications for Democrats' ambitions in Congress, denying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi an opportunity to add to her slim two-vote margin to pass legislation.FROM SOUTH CAROLINA TO THE WHITE HOUSE?Also in South Carolina, Republican Tim Scott coasted to an easy and unopposed primary win Tuesday for what he says will be his last term in the Senate. But another state is also on his mind — the presidential proving ground of Iowa.It's become an article of faith that there are no "accidental" trips to Iowa by ambitious politicians. And Scott, the Senate's sole Black Republican, has made several visits, including one last week.He certainly has the money to contend. As he campaigned for reelection to the Senate, Scott amassed a jaw-dropping $42 million. That's more than double the $15.7 million average cost of a winning Senate campaign in the 2018 midterms. It's also more than enough to launch a Republican presidential campaign in 2024.Even before his recent appearance at an Iowa Republican Party event, Scott has been raising his profile. He spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention and delivered the Republican response to President Joe Biden's first joint congressional address. He's also visited New Hampshire, another early-voting presidential state, and delivered a speech at the Reagan Presidential Library, another frequent stop for Republicans eyeing the White House. A LEPAGE COMEBACK?Governor's races are often overlooked. But the general election contest in Maine is among a handful of governor's races that are likely to be competitive this year, along with Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona.Tuesday's gubernatorial primaries were a mere formality, since the races were uncontested. But they locked in what promises to be a doozy of a general election between two longtime foes.Democratic incumbent Janet Mills is seeking a second term. She's a former district attorney, state lawmaker and Maine attorney general who frequently clashed with Republican Paul LePage when he was governor. Now LePage, who has described himself as "Trump before there was Trump," is challenging her.The contest will test the appeal of Trumpian candidates in New England. The Democratic Governors Association has already booked $5 million in TV ad time.That Mills and LePage are even competing against each other is somewhat of a surprise.LePage moved to Florida and swore off politics when he left office in 2019 following two raucous terms that often drew national attention for his indecorous remarks.But the draw of elected office was apparently too great. By 2020, he was back in Maine pledging to challenge his old nemesis.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, a former legislator and the state's longest-serving attorney general, died at age 68, his office announced Friday, just hours after he was taken to a hospital.Stenehjem died about 6:20 p.m. at a Bismarck hospital, his spokeswoman Liz Brocker said. She said she could not provide additional details, including his cause of death.Stenehjem's brother, Allan, told KFYR-TV that Stenehjem had been taken to a hospital Friday morning after a medical call to his home.Allan Stenehjem told KFYR that his brother had been dealing with an ulcer that may have become inflamed, but he later told the Bismarck Tribune that his brother had no known health issues that might have caused his hospitalization, and that his brother's condition was not related to COVID-19. Stenehjem spent 24 years in the Legislature before being elected attorney general in 2000, then winning five more times. In that long career, he supported an overhaul of North Dakota's court system, laws against domestic violence, consumer protection measures and legislation to keep North Dakota's government meetings and records open to the public.Gov. Doug Burgum said his fellow Republican "embodied public service" both as a legislator and as the longest-serving attorney general in the state."Like so many North Dakotans who treasured his friendship and admired him for his more than four decades of exceptional service to our state, we are absolutely devastated" by Stenehjem's death, Burgum said in a statement.Stenehjem had announced last month he would not seek another term. He said he wanted to spend more time traveling and with his family. He echoed concerns from several other retiring politicians about an increase in vitriolic social media criticism of politicians.Stenehjem told the Tribune at the time that fighting illegal drugs was a top challenge of his tenure. Among his proudest accomplishments, he cited getting a $30 million settlement following a diesel spill in Mandan in 1985, establishing a 24/7 sobriety program for people convicted of subsequent DUIs, establishing the state crime lab and improving the training of state crime bureau agents.Stenehjem ran for governor in 2016 and was his party's choice to replace Jack Dalrymple, who didn't seek a second term. But Burgum, a wealthy former Microsoft executive, bucked party tradition to challenge him and won the primary easily, then went on to win the general election.The intraparty battle between Burgum and Stenehjem featured a spirited and expensive debate about which candidate was better suited to revive a state economy that was slumping due to depressed oil and crop prices.Burgum tried to paint Stenehjem as part of an establishment that had done a poor job at managing money and put the state's future in doubt. Stenehjem argued that North Dakota was well-positioned to handle the downturn in oil and farm prices and the state needed an experienced hand at the helm.Stenehjem was born in Mohall. He attended high school in Bismarck and graduated from the University of North Dakota and received his law degree from the UND School of Law in 1977.Survivors include his wife, Beth Bakke Stenehjem, and a son, Andrew. Funeral arrangements were pending at Bismarck Funeral Home.

When you watch Hulda Erdman play the piano, you might notice that the notebooks in front of her only contain lyrics, no music notes. "I play by ear," she said. Erdman, who recently celebrated her 103rd birthday in North Dakota, owns dozens of notebooks filled with her favorite church hymns. "They're all favorites I guess. I can't just pick one," she told KFYR. Although she can't read music and never had a lesson, Erdman has been sharing her talents for most of her life. "I started learning to play when I was young. Maybe 12 or 14 years," she said. She was one of 13 children in a musical family. Growing up, Erdman's parents and siblings sang, while several members of the family also played instruments by ear. Music has gotten Erdman through the highs and lows of life. "I used to play all Sunday afternoon after my husband died," she said. "That was my pastime Sundays. Coming home from church and then I'd sit down and play and sing."To celebrate turning 103, Erdman recently performed a concert for the staff and residents at the care center where she lives. A livestream of her concert got thousands of views. "I couldn't believe it was all the way to Washington, D.C. and Maryland," she said.Erdman didn't just receive views but hundreds of birthday wishes and phone calls from family all over. Looking back, Erdman doesn't have any secrets to a long life, but did give credit to her faith. "The Lord was good to me," she said.

Trina Burns never thought she'd see her wedding ring again. Last week, she realized the ring she's been wearing for more than 30 years wasn't on her finger when she left work in North Dakota."I panicked, yeah, I started tearing everything apart, I went through the car, my purse," Burns told KFYR. With no luck, Burns asked a coworker to keep an eye out for the ring."You could hear how upset she was that she had lost her ring and she couldn't find it," Burns' coworker Alyssa Hanson told the TV station. Unbeknownst to her, Burns' coworkers started digging through the dumpster outside their office while she worked from home."I needed gloves of course," said coworker Titus Gietzen, who eventually climbed into the dumpster. "I wasn't just going to go in there without them." Although Burns' coworkers didn't have any luck in the dumpster, someone found her ring in a parking lot the next day. Burns said she has no idea how the ring ended up there, in the space next to where she had parked the previous day. But she's thankful for how far her coworkers were willing to go to get it back to her and for the stranger who eventually found the ring.