A rare Republican who supports abortion rights found success in Colorado in the first primary elections held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, while New York's first female governor positioned herself to become a major voice in the post-Roe landscape.In Illinois, Democrats helped boost a Republican gubernatorial candidate loyal to former President Donald Trump in the hopes that he would be the easier candidate to beat in November. And in at least two states, election deniers were defeated, even as pro-Trump lightning rods elsewhere won. Takeaways from the latest round of primary elections:Abortion is on the ballotThe abortion debate consumed the nation this week, but there was no race where it mattered more than Colorado's Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, where businessman Joe O'Dea became one of the only abortion-rights-supporting Republicans in the nation to win a statewide primary this year. O'Dea beat back a stiff challenge from state Rep. Ron Hanks, a Trump loyalist who opposed abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.O'Dea will face Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in November, and if he wins, he would become just the third Senate Republican — and the only male — to support abortion rights.He said he backs a ban on late-term abortions and government funding of abortions but that the decision to terminate a pregnancy in the initial months is "between a person and their God."Democrats had spent at least $2.5 million on ads designed to boost O'Dea's opponent by promoting, among other things, that he was "too conservative" for backing a complete abortion ban.Democrats hoped that the Roe decision would give them an advantage in several swing states, including Colorado. But, at least for now, O'Dea's victory would seem to complicate the Democrats' plans. A win for Trump or the Democrats?In the final weeks of a campaign, Trump once again attached himself to a Republican who was leading the race. This time, it was farmer Darren Bailey in Illinois, who easily cruised to the GOP nomination in the governor's race.But while Trump can add Bailey to his endorsement record, Democrats are betting that his victory may be short-lived.Bailey now goes on to face Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the November general election, which is just what Pritzker and his allies wanted. Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and the Democratic Governors Association spent heavily on advertising to help Bailey win the GOP nomination. Among other things, the ads reminded the state's Democratic-leaning electorate that he is "100% pro-life." It's a risky gamble. While Bailey may look like an easier opponent in the general election, it's feasible that he could ride a red wave — if it materializes — to the Illinois governor's mansion. Pritzker's predecessor in office was a Republican.Bailey showed off political acumen by besting the early Republican front-runner Richard Irvin, the mayor of Illinois' second-largest city, Aurora. Irvin lost despite being the beneficiary of a staggering $50 million investment from billionaire Ken Griffin. Irvin, who is Black, refused to say whether he voted for Trump and largely avoided talking about abortion, delivering the kind of moderate message that could have cut across ideological lines in a general election.Instead, Republicans nominated Bailey, a Trump loyalist who reads from Bible verses in campaign videos and proudly touts his anti-abortion policies in a state Trump lost by 17 percentage points in 2020. Hochul's opportunityThe scandals of the men around her did not derail New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who overcame primary challengers on the right and left to win her first election test as the state's chief executive. Now, Hochul, New York's first female governor, is positioned to emerge as a leading voice in the Democratic Party as it navigates the post-Roe landscape. The low-profile Hochul stepped into one of the nation's most prominent governorships last fall after Andrew Cuomo resigned in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal. She had promised to restore New Yorkers' faith in their government, only for her handpicked lieutenant governor to be arrested this spring in a federal corruption probe.Hochul was either "consistently shamefully out of the loop, or shamefully enabling through her inaction," charged one of her primary challengers, New York City's elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams. Video below: Gov. Hochul reacts to SCOTUS ruling on New York gun lawThe attack ultimately didn't land in the primary. But don't expect such criticism to disappear as the race for New York governor enters its next phase. Rep. Lee Zeldin emerged from a crowded Republican field to earn the GOP nomination for governor. He defeated Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York City's former mayor Rudy Giuliani, among others.And while Hochul has a serious reelection test ahead, look for her to step into the national spotlight as the abortion debate rages. The Democratic governor said in recent days that New York would be a "safe harbor" for those seeking abortions. Election deniers go downThey celebrated their allegiance to Trump's baseless conspiracy theories on the campaign trail. But on Tuesday night, a handful of these so-called election deniers had nothing to cheer about. In Colorado, Republican voters did not reward secretary of state candidate Tina Peters for championing Trump's lies about election fraud. She was bested by Pam Anderson, a former county clerk who previously led the state clerks' association and defends the state's mail-in elections system.Some officials in both parties worried that Peters would win the primary. That's even after Peters, the Mesa County clerk, was indicted for a security breach spurred by conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election. The state GOP had called on her to suspend her campaign. Now, Anderson, not Peters, will take on incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who's led the national fight against 2020 election deniers.Elsewhere in Colorado, Senate candidate Hanks had also promoted lies about the last presidential election. In addition to being an outspoken opponent of abortion rights, he had attended the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.And in Mississippi, Trump loyalist Michael Cassidy lost a runoff election to incumbent Rep. Michael Guest, who had voted to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. Cassidy said in campaign speeches that Guest had done nothing to stop "the persecution of Jan. 6 political prisoners."Lightning rods win Two Republicans familiar with controversy tested for the first time whether Republican voters deemed them too extreme to go back to Congress. They both prevailed.First-term Rep. Mary Miller, who campaigned alongside Trump over the weekend, defeated five-term Rep. Rodney Davis, who was considered more moderate. The primary victory all but ensures Miller will return to Congress for another term given the heavy Republican advantage in her 15th Congressional District, which is the most Republican district in the state.Miller won just days after describing the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade as "a victory for white life." A spokesperson later said she had intended to say the decision was a victory for a "right to life."Miller is no stranger to provocative statements. Soon after joining the House, Miller quoted Adolf Hitler, saying he was right to say that "whoever has the youth has the future."And in Colorado, Trump loyalist Lauren Boebert defeated a moderate state representative who had run a primary campaign focused on Boebert's extremism. It didn't work. Boebert's controversial moves are many. She vowed to carry a handgun on the House floor. She faced calls for her censure last year after being caught on video making Islamophobic comments about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. And she heckled President Joe Biden in his first State of the Union address.But after winning her primary, she is almost certain to return to Congress for another two years. Her GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado became even more Republican after redistricting.

In one of the biggest days of this year's primary campaign season, voters rejected a measure that would have made it easier to restrict abortion rights in red-state Kansas and repudiated a scandal-tarred former governor seeking a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri.Meanwhile, a political newcomer emerged from Michigan's messy Republican gubernatorial primary, setting up a rare woman-vs.-woman general election matchup between conservative commentator Tudor Dixon and incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. And a Democratic congressman was ousted from Congress after redistricting forced him into the same primary as a fellow incumbent.Takeaways from election results Tuesday night:RED-STATE KANSAS REJECTS ANTI-ABORTION AMENDMENTKansas may seem like an unlikely place for abortion rights supporters to notch a major victory. But on Tuesday, voters in the conservative state resoundingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the Legislature to ban abortion. It was the first major test of voter sentiment since the Supreme Court ruling in June to rescind the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.The amendment would have allowed the Legislature to overturn a 2019 state Supreme Court decision declaring access to abortion a "fundamental" right under the state constitution.Its failure at the ballot in a state Donald Trump won by nearly 15 points issues a stark warning to Republicans, who have downplayed the political impact of the high court's ruling. It also hands a considerable win to Democrats, who are feeling newly energized heading into what was expected to be a tough midterm election season for them. Kansas currently allows abortion until the 22nd week of pregnancy. After that, abortion is allowed only to save a patient's life or to prevent "a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function."Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat who supports abortion rights, has warned that the Republican-led Legislature's efforts to ban abortion would hurt the state. On Tuesday it became clear than many voters agree with her. ___GREITENS' COMEBACK COLLAPSESDemocratic hopes of picking up a U.S. Senate seat in deep-red Missouri faltered Tuesday after Republican voters selected Attorney General Eric Schmitt as their nominee over former Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned in disgrace in 2018.Greitens, they predicted, would be toxic in a general election. Democrats landed a strong recruit in beer heir Trudy Busch Valentine, who won her primary Tuesday. And the state's Republican establishment prepared to put millions of dollars behind an independent candidate in the general election, potentially fracturing the GOP vote. But Greitens came on short Tuesday, finishing in a distant third behind Schmitt and U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler. His campaign's tailspin can likely be traced back to March, when his ex-wife submitted a bombshell legal filing in the former couple's child custody case. Sheena Greitens said in a sworn statement that Eric Greitens had abused her and one of their young sons. She also said he displayed such "unstable and coercive behavior" in the lead-up to his 2018 resignation that others took steps to limit his access to firearms.At the time, Greitens faced potential impeachment after his former hairdresser testified that he blindfolded and restrained her in his basement, assaulted her and appeared to take a compromising photo to pressure her to keep quiet about an affair.He resigned from office — and avoided testifying under oath about the affair.He launched his comeback campaign for Senate last year, marketing himself as an unabashedly pro-Trump conservative. And while many in Missouri wrote him off, one important political figure didn't: Donald Trump, who mused publicly about Greitens' attributes. But in the end, Trump stopped short of issuing an endorsement, instead issuing a vague statement this week throwing his support behind "ERIC."And on Tuesday, the other "ERIC" in the race — Schmitt — won. ___MESSY RACE IN MICHIGANAt its essence, Michigan's raucous Republican gubernatorial primary was a contest of which candidate's personal baggage was the least disqualifying. On Tuesday, conservative media personality Tudor Dixon was the victor, setting up a November general election against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the battleground state.Dixon's past as an actor in a series of vulgar and low-budget horror movies became a campaign issue. But her career moonlighting in titles such as "Buddy BeBop Vs. the Living Dead" and a vampire TV series called "Transitions" paled in comparison to her rivals' problems.One of them, Ryan Kelley, faces federal misdemeanor charges after he was recorded on video in Washington during the Jan. 6 insurrection directing a mob of Trump supporters toward a set of stairs leading to the U.S. Capitol. Kelley has pleaded not guilty. Another, Kevin Rinke, is a former car dealer who settled a series of lawsuits in the 1990s after he was alleged to have made racist and sexist comments, which included calling women "ignorant and stupid" and stating that they "should not be allowed to work in public."A third, Garrett Soldano, is a chiropractor and self-help guru who has sold supplements he falsely claimed were a therapeutic treatment for the coronavirus.Many in the state's Republican establishment, including billionaire former Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos, view Dixon as their best shot at defeating Whitmer. Trump endorsed Dixon in the race Friday, just a few days before the primary.But her primary victory is an outcome few would have predicted months ago. In addition to the shortcomings of her rivals, her path was cleared when the two best-known candidates in the race were kicked off the ballot in May for submitting false petition signatures.___PRO-ISRAEL LOBBY STRIKES AGAINRedistricting forced two Democratic House incumbents into a bitter primary in eastern Michigan. But massive spending by the pro-Israel lobby is what may have doomed Rep. Andy Levin, a former president of his synagogue, in the race Tuesday against Rep. Haley Stevens for a suburban Detroit congressional seat.Stevens, who attends a nondenominational megachurch in the city of Troy, was buoyed by more than $4 million in advertising spending by the United Democracy Project, a super PAC launched by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, commonly called AIPAC.The ads amplified Stevens' campaign message, but some also attacked Levin. But it's hardly a surprise that the group, which is partially funded by two billionaire Republican megadonors, went after Levin despite his Jewish faith.Levin, a progressive member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has been highly critical of Israel's record on human rights and what he has called the country's "deliberate campaign to dilute the Palestinian population." He's also just the latest congressional Democrat who has been defeated following a spending blitz by the group, which has poured at least $24 million into federal races this year.

Video above: House Jan. 6 committee votes to subpoena TrumpThe House Jan. 6 committee took the extraordinary action of subpoenaing former President Donald Trump on Thursday as it issued a stark warning in its final public hearing before the midterm election: The future of the nation's democracy is at stake.The panel's October hearing, just weeks ahead of the midterm election, focused on Trump's state of mind on Jan. 6, 2021, as he egged on his supporters with false claims of election fraud, pushed to accompany them to the Capitol while lawmakers were counting the votes, and then did nothing for hours as the mob violently breached the building.The committee is set to shut down at the beginning of next year, and was making its final public arguments ahead of a report expected in December."We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion," said Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel's vice chairwoman and one of two Republicans on the nine-member committee. "And every American is entitled to those answers. So we can act now to protect our republic." A subpoena for Trump -- but not PenceThe subpoena for Trump is a major escalation in the probe. After signaling for months that they may leave the former president alone, the unanimous 9-0 vote "for relevant documents and testimony, under oath" was definitive.The committee had long debated whether to seek testimony from or subpoena Trump or former Vice President Mike Pence. Neither has spoken directly to the committee. While Trump has been hostile to the probe both in court and in public, Pence's lawyers had engaged with the panel for several months with no clear resolution.Video below: Jan. 6 panel focuses on Trump 'staggering betrayal'Still, several of Pence's closest aides have complied with the investigation, with several of them providing great detail about his movements and state of mind as he resisted Trump's pleas to somehow object to the certification of electoral votes that day and try to overturn their defeat.In contrast, the committee showed several clips of Trump allies refusing to answer questions before the panel.Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, said the committee was "able to nail down every salient detail in pretty much every element of the offense" except for certain details about what Trump was doing and saying as the insurrection unfolded. 'Consider whether we can survive'The lesson of the committee's investigation is that institutions only hold when people of good faith protect them without regard to political cost, Cheney said during the hearing."Why would Americans assume that our Constitution and our institutions in our Republic are invulnerable to another attack? Why would we assume that those institutions will not falter next time?" Cheney asked.Video below: Midterms loom over latest Jan 6 HearingThe warnings come as Trump is still refusing to acknowledge that he lost his reelection to Joe Biden and is considering another run in 2024 — and as many Republicans who deny Biden's win are running in the midterm elections at all levels of government. Many states have replaced election officials who resisted Trump's pressure campaign."Any future president inclined to attempt what Donald Trump did in 2020 has now learned not to install people who could stand in the way," said Cheney, who lost her own Republican primary this August. "Consider whether we can survive for another 246 years." Pelosi and Schumer, in hidingNew video aired by the panel showed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacting emotionally to the news that her colleagues were donning gas masks in the House chamber as rioters neared. She quickly went to work trying to reopen the Capitol.Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer were seen in unidentified secure locations and talking to security officials. The footage included a conversation between Pelosi and Pence, who was also in a secure location, discussing their return to the session to finish certifying Biden's victory.The footage was filmed by Pelosi's daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, according to two people familiar with the video who requested anonymity to discuss it.The two leaders are seen working to bring the National Guard to the Capitol amid an hourslong delay. At one point, Schumer said he was going to "call up the secretary of DOD," referring to the Defense Department."We have some senators who are still in their hideaways," Schumer said on the phone. "They need massive personnel now."Secret Service revelations The committee has obtained more than 1.5 million pages of documents from the Secret Service in recent weeks. They revealed some of that information in the hearing, including an email from within the agency on Dec. 11, 2020, the day the Supreme Court rejected one of Trump's attempts to undermine the vote."Just fyi. POTUS is p—-d — breaking news —- Supreme Court denied his law suit. He is livid now," one anonymous Secret Service email said.Other emails showed that the agency had ample warnings of violence in the weeks and days ahead of the insurrection.An alert received by the agency on Dec. 24 said multiple online users were targeting members of Congress and "instructing others to march into the chambers," said California Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democratic member of the panel. Cabinet officials The committee showed prerecorded interviews with Cabinet members, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General William Barr and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who said they believed that once the legal avenues had been exhausted, that should have been the end of Trump's effort to remain in power.Pompeo, who was interviewed by the panel since its last hearing in July, said in his videotaped testimony that he believed that once the Electoral College certified the vote, that was the end of the process for contesting the election. "We should all comply with the law at all times, to the best of our ability — every one of us," Pompeo said.Chao, who is married to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, said she decided to resign after the insurrection because it was "impossible for me to continue given my personal values and my philosophy."At the same time, Trump continued to push the false claims of fraud to his millions of supporters."President Trump knew the truth. He heard what all his experts and senior staff was telling him," said Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the committee's other Republican. "His intent was plain: ignore the rule of law and stay in power." Criminal referrals Cheney addressed one of the committee's remaining questions at the beginning of the meeting, saying that the panel "may ultimately decide to make a series of criminal referrals to the Department of Justice."Members of the panel have long suggested they may suggest charges for Trump or others based on their own evidence. While such a referral would not force any action, it would place political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland as the department has pursued its own investigations surrounding Jan. 6. And the committee has yet to share any transcripts from its more than 1,000 interviews.Still, "we recognize that our role is not to make decisions regarding prosecution," Cheney said.___Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo, Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.