Will Tuesday’s primaries be a birthday gift to Trump?

Tuesday’s primaries test former President Donald Trump’s power; 11th-hour challenge derails UK plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. 

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

The races to watch in Tuesday’s primaries

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

• Voters in South Carolina, Nevada, Texas, Maine, and North Dakota head to the polls in primary elections on Tuesday. [Wall Street Journal / Eliza Collins and Christine Mai-Duc]
• The elections will shed more light on the extent of Donald Trump’s power over the Republican Party, and could offer some clues about Democrats’ chances of holding onto Congress in the fall. [Washington Post / John Wagner and Mariana Alfaro]

• The potential defeat of two South Carolina incumbents critical of Trump's actions around January 6 could deliver the former president a birthday gift. Trump-backed Rep. Tom Rice faces state Rep. Russell Fry. And Rep. Nancy Mace is vying with Kate Arrington. [NPR / Deepa Shivaram]

• In Nevada’s Senate primary race, which is key to Democrats maintaining control of the Senate, former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt is seen as the GOP frontrunner. Incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto may face a tough race. [NBC News / Henry J. Gomez]
• Nevada’s Jim Marchant leads a group of Republicans vying for secretary of state. Marchant said he wouldn’t have certified President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. [Politico / By Zach Montellaro]
• In a special election for Texas’s 34th District brought on by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela, GOP candidate Mayra Flores's main challenger is Democrat Dan Sanchez. [FiveThirtyEight / Nathaniel Rakich and Alex Samuels]
• In another district that could help determine control of the House in the fall, former Rep. Bruce Poliquin faces Liz Caruso in Maine’s GOP race for the 2nd District. The winner will run against Democratic Rep. Jared Golden. [CNN / Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg]

An appeal on the UK's Rwanda asylum plan

• On Tuesday evening, a last-minute appeal to the European Court of Human Rights put the UK’s plan to fly asylum seekers 4,000 miles away to Rwanda in doubt. [Guardian / Diane Taylor and Rajeev Syal]
• Under the agreement, set to last five years, the UK pays Rwanda $158 million to house refugees who must apply for UK asylum in the East African country. [Associated Press / Ignatius Ssuuna]
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government says the relocations will deter criminal gangs from smuggling people across the English Channel. Human rights groups and the Church of England have slammed the plan. [Washington Post / William Booth and Karla Adam]
• The number of passengers scheduled for the first flight fell amid the legal challenges. However, the British government said it’s determined to deport some number of migrants on Tuesday. [New York Times / Stephen Castle, Cora Engelbrecht, and Abdi Latif Dahir]

On Monday, the S&P 500 slipped into bear market territory — losing more than 20 percent of its value as investors fret over the Federal Reserve’s response to inflation. Tuesday saw a modest recovery, but a key Fed decision looms. [Washington Post / Taylor Telford]

• The House committee investigating January 6 postponed its Wednesday hearing until Thursday. [Axios / Erin Doherty]
• Russia now controls 80 percent of a key eastern Ukrainian city. [AP / Yuras Karmanau]
• This week, more than 100 million Americans in the South and Midwest should stay indoors to avoid the extreme heat. [Kathleen Foody and Claire Savage]

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“I am trying to communicate to my colleagues in Congress that rhetoric has real consequences.”

[South Carolina GOP incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace on January 6, 2021 / ABC News]

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