Don Blankenship loses in West Virginia primary as Republicans reject 'Trumpier than Trump' candidate

Voters in four states have concluded the first primaries in the American midterm election cycle, with some surprising results that have underlined the fragile hold Republicans have on their majority in the House of Representatives.

Republicans avoided what some believed would have been a disastrous result in West Virginia, where former coal executive Don Blankenship who said he is "Trumpier than Trump" lost in a closely watched race. Meanwhile, Democrats fended off a liberal insurgent in Ohio, with former head of the Consumer Financial Bureau Richard Cordray clinching the part’s nomination there.

But, while Mr Blankenship’s third-place loss to state attorney general Patrick Morrisey was a relief for mainstream Republicans — Mr Blankenship served time in prison after a mine disaster left more 29 men dead, and had made racially offensive comments during the campaign — the party was still reminded of their fragile hold on its majority in the House of Representatives when Mark Harris, a pastor who is best known for denouncing same-sex marriage, beat incumbent Representative Robert Pittenger in North Carolina.

Mr Morrisey’s primary election could be bad news for incumbent Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat who is seen as one of the most vulnerable senators up for re-election this November.

The stakes were so high that President Donald Trump personally acted to intervene in the Republican primary in the state, pleading with voters to choose Mr Morrisey over Mr Blankenship.

“To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference,” Mr Trump wrote in a Tweet the day before the election. “Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State… No way! Remember Alabama. Vote [Representative] Jenkins or [Attorney General] Morrisey!”

During the campaign, Mr Blankenship attracted a fair amount of negative press coverage for his use of racial epithets including the word “negro” and “wealthy china person”.

Mr Blankenship also drew headlines for referring to Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader and a fellow Republican, as “cocaine Mitch”.

“One of my goals as US senator will be to ditch ‘cocaine Mitch,’” Mr Blankenship was filmed saying in a campaign ad.

The Blankenship campaign later explained that he was referring to news that Colombian authorities found about 90 pounds of cocaine on board a ship owned by Mr McConnell’s family. No charges have been filed related to the 2014 find, according to a Washington Post fact check.

Following the election results, Mr McConnell took to Twitter to mock the losing Senate candidate, and his reliance of “cocaine Mitch” as an insult in his attempt to run as a foil to mainstream Republicans.

“Thanks for playing,” Mr McConnell’s Twitter account wrote, tagging Mr Blankenship in the post.

Accompanying that message was a photo of Mr McConnell surrounded by white powder, in an obvious nod to promotional materials for Netflix’s “Narcos” series about drug cartels in Colombia.

Voters in Indiana also took to the polls Tuesday, and gave Mike Braun a big win over US Representatives Luke Messer and Todd Rosita in the Senate primary election there.