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He has said the state’s popular Republican governor is “a Chinese Communist sympathizer,” called for the repeal of the 17th Amendment allowing direct popular election of senators and raised the possibility of abolishing the F.B.I. The man behind these statements is Don Bolduc, a retired Army general who leads the Republican field in what should be a competitive race for the New Hampshire Senate seat held by Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat. In one primary after another this year, Republican voters have chosen hard-right candidates who party officials had warned would have trouble winning in November, and Mr. Bolduc could...

Republicans running for the seat of Ohio’s retiring senator, Rob Portman, appear determined to bury the soft-spoken country-club bonhomie that was once a hallmark of the party in this state, and replace it with the pugilistic brand of conservatism owned by Donald J. Trump and now amplified by the new band of Buckeye bomb throwers. The race descended into a brutal slugfest as the leading candidates, the author-turned-venture capitalist J.D. Vance, the former state treasurer Josh Mandel and a self-funded businessman, Mike Gibbons, entered the final weekend before Tuesday’s primaries accusing one another of being insufficiently right-wing or disloyal to...

DUBLIN, Ohio — Robert Peters and George Fidelibus walked off the 18th green at the Golf Club of Dublin, then carried pints of beer to the patio overlooking the course, which was framed by $500,000 homes. Their conversation quickly turned to the president. “I’m feeling better and better about him all the time,” said Mr. Peters, 63, a retired engineer, who had once been cool to Mr. Trump. Mr. Fidelibus, 75, a retired banker in a Calloway hat, had also once been skeptical of the president’s bullying and lack of self-control. “I’m a supporter of Trump now,” he said “He...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Dan McCready is a boyish ex-Marine, a solar energy entrepreneur and a favorite candidate of national Democrats hoping to nab a Republican seat in their battle for the House. His company, Double Time Capital, says its mission is to hasten “our country’s important transition to clean energy” because of climate change. But as a candidate in a conservative-tilting battleground district, Mr. McCready’s environmental message is much more muted. Climate change is not directly named among 13 top issues on his website. And though his latest TV commercial features solar panels and boasts that the 35-year-old, first-time candidate...

Memo to Republican leaders: Be careful what you wish for. Hoping to avoid a repeat of the messy fight for the Republican nomination in 2012, the party drew up a calendar and delegate-selection rules intended to allow a front-runner to wrap things up quickly. Now, with Republicans voting in 11 states on Tuesday, the worst fears of the party’s establishment are coming true: Donald J. Trump could all but seal his path to the nomination in a case of unintended consequences for the party leadership, which vehemently opposes him. --snip-- A majority of the 595 delegates at stake that day...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Speaking just six miles apart on Friday morning, Donald J. Trump and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas renewed their bitter personal feud, while their supporters echoed the candidates' language and themes - a sign that the bitterness between the two men has now seeped deeply into the feelings of voters. Mr. Trump called Mr. Cruz "the biggest liar I've ever seen," a line he has been pushing all week. Trump supporters, some of whom said they had once considered supporting the Texas senator, largely agreed with Mr. Trump's harsh assessment. "I'm very disappointed in Ted Cruz...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — With Donald J. Trump’s decisive victory in New Hampshire and no strong runner-up among a pack of also-rans, the Republican race barreled into South Carolina on Wednesday shadowed by a question: whether any alternative candidate can gain enough support to threaten Mr. Trump’s drive to the nomination. Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, the second-place finisher in New Hampshire with less than half the support of Mr. Trump, arrives in this more conservative Southern state where he has little staff or support. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, resuming an effort here to enlist the Christian right, the key...

On CNN's AC360 on Monday, Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker revealed her own ignorance of Christian teachings, as she targeted Senator Ted Cruz for something "astonishing" he recently said at a campaign stop: "I don't think there's any chance Ted Cruz can win a general — and here's why....He said...'It's time for the Body of Christ to rise up and support me.' I don't know anyone who takes their religion seriously who would think that Jesus should rise from the grave and resurrect himself to serve Ted Cruz. I know so many people who are offended by that comment." [video...

ATLANTA — Jeb Bush, who has fought the perception of conservatives that he is not one of them, journeyed into the lion’s den on Saturday. While he may not have converted every skeptic at the RedState Gathering, a conclave of anti-establishment Republicans, he persuaded more than a few to give him a second look. After Mr. Bush’s solid but largely unmemorable outing Thursday in the first Republican debate, where he was overshadowed by the pyrotechnics around him, he came across in Atlanta as having tamed his wonkiness, and as being confident in defending positions he knew were unpopular with many...

As Gov. Scott Walker prepares to announce his campaign for president next month, promising to bring what he calls "big bold leadership" to Washington, as he did in Wisconsin, he faces a cloud over that story line: Republicans back home are in revolt. Leaders or Mr. walker's party, which controls the Legislature, are balking at his demands for the state's budget. Critics say the governor's spending blueprint is aimed more at appealing to conservatives in early-voting states like Iowa than doing what is best for Wisconsin. Lawmakers are stymied over how to pay for road and bridge repairs without raising...