Live updates: Pivotal primaries kick off in Pennsylvania, North Carolina

Welcome to the Insider live blog for the March 17 Primaries. We've got a number of great races tonight going coast to coast in the United States, but here are the ones we're really watching:

• Pennsylvania's got an open Senate seat this cycle, and this swing state will be the site of the marquee race for 2022 to decide the fate of the Senate.
• North Carolina is another massive Senate race, but the real action is going on in Rep. Madison Cawthorn's district, as the power in the local GOP wants to oust the controversial freshman and replace him with a less scandal-prone representative.
• In Oregon, a Democratic gubernatorial primary might very well decide the presumed winner of the election in this deep blue state.

— Walt Hickey

Oz, Barnette, and McCormick jockey in a close race in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Kathy Barnette speaks during a campaign rally at The Fuge on May 14, 2022 in Warminster, Pennsylvania.      Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

We went to Pennsylvania earlier this month and found a lot of Trump voters who were pretty unhappy with Dr. Mehmet Oz as the former president's endorsement. Kathy Barnette has had an impressive surge late in the race, but the conservative author's background is now the subject of considerable scrutiny and has some Republicans worried she'd get beat by the Democrats should she make it to the November general election.

No doubt, a victory for Barnette would be a big shock. But she's been within striking distance in all the latest polls.

The candidate hoping to get a bump from undecideds is former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who has picked up endorsements from the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

– Jake Lahut