Voters in both parties snub fringe candidates as they look toward November

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Morrisey beats Jenkins, Blankenship in West Virginia

State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wins GOP primary for U.S. Senate in West Virginia; Peter Doocy reports.

Tuesday's GOP primary results showed both Republicans and Democrats moving toward the center as voters look ahead to this fall's midterm elections.

Republicans are looking to increase the party's Senate majority and maintain control of the House, while Democrats snubbed progressive candidates in favor of moderates -- including one who backed Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

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Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia's attorney general, came out the winner of the state's contentious GOP Senate primary, defeating controversial former coal executive Don Blankenship.

In Indiana's GOP Senate primary, businessman Mike Braun, who mostly self-funded his campaign, won against U.S. Reps. Luke Messer and Todd Rokita.

Jim Renacci won the GOP Senate primary in Ohio.

The Ohio results were attributed to the influence of President Trump, who endorsed Renacci over businessman Mike Gibbons.

Trump also made a last-minute appeal to West Virginia voters to reject Blankenship in a bid to avoid the repeat of December's Senate race in Alabama, where Democrat Doug Jones turned the deep-red state blue -- for the first time in decades.

"To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference. Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State...No way! Remember Alabama. Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey" Trump tweeted Monday.

But Tuesday's results also seemed to vindicate Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the subject of multiple personal attacks during the primaries. Blankenship branded McConnell "Cocaine Mitch" and referring to his Asian-American in-laws as "his China family."

The McConnell team could not hide its glee after the results. They taunted Blankenship with a photo of a smiling McConnell, with the caption reading, "Thanks for playing, Don."

McConnell has long sought to put the Republican house in order before the midterms, admitting that the party faces some tough fights in November.

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"This is going to be a challenging election year,” McConnell told Kentucky Today in April. “We know the wind is going to be in our face. We don’t know whether it’s going to be a Category 3, 4 or 5.”

But as Republicans show signs of getting serious and choosing candidates that can appeal beyond the Trump voters, Democrats on Tuesday -- much to the chagrin of the progressive base -- favored blue-collar, middle-of-the-road candidates.

In West Virginia's 3rd District, state Sen. Richard Ojeda clinched the victory in the Democratic primary. The win was a defeat for progressive supporters of the party, as Ojeda famously said he backed Trump over Clinton in 2016, the Washington Post reported.

Democrat Richard Cordray, meanwhile, was declared the party's nominee for Ohio governor after he defeated former congressman and ex-Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich.

Kucinich had criticized Cordray as a "Republican-lite" candidate who was too moderate on key issues concerning most Democrats, and was once backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Kucinich ran on a platform of single-payer health care, gun control and criminal justice reform.

But Cordray, who once ran the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Barack Obama, fought back and pointed out that Kucinich accepted $20,000 from a group with links to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Kucinich bothered me because of the whole Assad thing,” voter Robert Halpin, 57, told the Post. “I didn’t like Cordray because of the NRA. But in the end, weighing it, I don’t like Assad more [than I don’t like the NRA], so I went with Cordray.”

In Indiana's 2nd District, former Republican and health care executive Mel Hall cruised to victory against candidates advocating for universal health care.

Moderate Democrats also won Tuesday in two North Carolina districts, defeating far-left challengers.

Fox News’ Alex Pappas, Peter Doocy, Ellison Barber, Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.