💪 House incumbents are showing surprising strength in contested primaries, two years after a historic bloodbath in which 14 members were ousted, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.

• 🥊 Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian Democrats, the Freedom Caucus, the Republican leaders and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have all tried to knock off incumbents this year, with little success.

Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and William Timmons (R-S.C.) both beat back well-funded primary challengers Tuesday. Mace easily dispatched former state official Catherine Templeton.

• 🎯 Mace became a target for McCarthy and his allies for joining House Freedom Caucus members in voting to oust him as speaker last year. Mace also got unwanted attention from reports of chaos in her office.
• Timmons was targeted by right-wing hardliners eager to unseat establishment colleagues.
• Former President Trump endorsed Mace and Timmons.

Other credible primary challenges to incumbents also failed this cycle:

• Pennsylvania: Progressive Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) easily defeated Bhavini Patel, who was backed by the well-funded Moderate PAC and went after Lee's criticism of Israel.
• Texas: Establishment-backed Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) was forced into a runoff with Brandon Herrera, a pro-gun YouTuber endorsed by a half-dozen Freedom Caucus members. Gonzales won, but by less than 2 points.
• New Jersey: Rep. Rob Menendez Jr. (D-N.J.) defeated Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla after his father, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), was indicted on federal bribery charges.
• Arkansas: Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who's loyal to the House GOP leadership, defeated state Sen. Clint Penzo by 8 points.
• Indiana: Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), who, like Mace, has been criticized for confusing public positions and staff chaos, defeated a crowded GOP primary field after reversing her plans to retire.
• Illinois: Small Business Committee chair Mike Bost (R-Ill.) narrowly defeated challenger Darren Bailey, who was backed by right-wing Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Mary Miller (R-Ill.).
• Also in Illinois, Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), 82, easily dispatched two younger primary challengers, including community organizer Kina Collins, who came within 6 percentage points of defeating Davis in 2022.

The exception to the trend: Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) was defeated by fellow Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) after the two were drawn into the same district by a court-ordered redistricting.

A few other incumbents appear under threat in upcoming primaries.

• Polls show "Squad" Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) trailing more moderate, pro-Israel primary challengers by double-digits.
• In Virginia's June 18 primary, Rep. Bob Good (R) is facing a strong challenge from state Sen. John McGuire, who is backed by many of Good's GOP colleagues and Trump.

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That was fast.

• Just after House Republicans voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, the GOP's campaign arm was prepping an ad bashing Democrats for defending him, Andrew reported.

🏆 The ad is likely to be the Republicans' most tangible trophy from the effort to drag Garland over his refusal to release the audio from President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

• Garland's Justice Department, which has released a transcript of the interview, has already made clear it will not act on the contempt referral.

📄 In his report to Congress on Biden's handling of classified documents, Hur claimed that Biden, 81, had repeated memory lapses during the interview — an allegation the White House has denied.

• Republicans wanted the audio largely to use it against Biden in the presidential campaign.
• All Democrats present voted against the measure, which passed 216-207 and was a win for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
• Republicans hope the vote will strengthen their attempt to subpoena the audio recording, which Biden has asserted executive privilege to shield.

State of play: In a digital spot first shared with Axios, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) accuses Democrats of putting "party loyalty before the country" by voting against contempt.

• "Extreme House Democrats voted to block Americans from hearing secret audio filings showing the truth about Biden's mental fitness," the ad says.
• It includes footage of several House Democrats praising Biden and shrugging off concerns about his age.

The other side: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Viet Shelton slammed swing-district Republicans for backing the contempt measure.

• "The so-called moderate House Republicans continue to fail to deliver for hardworking American families," Shelton said in a statement.

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🇬🇧 Yes, that's Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage — right here in Sneak Peek.

• 💰 The two Brits were involved in dueling fundraisers for President Biden (Wintour) and Trump (Farage) in London this evening, the first significant overseas events of this campaign aimed at collecting cash from U.S. expats, Axios' Sophia Cai reports.

Wintour, a Biden supporter since 2020 who raised money for Barack Obama during his presidential campaigns, hosted the Democratic event, according to the Financial Times.

Farage was the marquee guest at Trump's fundraiser, which was co-hosted by several former U.S. ambassadors.

• The Trump event featured a dinner reception with Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by Axios.
• Eligible donors were limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, who raised $2 million for the former president's bid to retake the White House, a person familiar with the event told Axios.

The Biden campaign didn't immediately respond to an inquiry about how much its event raised.

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