The latest round of primary elections gets underway Tuesday in four states: Maryland, New York, South Carolina and Utah.
The midterm elections in November will determine control of both chambers of Congress and will also see the election of dozens of governors and other state and local offices. Before then, voters must choose nominees for each of these offices, making their picks in primary elections throughout the spring and summer in all 50 states.
Maryland: All eight of the state’s congressional districts will hold contested primaries. In a state that typically leans left (only one district is led by a Republican), the primaries often determine the general election winners. Gov. Wes Moore seeks the Democratic nomination for a second term.
New York: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is looking to shape the city’s congressional delegation through a series of endorsements, including in districts 10, 13 and 7. Meanwhile, several Democrats are seeking the party nomination in District 12, including Trump critic George Conway and Kennedy family scion Jack Schlossberg.
South Carolina: Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson are vying for the Republican nomination for governor, and President Donald Trump said on Friday that either contender would be a good pick despite initially endorsing Evette earlier this month.
Utah: Voters will nominate congressional candidates using a new map that created a Democratic-friendly district in Salt Lake City.
Here’s the latest:
Democrats are expected to pick up a US House seat in an unlikely place: Utah
A heavily Democratic-leaning district anchored by Salt Lake City emerged from a lengthy legal battle over the previous congressional boundaries. It could be crucial for Democrats, who need to gain only a few U.S. House seats in November to take control of the narrowly divided chamber.
That means Democratic voters are deciding Tuesday who they will likely end up sending to Washington.
Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, who is viewed as a moderate, faces three opponents to his political left. Progressives could split the vote, clearing a path for McAdams to return to Congress, or rally behind state Sen. Nate Blouin, Liban Mohamed or Michael Farrell.
Voter turnout in New York’s Lower East Side seems sparse despite Mamdani’s appearance
Several dozen people greeted Mayor Mamdani and congressional candidate Lander, both Democrats, outside a Lower East Side voting site, but not many of them were voting or expressing an intention to do so.
The voting site seemed sparsely attended, with a voter emerging every few minutes. One man came out of the building where voting was taking place, grumbling that the election had forced the cancellation of a program that provides lunches for senior citizens.
Long after the mayor had left after posing for pictures with local residents, Lander recorded a promotional video in which he pleaded for people to cast their votes, “and then you gotta text your friends and ask them to get out and vote.”
“We’re going to be calling people, knocking on doors, texting people all day long,” he said.
Mamdani shows up with Lander
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stopped Tuesday morning outside a polling site on the Lower East Side for an appearance with congressional candidate Brad Lander, a fellow Democrat, calling candidacies like his “a referendum on whether the kind of leadership we have is the one that is serving the people of this city.”
“It’s not just a question of electing more Democrats. It’s a question of electing better Democrats,” the mayor said.
He said it was important that the candidates put “working people back at the heart of our politics” and champion freedom from fear and freedom of worship.
“It’s time to bring some of those notions back so that working people can look at this party and see themselves, see their struggles, see their focuses,” Mamdani said.
Wilson has run for governor as South Carolina’s top cop
Serving as attorney general since 2011, Alan Wilson has for years developed relationships with law enforcement officials across the state as they’ve built and prosecuted cases together.
Many of them returned the favor as Wilson launched his gubernatorial campaign, endorsing his candidacy.
Since advancing to the runoff, Wilson has also been endorsed by three fellow Republicans who didn’t make the cut: state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, and U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace.
He’s also gotten backing from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who called the prosecutor “a proven conservative fighter who has spent years defending the Constitution.” Cruz came to South Carolina on Monday for three campaign events with Wilson.
In an uphill battle to unseat Gov. Wes Moore, Maryland Republicans will choose their fighter
Maryland’s first-term Democratic governor, Wes Moore, has been a rising star in the party.
On Tuesday, Republican voters hoping to return the state to GOP leadership will pick a candidate they think can unseat him.
Their choices include a variety of party representatives, from ultra-moderate to diehard conservative.
Among the most closely-watched contenders is Dan Cox, an attorney and former state delegate who unsuccessfully ran for governor four years ago. Cox has a photo of himself with Trump on his law practice’s website, and he has pledged to slash taxes and beef up housing affordability programs if elected.
Incumbent who led Trump impeachment vs. Mamdani-backed challenger in NY Democratic primary
Rep. Dan Goldman is up against former New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who has the backing of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in the 10th District.
Goldman is seeking his third term in the heavily Democratic district that includes parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The primary pits Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who was lead counsel in Trump’s first impeachment, against Lander, a longtime progressive who has Mamdani’s and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ support.
Lander was acquitted this month on charges related to a protest inside a building housing an immigration court and has pledged to push back against the Trump administration, promising to “fight, not fold.”
The Republican primary pitting a Trump disciple against the establishment GOP
How far can devotion to Trump take a politician? Anthony Constantino is betting it’ll get him to Congress.
Constantino, a “Make America Great Again” disciple backed by Trump, is facing off against conservative state lawmaker Robert Smullen in a Republican primary Tuesday for a seat in New York’s northern reaches.
The head of the custom sticker business Sticker Mule, Constantino is best known for his shameless overtures to the president, including putting a giant “Vote for Trump” sign atop one of his company buildings.
Meanwhile, Smullen, a former U.S. Marine Corps colonel and current state Assembly member, has heavy support from state Republicans and casts himself as a steady hand ready for the House.
Voters in Maryland’s 5th district beat the rain to cast their ballots
Voters came in small numbers to the Bowie High School 9th Grade Center under gray skies and the threat of rain.
Rodrick Greensword, 58, and his wife Natasha Greensword, 45, both voted for incumbent Gov. Wes Moore in the gubernatorial primary and Maryland State Delegate Adrian Boafo to be the Democratic nominee to replace Rep. Steny Hoyer.
“We know the governor is governed by the pillars on which his culture is built,” and he will work for the people, making moral and humane choices, Natasha said.
She said Boafo seemed to share the same values as Moore and Hoyer. She added that she thought Hoyer’s endorsement helped as well.
Evette came out swinging against Wilson on primary night
As soon as it was clear they’d be advancing to this week’s runoff, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette called her opponent, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, a “career politician … who won’t take a stand and who does the political thing and not the right thing.”
Despite having been elected statewide multiple times by many of the same voters who have supported Evette, the mention of Wilson’s name elicited boos from her crowd.
In his remarks to supporters, Wilson didn’t name Evette, instead saying he welcomed support from voters who had backed other candidates.
Former US Rep. Ben McAdams has sought to shed his reputation as a moderate
When he first ran for Congress in 2018, McAdams faced the formidable task of convincing Utah Republicans and Democrats alike that he was a sensible moderate fit to represent a swing district. He did just that, narrowly defeating the Republican incumbent and quickly gaining a reputation as a bridge-builder in a single House term.
The political landscape has changed, and so has McAdams’ approach.
The former congressman previously described himself as anti-abortion. But this year, as he campaigned in a newly drawn district in the Salt Lake City area that leans heavily Democratic, McAdams pledged his support for abortion rights and insisted he’s only “moderate in tone.”
His progressive opponents have argued on the campaign trail that McAdams is too conservative to represent a deeply blue district. McAdams disagrees and says his record of action makes him the best fit.
Wilson says rancor with Nancy Mace mollified as the campaign went on
The South Carolina primary featured sharp attacks for months as Republicans battled for a rare open governor’s seat in the state.
However, Alan Wilson said the rivals’ rapport improved the more they saw each other in person around the state.
“It’s easy to say things about people on social media, but when you start talking to them backstage, at forums and debates and things like that, you have conversations, you start to see a human being, not an avatar on a social media app,” he said.
Wilson said he checked in on Rep. Nancy Mace regularly after her father died in April.
After finishing last in the June 9 primary, Mace swiftly endorsed Wilson, who said they had “buried the hatchet.” U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, who also ran in the primary, endorsed him, too.
A plum open Democratic seat unleashes an avalanche of candidates
What do you get when a 17-term Democratic congressman announces his retirement from one of the nation’s wealthiest House districts in the heart of Manhattan? More candidates than voters may know what to do with.
Eight people are running in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler. The race has been dominated by four of them. Two are icons of a new social media age: Jack Schlossberg, a 33-year-old Kennedy family heir and prolific poster who contends he’ll be the voice of a new generation, and George Conway, the former Republican lawyer turned Trump legal nemesis.
The two more traditional candidates, also the front-runners, come with their own unusual backstories. Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a childhood magician turned political insider, is the establishment favorite and endorsed by his former boss Nadler.
But he’ll have to get through Assemblymember Alex Bores, a former computer engineer whose AI regulation bill made him a target of more than $7 million of ads from AI backers seeking to end his candidacy. In an act of political jiu-jitsu, Bores has turned the onslaught into a positive, enlisting other deep-pocketed donors to spend to blunt it while becoming a national symbol of resistance to big money in politics.
He protected the Capitol on Jan. 6. Now he’s running for Congress
A former police officer who defended the U.S. Capitol from rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, is vying for a seat in one of Maryland’s most closely-watched congressional primaries.
Harry Dunn is one of 24 candidates on the Democratic primary ballot to succeed U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer on Tuesday.
Dunn became an advocate for democratic institutions after the Jan. 6 riot. His campaign has carried forward that message. He’s running on a platform that includes protecting democracy and holding Trump and his allies accountable for misinformation and violence.
DOJ probes Brooklyn coffee shop that barred congressman for Israel views
The investigation, announced Monday by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, comes after a Brooklyn coffee chain said it would deny service to U.S. Rep Dan Goldman over his support for Israel.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Poetica Coffee shared an image of Goldman in their Williamsburg store this weekend, along with a message that read, in part: “We don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers or anyone in between. Too bad we didn’t recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away.”
Goldman replied to the post saying that he’d purchased coffee from a barista who allowed his daughter to use the bathroom and “could not have been nicer.”
Goldman, a Democrat, faces a primary challenge Tuesday from former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, in one of several congressional races animated by the war in Gaza.
Although Goldman has criticized the Israeli government, he has drawn anger from the left for accepting the endorsement of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and refusing to use the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s military actions against Palestinians.
In their post, Poetica said it had refunded Goldman’s money, suggesting the funds were “probably coming from AIPAC anyways.”
Harmeet K. Dhillon, the top civil rights prosecutor at the Justice Department, said on X that Poetica could face an enforcement action for discrimination.
Goldman told CNN that he was saddened by the coffee shop’s post, but said he didn’t think it warranted an investigation by the Justice Department.
Inquiries to the coffee shop were not returned.
Winning statewide in November is a tall order for South Carolina Democrats
While Republicans are still hashing out their gubernatorial nominee, Democrats may have already settled the top of their ticket — but they have lots of ground to make up to win.
In the last gubernatorial race, GOP incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster defeated Democrat Joe Cunningham by nearly 18 percentage points. And Democrats haven’t won a governor’s race in the state since 1998.
As for U.S. Senate seats, no Democrat in the state has won one of those in decades, either. When he last ran in 2020, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10-percentage-point margin. That contest was the most expensive in state history, and among the country’s most expensive congressional races ever.
Alan Wilson says South Carolina GOP will unify after bruising governor primary
After casting his runoff ballot in Lexington on Tuesday, the state attorney general said that “it might take a couple of weeks” for candidates on opposing sides to shake off bad feelings from the grueling yearlong primary season.
But in the end, the longtime prosecutor seeking to become South Carolina’s next governor said, “I really do believe Republican party’s going to coalesce around the candidate” nominated.
Voters are choosing between Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in Tuesday’s runoff election for the GOP nomination.
Trump has endorsed both candidates after initially only backing Evette.
In left-leaning Maryland, primaries often determine the general election winner
Maryland is a blue state. Seven of its congressional districts are represented by Democrats, and one by a Republican. Those seats are unlikely to flip this fall, making voters’ choices on Tuesday especially consequential.
That dynamic has drawn high spending and crowded candidate fields in several of the state’s primaries. In one Democratic primary to replace U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, 24 candidates are on the ballot.
Utah redistricting leaves Trump-backed incumbent vulnerable to primary challenge
Republican U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy is running for reelection in a district that is dramatically different from the one that first elected her three years ago.
Maloy faces former state lawmaker Phil Lyman, who is running to her political right, in a redrawn district that spans most of southern and eastern Utah.
The congresswoman from Cedar City was first elected to Congress in a 2023 special election, and she was reelected to a full term in 2024.
Lyman embraced false claims of fraud following the 2020 presidential election. He is best known for organizing an illegal ATV ride in protest of a federal land decision. A jury later found Lyman guilty of misdemeanor illegal use of ATVs and conspiracy, but Trump pardoned him in December 2020.
Democrats’ general election slate is largely already set
While Democrats also had multiple candidates running in some primary contests earlier this month, they’re not dealing with runoffs in the top races.
State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, seen as a rising star among South Carolina Democrats, defeated two other hopefuls to win his party’s gubernatorial nomination outright.
And Charleston physician Annie Andrews also cleared the Democratic field in her challenge to Graham.
There are some Democratic runoffs Tuesday, like in the 1st Congressional District currently represented by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace.
The Associated Press
