On Tuesday, June’s primary calendar will come to an end with five key contests being held in five states: New York (Oklahoma), Colorado, Colorado, Illinois, Utah, and Utah. Mississippi and South Carolina hold runoffs.
The Empire State’s voters will elect their governor candidates in November. This could potentially set the stage for the first woman elected governor in state history. Redistricting will also have an impact in states such as Illinois, where two incumbents will face off for a chance at reelection.
These are the top races to be on your radar:
Current New York Governor Kathy Hochul wants to become the first woman elected to the highest office in the state. Hochul was the lieutenant governor when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned. Andrew Cuomo resigned.
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Wiiams are running in her party to oust them.
Hochul is the leader in fundraising and has raised over $30 million. Hochul is now doubling down on key issues, including the implementation of a gas tax reduction by the end of the calendar year, as well as a number of gun-control measures and abortion-access measures that she signed into law this month.
However, she also received criticism from her Democratic opponents because of her past association with the National Rifle Association. She was also arrested for federal bribery and resigned.
The GOP lineup to challenge her in November also has full members. All three of the GOP candidates to challenge her in November are: Rep. Lee Zeldin (ex-Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino), Harry Wilson (businessman), and Andrew Giuliani (a former Trump administration aide, who is the son Rudy Giuliani.
WNYC has more information.
A special election will be held in Oklahoma to replace GOP Senator Jim Inhofe. He announced his retirement earlier this summer. Many Republican candidates are running for his seat.
Scott Pruitt, former Trump administration Environment Protection Agency Administrator, and Luke Holland (Inhofe’s current chief-of-staff) are included on the ballot. Other candidates include a state senator, a representative from the state, a family medicine doctor, and Jessica Jean Garrison who chose not to accept donations.
Holland is proud to have Inhofe’s endorsement.
Oklahoma’s second Senate seat will also be up for election. In terms of spending and fundraising, James Lankford, the incumbent Republican Representative is leading the pack. Jackson Lahmeyer is his opponent, and he has Rudy Giuliani’s endorsement.
While Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet is not facing an opponent in the primary, two GOP candidates are running in November to challenge him. ProgressNow Colorado launched a campaign to support the more conservative candidate. This is part of a series of progressive groups trying to influence the Republican primaries. According to the group, Joe O’Dea (the moderate candidate for the GOP) is not clear enough about his position on Trump’s voter fraud conspiracy and abortion.
Redistricting created Colorado’s largest Latino-dominated district. Now, Democrats and Republicans are competing for their votes.
Lauren Boebert is one of the House’s most extreme members and faces GOP challengers. In the hope of making Boebert lose his chance at the November election, thousands of Democrats voted for Don Coram, a Republican challenger and a state senator.
Republican voters will have the opportunity to elect their secretary of state nominee. This is the crucial state office that oversees the elections in the state. Tina Peters from Mesa County is one of the candidates to challenge Jena Griswold, the Democratic incumbent. She was indicted in March by a grand jury on charges related to an election security breach that occurred last summer in connection to Trump’s voter-fraud conspiracy theories.
Peters stated that Boebert encouraged her efforts in a statement to The New York Times. The allegations were denied by a press officer for Boebert.
Colorado Public Radio has more information about the candidates.
Two incumbents will be running for House seats in the Prairie State. Redistricting required Rodney Davis and Mary Miller to be in the same congressional district as Democrats Sean Casten, and Marie Newman.
Davis voted for both the 2020 election results to be certified and the investigation into Jan. 6’s insurrection. Trump has also endorsed Miller and even attended a rally for Miller over the weekend.
Although Davis did not receive the Trump endorsement but he is still ahead of Miller in fundraising spending.
Casten is ahead of Newman in the battle for Democratic incumbents.
The winner will be facing one of six GOP candidates who hope to win the seat.
The open seats for Republican Adam Kinzinger and Cheri Bustos are also up for grabs.
Bustos declared this spring that her intention to not run for reelection. This leaves Sen. Dick Durbin the last Democrat from the state other than Chicago. Kinzinger is, however, one of two Republicans who sit on the Democrat-led Jan.6 committee that investigates the insurrection and Trump’s attempt to overturn it.
Trump endorsed two Republican U.S. House elections on Monday, supporting incumbents Burgess Owens, Chris Stewart, and throwing his support behind them. Both had been predicted to win prior to the endorsement.
The ballot also includes Sen. Mike Lee who is expected beat two Republicans. Lee could be facing a challenge from Evan McMullin in November, an independent candidate who was supported by Democrats and received about 20% of the state’s votes in 2016 when he ran as an independent against Trump.
Mississippi’s two incumbents were forced to go into runoffs because they did not reach the required 50% threshold to win the nomination. Republican Reps. Michael Guest and Steven Palazzo voted for the Jan. 6 investigation committee to investigate the insurrection. They will both have another chance at reelection in the districts they represent.
Krystle and Catherine Matthews, both from South Carolina, move on to the runoff for Democratic nomination to face incumbent Rep. Tim Scott.
Jon Campbell contributed to the report.
