Results of Tuesday’s primaries
Here are highlights from California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota:
California
The state is “notoriously slow” in producing results, as ballots are valid if they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive at county election offices within seven days of the election, explains Cal Matters.
In another twist, all candidates appear on a single ballot and the top two finishers advance to the November general election, regardless of their party, explains The Associated Press.
As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, Republican Steve Hilton led the field (of 60 candidates!), and Democrat Xavier Becerra was second in the race for governor, according to AP.
And in another key race, for Los Angeles mayor, Democratic incumbent Karen Bass was polling first, and Republican Spencer Pratt was second.
Iowa
Rep. Randy Feenstra lost the Republican primary for governor to Zach Lann, in a “shocking” upset after Feenstra earned President Trump’s last-minute endorsement, says Politico. Most of Trump’s candidates this cycle have won.
Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek won his Senate primary, a victory for national Democrats who helped boost him as they seek to flip the critical seat, says a separate Politico article.
Montana and South Dakota
If Democrats hope to compete in red-state Senate contests this fall, they may have to abandon their party’s nominees and back independents, says AP.
That’s one of the takeaways after voters on Tuesday finalized the general election matchups in Montana and South Dakota, where little-known Democrats got their party’s nominations. In both states, higher-profile independent candidates also qualified for the general election ballot.
New Jersey
Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, won the Democratic primary in a battleground congressional district to take on Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who’s been absent with an unspecified illness for nearly three months.
A New York Times article Tuesday described the paper’s extensive but unsuccessful efforts to locate Kean, who’s in a race considered one of the most competitive in the country.
New Mexico
The stage is set for Democrat Deb Haaland to make history this fall. She was President Biden’s Interior secretary, the first Native American to serve as a presidential cabinet secretary. And in November, the citizen of Laguna Pueblo could become the first Native American woman elected governor of any U.S. state.
Here are complete results for the six states, from AP.
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