We're now in the final stretch of primaries for the 2022 midterm elections that will prove consequential for the second half of President Joe Biden's first term, with voters in Florida and New York deciding contests within their own parties ahead of the general election that's now just over 10 weeks away. There's also the Republican U.S. Senate runoff in Oklahoma to finalize the GOP candidate who will seek to finish the remainder of retiring U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe's term. Townhall is tracking the vicious Dem vs. Dem matchups playing out in New York following a messy redistricting process as well as the Florida races that will settle the Democrat challengers looking to take on Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio.
Here's what we're watching and, as always, stay with Townhall throughout Tuesday evening for live results from the Sunshine, Empire, and Sooner States as polls close and votes are tallied.
FLORIDA PRIMARIES — Polls close at 7:00 p.m. ET
Sunshine State Democrats will choose their candidates to take on Republican incumbents in November including Governor Ron DeSantis and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.
In the Democrat gubernatorial primary, former GOP Governor Charlie Crist switched parties and is now a Democrat U.S. Representative seeking to win his new party's nomination to challenge Ron DeSantis in November. Crist will take on Nikki Fried, Florida's agriculture commissioner, who has run her campaign to the left of Crist, politically. While Crist has been favored to win, some recent polls have shown the race tightening.
In the U.S. Senate primary, Democrat Rep. Val Demings is expected to win the night to challenge GOP Sen. Marco Rubio in November. Demings, whose security apparently roughed up a campaign tracker at a recent event, has struggled to find her place in the Democratic Party as a former police chief who has since called Minneapolis radicals' plan to defund the police a "thoughtful proposal." She was, for a time, considered as a potential VP candidate for Joe Biden in 2020, but her law enforcement background didn't pass muster with radical Democrats' anti-police positions.
When it comes to U.S. House races, Republicans are seeking to capitalize on the newly-notched lead in registered voters and an unfavorable cycle for Democrats to expand their number of seats in Florida. In the Sunshine State's 7th Congressional District, eight GOP candidates are competing to replace retiring Democrat Rep. Stephanie Murphy. Among the Republicans running in the primary are state Rep. Anthony Sabatini and businessman Cory Mills.
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On the Democrats' side, the primary to replace current Rep. Val Demings — who hopes to be the Democrat candidate challenging GOP Senator Marco Rubio in November — in the state's blue 10th Congressional District might see 25-year-old progressive activist Maxwell Alejandro Frost come out on top, setting him up to be the first Gen-Z member of Congress.
In Florida's 13th Congressional District, another that turned more favorable for the GOP after redistricting, the Republican primary features Trump-endorsed U.S. Air Force veteran Anna Paulina Luna leading the pack to challenge Democrat Eric Lynn, an Obama administration official, in November.
NEW YORK PRIMARIES — Polls close at 8:00 p.m. ET
In New York, voters will cast ballots in the second primary election day of the 2022 midterm cycle necessitated after a state court threw out Democrats' gerrymandered map and new lines needed to be drawn before voters knew in which district they'd be voting.
As a result of redistricting several U.S. House races have gotten messier than Democrats may have expected.
In the 10th Congressional District, Rep. Mondaire Jones (current serving in NY-17) will face off against The New York Times-endorsed Trump impeachment lawyer Dan Goldman, Carlina Rivera, and Yuh-Line Niou.
Perhaps the most entertaining Dem-on-Dem incumbent showdown is taking place in the Empire State's 12th Congressional District in which Jerry Nadler is taking on Carolyn Maloney. Both septuagenarians are high-ranking officials in the House's Democrat caucus, but Maloney's comments about President Joe Biden not running again forced her to backtrack, and The New York Times endorsed Nadler. The two incumbents who've been in the House since the early 1990s also face a fresh face, attorney Suraj Patel, in their primary.
Also due to redistricting, incumbent Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman finds himself facing voters who are less-friendly to the radical leftist positions he's staked his career upon. As a result, more moderate Democrats running against him in the 16th Congressional District primary might have a shot. Among them are Vedat Gashi, along with other Democrat challengers Mark Jaffe and Catherine Parker.
There's also something of Democrat leadership mess playing out in New York's 17th Congressional District where Sean Patrick Maloney — who leads the Democrats' House campaign committee — chose to run instead of the 18th District which became less favorable for Democrats in the midterm cycle. That caused fellow Democrat Rep. Mondaire Jones to run in the 10th District — running down the west side of Manhattan and part of Brooklyn — rather than the more suburban district he currently represents.
In addition to that mess of Democrat primaries and reshuffling, there are special U.S. House general elections for the 19th District — Pat Ryan (D) vs. Marcus Molinaro (R) — and the 23rd District — Max Della Pia (D) vs. Joe Sempolinski (R).
OKLAHOMA RUNOFFS — Polls close at 8:00 p.m. ET
After the Republican primary contest for U.S. Senate failed to determine a winner, the top-two candidates advanced to Tuesday's runoff: U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon.
The winner of Tuesday's GOP runoff will face Democrat Kendra Horn in November to replace retiring GOP Senator Jim Inhofe.
There's also a GOP runoff for Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District that has Avery Frix facing off against Josh Brecheen.
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