Tuesday marks yet another primary night — the eighth in nine weeks — in a handful of states across the country and the last major election night until August. There are a few Trump-endorsed candidates running in competitive primaries, as well as some crowded races seeking to settle the GOP and Democrat fields before November's general election midterm showdown.
ILLINOIS — Polls Close 8:00 p.m. ET
In The Land of Lincoln, there are two contentious primaries in which Trump-endorsed candidates are seeking to prevail over their fellow Republicans. Rep. Mary Miller is going up against Rep. Rodney Davis in a two-incumbent battle created by redistricting. Rep. Miller is Trump's pick in the contest. In Illinois' GOP gubernatorial primary — the most expensive primary race in the country this cycle — President Trump endorsed state Senator Darren Bailey in his bid against Richard Irvin, the mayor of Aurora, Illinois. On the Democrats' side, redistricting created an unavoidable mess in which at least one and as many as three incumbents will find themselves out of a job as a result of Tuesday's primaries. In the congressional districts around Chicago, there are several races in which Democrat incumbents are facing far-left challengers. Those races provide a look at where the Democrat base is and whether the party's voters are embracing or rejecting radical policies. And in the state's First District, 17 Democrats are competing for an open seat.
NEW YORK — Polls Close 9:00 p.m. ET
In the Empire State, most of the primary races that were supposed to take place Tuesday were postponed until August after the Democrat-gerrymandered district maps were thrown out. Still, the primaries for governor and lieutenant governor are playing out as scheduled, and a handful of Republicans including U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin and Andrew Giuliani are jockeying to be the Republican gubernatorial nominee. On the Democrats' side, incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul faces challengers but has the upper hand as the current office-holder and with multiple key endorsements.
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COLORADO – Polls Close 9:00 p.m. ET
In Colorado, the GOP primary for U.S. Senate has frontrunners Joe O’Dea and state Rep. Ron Hanks facing off for the spot to challenge incumbent Senator Michael Bennet. For governor, Republicans Heidi Ganahl and Greg Lopez are running to take on incumbent Governor Jared Polis in November. There are also two open red districts in Colorado where the GOP primary winner should have an easy path to victory in the general election just a few months away, while U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert will have to fend off a primary challenge but has vastly out-raised her opponent, state Sen. Don Coram, with some $15 million to his less than $250,000. Colorado's 5th Congressional District is also one to watch — while it's deep-red, the incumbent Rep. Doug Lamborn is in danger of being unseated in Tuesday's primary after less than stellar primary showings in previous election years and in light of an ongoing ethics investigation.
OKLAHOMA — Polls Close 8:00 p.m. ET
Oklahoma will see incumbent GOP Governor Kevin Stitt and incumbent GOP Senator James Lankford seek to defend their positions from well-funded Republican challengers. The state's special senate primary to replace retiring Republican Senator James Inhofe — who's held the seat since 1994 — is as crowded as can be with some 13 candidates competing in a race that could go to a runoff. The frontrunner is Rep. Markwayne Mullin, but former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon has been holding strong in second place and would be likely to face Mullin in a runoff.
UTAH — Polls Close 10:00 p.m. ET
Over in Utah, incumbent GOP Senator Mike Lee shouldn't have an issue winning in Tuesday's primary, but Evan McMullin is running as an independent, so eyes are on his vote totals to see what sort of threat the former presidential candidate may pose to Lee in November.
RUNOFFS
There are also races in Mississippi where runoff elections take place on Tuesday to settle the nominations for the state's Third and Fourth Congressional Districts, and in Nebraska's First Congressional District there's a special general election to serve out the remainder of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's term after he resigned following a conviction for lying to federal officials. South Carolina Democrats will finalize their choice with a runoff for the U.S. Senate primary.
There will be results-a-plenty and more than enough tea leaves to read as votes come in Tuesday night so let us know which races you're following in the comments below and stay with Townhall for live results all night and for analysis in the days ahead.
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