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Primaries across states
Voters in Alaska, Florida and Wyoming headed to the polls Tuesday for primary elections that would decide party nominations for November’s midterm elections, with the Alaska Senate primary drawing attention around incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and challenger Democrat Mary Peltola.
“Florida Republicans are set to choose their nominee in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday”
In Florida, Republicans chose a nominee to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, with Naples-area Rep. Byron Donalds endorsed by President Donald Trump and facing James Fishback in a contest that CNN described as turning into a bitter intra-party feud.
In Alaska, the primary was nonpartisan and used a top-four system, with the top four vote-getters advancing to the general election regardless of party affiliation, while the New York Times said the race would test the relative strength of Sullivan and Peltola.
In Wyoming, the primary featured open-seat contests after retirements, and the New York Times said the contests were likely to produce successors for the Senate seat once occupied by Sen. Cynthia Lummis and the governor’s seat held by Gov. Mark Gordon.
Quotes and campaign fights
In Florida’s governor race, David Jolly told the New York Times, "What a win tonight allows us to do is start to believe again," as he voted near St. Petersburg on Tuesday morning.
CNN reported that Fishback called Donalds, who is Black, a “slave to his donors” and a “DEI Republican” who would “turn Florida into a Section 8 ghetto.”
The New York Times also framed Alaska’s Senate primary as pivotal, saying the top four vote-getters would advance to November and that the field included a little-known hopeful who shared the incumbent’s name.
In Florida’s special election to replace Eric Swalwell, the New York Times said voters in the San Francisco Bay Area would choose between a progressive and a moderate, and it noted that AIPAC spent millions to defeat Aisha Wahab.
What’s at stake next
The New York Times said much of the attention in Florida was on newly gerrymandered congressional districts drawn to give Republicans an edge, while voters also picked contenders to succeed DeSantis, who is term-limited.
“Alaska’s nonpartisan Senate primary will offer an early indication of the relative strength”
In Alaska, the New York Times described the nonpartisan Senate primary as an early indication of the relative strength of Sullivan and Peltola, with the top four vote-getters advancing to November.
In California, the New York Times said voters would decide who replaces former Representative Eric Swalwell, who resigned after facing allegations of sexual misconduct that he has denied.
In Wyoming, the New York Times said Republicans and Democrats were fighting for control of the House of Representatives, where Republicans have a thin margin, and it tied the Tuesday primaries to the broader battle over control of Congress in the November midterm election.
