Key races to watch across primaries in NJ, Montana and more
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The Big Story
Key races to watch across primaries in NJ, Montana and more
A handful of states and territories are finishing out the presidential primary process this week as Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota – along with the District of Columbia and later this week Guam and the Virgin Islands – officially vote on their White House nominees.
© AP Photo/Matthew Brown
The presidential election has long been seen as a rematch between Donald Trump and President Biden as all eyes shifted early on to the general election. But what’s made the presidential primaries intriguing is how they’ve demonstrated the gaps of support Trump and Biden have both suffered as our Julia Mueller notes this morning.
Biden has contested with an ongoing protest vote over his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. The conflict reached a new low late last month when a strike conducted by Israel in Rafah left tens of Palestinians dead and several hundred more wounded as they looked to target several Hamas leaders.
The president announced late last week that Israel had offered a proposal aimed toward achieving a ceasefire in the region while releasing the remaining hostages, and Biden has pushed Hamas to accept the conditions.
Yet protesters angry at the Biden administration signaled skepticism and dissatisfaction with the proposal, with a spokesperson from the uncommitted moment saying in a statement “Biden’s endorsement of a six-week ceasefire is a welcome development, but will likely fall flat as long as he arms [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s war crimes. We need a permanent ceasefire now.”
That protest vote could play out tonight in several states, including New Jersey and New Mexico.
At the same time, Trump could be contending with an enduring protest vote of his own. Former U.N. ambassador and Trump presidential rival Nikki Haley has accumulated a sizable portion of the GOP presidential primary electorate vote — even months after she dropped out in March.
Though Haley made the notable move to endorse Trump last week, Haley will still be on the ballot in New Mexico, which could offer one datapoint for whether her endorsement may be enough to start turning the tides on Trump’s fortunes with GOP holdouts.
Other key federal and state-level races are also happening tonight:
New Jersey Senate Democratic primary where Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) is all but certain to win the nomination.
There’s intriguing congressional races for the seat Kim is leaving open in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District while Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), son of the embattled senator, tries to fend off a primary challenge.
Montana’s gubernatorial primary as Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) seeks reelection.
Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D) and Republican Tim Sheehy will be officially coronated their party’s respective party nominees for Tester’s seat
Follow The Hill’s coverage as we partner with Decision Desk HQ to make race calls on tonight’s races. We’ll also have takeaways of Tuesday’s elections later this evening.
Essential Reads
Key election stories and other recent campaign coverage:
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), a longtime member of the House representing South Carolina, endorsed the primary challenger to Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) Tuesday. Catherine Templeton, a former South Carolina state official, announced the endorsement in a post on her campaign’s X account. “Thank you for your support, Congressman! We’re honored to have you on the team,” her post reads. -Developing
President Biden’s reelection campaign on Tuesday defended the executive order to limit asylum at the U.S. southern border, accusing Republicans and former President Trump of only wanting chaos. In a statement first shared with The Hill, Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz highlighted how Trump urged the GOP to block a bipartisan border bill negotiated in the Senate so the border would remain a major issue for Election Day. …
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) appeared to fault progressive former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) for not backing their fellow New York Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman in his primary race. Ocasio-Cortez reposted an article Tuesday from The New York Times that reported Jones’s endorsement of Bowman’s primary challenger, George Latimer. She called on Democrats to unite behind Bowman in her post on social platform X to ensure …
The Countdown
Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
In Other News
Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
Americans hold more polarizing views on former President Trump than they do on President Biden, according to a Gallup favorability poll released Tuesday. The May poll — conducted before Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in his hush money trial in New York — asked respondents to rate the two major political parties’ presumptive nominees on a scale of 1 to 5, if they view the candidate favorably, and on a scale of -1 to …
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sued the Nevada secretary of state Monday, pressuring him to declare the signatures on his ballot petitions legitimate, despite the official having already considered the signatures invalid. Kennedy filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, who is responsible for overseeing elections in …
Around the Nation
Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections:
By hand or machine: Tabulator bans go to voters in three counties Tuesday (South Dakota Searchlight)
What We’re Reading
Election news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
Modi Vows to Retain Power Even as Party Loses India Majority (Bloomberg)
Elsewhere Today
Key stories on The Hill right now:
Senate Republicans are warning New York Judge Juan Merchan not to sentence former President Trump to prison or house arrest or take any other action that could disrupt the likely GOP nominee’s ability to campaign ahead of the November election. It could take months for Trump to appeal his conviction on 34 felony counts related to the falsification … Read more
President Biden took long-expected executive action Tuesday that will turn away migrants seeking asylum who cross the southern border illegally at times when there is a high volume of daily encounters. The order will be in effect when the seven-day average of daily border crossings exceeds 2,500 between ports of entry, senior administration … Read more
What People Think
Opinions related to campaigns and elections submitted to The Hill:
Pay-to-play politics is killing our democracy — we can save it using the Constitution
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