Politico

Update: In South Dakota, Rep. Dusty Johnson fended off a primary challenge to win the GOP nomination. He is one of 35 House Republicans who voted for an independent commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Follow along with our live chat as results continue to roll in.

We’ll be back with an update later today.

Welcome back to another big primary day 👋 Today we’ve got elections in CA, IA, MS, MT, NJ, NM, and SD. Here’s what to know: ➡️ Everyone’s watching CA’s all-party primaries, and with good reason: the path to the House majority crosses through the Golden state (again). GOP Reps. David Valadao and Young Kim in particular could be in trouble. They face uncomfortably close primary contests today — and a loss by either could seriously endanger the GOP’s hold on their swing seats in the fall. ➡️ Keep your eyes on LA’s mayoral race, where billionaire (and former Republican) Rick Caruso is neck-and-neck with progressive Democratic Rep. Karen Bass. Bass is a well-known and formidable politician with a long history of activism in the area. But the city’s voting class, worried about encampments and crime, seem drawn to Caruso’s vision of a cleaner, safer LA. ➡️ In non-Cali news: Rep. Dusty Johnson, the two-term South Dakota Republican, is defending his seat from state Rep. Taffy Howard, who has spread Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Johnson is one of five House Republicans on the ballot today who had voted to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. Want more? Check out our guide to the June 7 primaries.

We’ll be back June 7 for the next primary. Hope y’all can get some rest this Memorial Day weekend.

Votes are still being counted in Georgia and Texas but here’s what we know so far: ➡️ Brad Raffensperger clinched the GOP nomination for Georgia Secretary of State, which shows that Trump’s Big Lie isn’t an especially salient concern for the majority of primary voters. ➡️ In Texas, it’s still too close to call the race between Rep. Henry Cuellar — the last anti-abortion House Democrat — and progressive Jessica Cisneros. But what’s clear is that abortion rights is not a runaway winner for the party in every slice of the country. Here’s our full takeaway from last night’s elections: https://politi.co/3sWXtea

Trump won’t be happy with the results out of Georgia tonight. Gov. Brian Kemp, Trump’s Public Enemy #1, won by a landslide. Of the 5 races for constitutional office where Trump has endorsed, only one of his picks — Burt Jones for lieutenant governor — is ahead. But it’s not clear he’ll pass the threshold to avoid a runoff. Follow the results here: https://www.politico.com/2022-election/results/georgia/

We’ll be back with an update later to let you know how the night’s going.

Welcome to another big primary day 👋 Today we’ve got elections in Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia, plus special elections in Minnesota and runoffs in Texas. Here’s what to know. ➡️ Georgia is… a mess. Republicans there can trace back their troubles to Donald Trump, who’s trying to get voters to ditch Gov. Brian Kemp for David Perdue. ➡️ Watch for whether Mo Brooks survives Alabama’s GOP Senate primary. He was left for dead after Trump withdrew his endorsement for being too “woke,” but he appears to be back in contention. ➡️ In Texas, nine-term Rep. Henry Cuellar, the House’s last anti-abortion rights Democrat, is caught in a runoff with progressive Jessica Cisneros. We’ll see whether his abortion stance costs him the race. Want more? Check out our guide to the May 24 primaries: https://politi.co/3GcvSuY

We’ll be back on May 24 for the next primary. See y’all then 👋

It’s (almost) a wrap on last night's primary, the most important one this election season. Here’s what happened: ➡️ Doug Mastriano is the GOP pick for Pennsylvania governor, which has a lot of Republicans worried. He’ll be running against Democrat John Fetterman — the matchup Dems were rooting for. ➡️ Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina lost the GOP nomination for House seat. It appears Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in 2020 don’t appear to be spreading down-ballot in the early primaries. ➡️ Progressives had a big night. Besides Fetterman, their other major victory was Andrea Salinas, an Ore. state lawmaker backed by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Salinas defeated a candidate who had the support of the leadership-aligned House Majority PAC. Check out the five big takeaways from last night, here: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/18/pennsylvania-north-carolina-oregon-primary-election-takeaways-00033339

Doug Mastriano has just won the Pennsylvania GOP governor’s race. Our election forecaster is moving the race from “Toss Up” to “Lean Democratic” in our Election Forecast later this week. Josh Shapiro (D) is now the favorite to win. You can check out the full Election Forecast here: https://politi.co/electionforecast

Today’s the most important primary date on the midterm calendar. Five states are holding elections, and the biggest one you need to watch is Pennsylvania — where Donald Trump's clout is on the line. Here’s what’s to watch: ➡️The latest polls in the PA Senate race show Dr. Oz could win. But so could Kathy Barnette, the conservative commentator whose sudden rise sent MAGA world scrambling. ➡️Frontrunner Doug Mastriano might win the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania governor and Republicans are worried that could lead to defeat in November. ➡️The Democratic race for Oregon’s newly drawn 6th District has become the nation’s most expensive House primary so far this year. And most of the spending has come from a cryptocurrency tycoon living in the Bahamas. ➡️Some senior Republican leaders are trying to unseat freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn after a series of controversial incidents Read more about the big things we’re watching in today’s primaries: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/17/tuesday-primaries-what-to-watch-00032945