Check out these political snippets on primary results, the presidential, congressional races from across the country. 

June 25th Primary Results

Colorado Special Election

The Republican special election nominee, who agreed to serve only as a caretaker until the general election picks a permanent member, easily won Tuesday’s vote to serve the balance of resigned Rep. Ken Buck’s (R) final term. Former local mayor Greg Lopez, without spending much money, recorded a strong 58-34% victory over Democratic speechwriter Trisha Calvarese to secure the seat for the GOP in a vote that is projected to draw more than 172,000 cast ballots. Rep-Elect Lopez will become the 220th member of the Republican conference.

The House will now be down to two vacancies, one from each party. The Wisconsin seat of resigned Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Green Bay) and the death of New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-Newark) are the remaining districts without member representation.

Colorado Regular Primary

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Silt), moving into the eastern 4th District from her western slope 3rd CD, easily captured the GOP nomination, which is usually tantamount to winning in November. Congresswoman Boebert recorded 43.2% preference to finish first, well ahead of second place finisher Jerry Sonnenberg, a local county commissioner. He received just 14.5%. The third, fourth, and fifth place finishers all scored between 13.8 and 10.6% of the vote.

Elsewhere in the state, attorney Jeff Hurd, despite Democratic attempts to vault Republican former state Rep. Ron Hanks to the 3rd District GOP nomination, won the party primary with 41.5% of the vote over five Republican opponents. The Hurd victory gives the Republicans their strongest candidate in an attempt to maintain Rep. Boebert’s western slope district against 2022 Democratic nominee Adam Frisch who held the Congresswoman to a 546-vote win, the previous cycle’s closest US House race.

In retiring Rep. Doug Lamborn’s (R-Colorado Springs) open 5th District, radio talk show host and three time congressional candidate Jeff Crank, easily defeated Colorado Republican Party chairman Dave Williams with a whopping 67-33% margin. Mr. Crank will now assume the seat in the next Congress.

New York

The big story of the Empire State’s political evening is Westchester County Executive George Latimer easily defeating US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-Yonkers) in what is being called the most expensive congressional primary in US history.

Approximately $30 million was spent in this campaign when adding the two candidates’ expenditures and including all the outside money. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s affiliated Super PAC looks to have spent over $17 million toward defeating Bowman, one of the most ardent anti-Israel House members. With a majority vote exceeding 58%, Mr. Latimer convincingly denied the Congressman renomination.

In what will be a very competitive Syracuse based 22nd District general election, as expected, state Senator John Mannion claimed the Democratic nomination with a 62-38% victory over local town councilwoman Sarah Klee Hood even though the latter contender won three of the district’s five counties. Sen. Mannion now advances into a toss-up general election versus freshman Rep. Brandon Williams (R-Syracuse) in a race that will have national majority implications.

Utah

Overcoming the Donald Trump and Utah Republican Party endorsed candidate, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, US Rep. John Curtis (R-Provo) recorded an impressive 51-29-13-6% victory over Mr. Staggs, former state House Speaker Brad Wilson, and businessman Jason Walton to win the open Republican US Senate nomination. The Congressman carried 28 of Utah’s 29 counties.

Mr. Curtis now becomes the strongest of favorites to defeat Democrat Caroline Gleich in the general election. Rep. Curtis will then succeed retiring GOP Sen. Mitt Romney.

The going was much tougher for freshman Rep. Celeste Maloy* (R-Cedar City) who eked out what will likely be a 51-49% win over businessman Colby Jenkins who had strong support from US Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). Rep. Maloy will now advance into the general election where she will secure her first full congressional term.

In Rep. Curtis’ open District 3, Trump and state party endorsed candidate Mike Kennedy, a physician and state Senator, scored a crowded primary victory with 36% of the vote over four Republican opponents. State Auditor John “Frugal” Dougall, who ran as the MAGA opposition candidate, calling himself “mainstream” fell to a last place finish with just 8% of the vote. In a district the FiveThirtyEight data organization rates as R+26, Sen. Kennedy will have little trouble securing the seat in November.

South Carolina Runoff

The lone South Carolina congressional runoff occurred in the state’s western open 3rd District from which Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-Laurens) is retiring. In a very close finish, Gov. Henry McMaster’s (R) endorsed candidate, Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs, defeated Donald Trump endorsed pastor Mark Burns, 51-49%, after the latter man finished first in the June 11th primary. In another safe Republican district (538 rating: R+44), Ms. Biggs is now a lock to claim the seat in the general election.

President

Democratic National Committee

Though the Democratic National Committee leadership has not yet set a date for the virtual roll call to nominate President Joe Biden for a second term, the party is making moves to prepare for such an eventuality. The leadership has confirmed that the party platform hearings and adoption will be conducted virtually and occur during the week of the Republican National Convention, which begins July 15.

Though the Ohio legislature and Governor quickly changed their ballot deadline to comply with the Democratic National Convention schedule, the party is still making their scheduling plans to renominate President Biden and Vice President Harris virtually at some point in July.

U.S. Senate

Maryland

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) opening a lead over ex-Gov. Larry Hogan (R) despite the latter man’s favorable ratings.

The PPP survey (6/19-20; 635 MD voters) sees Ms. Alsobrooks leading Mr. Hogan and a series of independents and minor party candidates (cumulatively), 45-34-5%. In a head-to-head ballot test, she leads Mr. Hogan 48-40%. This, despite a positive Hogan favorability index of 50:33%. The biggest drag for Hogan is from the top of the Maryland ticket where President Joe Biden leads former President Donald Trump, 56-30%.

Montana

Largely confirming the recently published Emerson College poll that showed the two Montana Senate candidates tied, a new survey again shows former President Donald Trump with a huge Montana lead and GOP US Senate candidate Tim Sheehy establishing a foothold within the electorate. The Fabrizio Lee & Associates survey (6/3-5; 500 MT likely general election voters; live interview & text) finds Mr. Sheehy pulling ahead of Sen. Jon Tester (D) with a 46-43-4% lead.

The ballot test included Libertarian candidate Sid Daoud, but not Green Party nominee Robert Barb. Both are expected to be on the general election ballot.

In a straight Tester-Sheehy head-to-head result, the two men are tied at 48% apiece, but 41 of Sheehy’s 48% say they are definitely voting for him versus only just 35% of Sen. Tester’s contingent who say likewise.

Former President Trump leads President Biden by a whopping 54-36%. The generic question, i.e., “would you be most likely to vote for the Republican candidate or Democratic candidate for Senator,” breaks 52-40% in favor of the Republican response.

Nevada

A new survey from a Democratic and Republican polling team finds a closer Senate race than the Emerson College poll conducted during the same period. The Fabrizio Ward (R)/Impact Research (D) survey, commissioned for AARP (6/12-18; 600 NV likely general election voters; live interview & text) sees Sen. Jacky Rosen (D), riding a media ad blitz, leading Republican Sam Brown*, 47-42%, while former President Donald Trump has a 44-37-10% advantage over President Joe Biden and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (I).

Conversely, Emerson College’s study (6/13-18; 1,000 NV registered voters; multiple sampling techniques) sees Sen. Rosen with a much larger lead over Mr. Brown, 50-38%. While there is a clear advantage for Sen. Rosen in the most recent polling, this race will still be highly competitive come November.

U.S. House of Representatives

MO-1

The Mellman Group, conducting a survey for the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC (6/18-22; 400 MO-1 registered Democratic voters; live interview & text), sees challenger Wesley Bell, a former St. Louis County prosecutor, pulling into a one point, 43-42%, lead over Rep. Cori Bush (D-St. Louis), a member of the Socialist Democrat “Squad.” The Mellman analysis finds that Mr. Bell has closed the gap against the incumbent since January, seeing a net 17-point swing in his favor.

We can expect heavy outside spending coming into the district before the August 6th primary. The pro-Israel organizations were successful in helping to defeat another Squad member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary. Rep. Bush is another of the most anti-Israel congressional members and a top target of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the DMFI PAC.

VA-5

Local news reports are confirming that Virginia US Rep. Bob Good (R-Lynchburg) will request and pay for a recount of the June 18th primary results that find him trailing state Sen. John McGuire (R-Manakin Sabot) by 374 votes according to the Virginia Board of Elections official count. The certification deadline is July 2nd. After certification, a candidate can request a recount.

Though a 374 vote difference is not large – it translates into 6 tenths of a percentage point from a turnout of 62,792 votes – it is unlikely that a recount will change the final totals by such an amount. Rep. Good is also challenging the handling of ballots in the city of Lynchburg, a locality where the Congressman won. Lynchburg election officials say the Good challenge would affect less than 10 ballots even if his argument is proven correct.

WA-3

A new Public Policy Polling survey, regularly conducted for the Northwest Progressive Institute (6/11-12; 649 WA-3 registered voters; live interview & text), sees Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Skamania County) trailing 2022 general election finalist Joe Kent (R), by a 46-45% dead heat margin.

Washington’s 3rd District, that lies in the far southwestern corner of the state and anchored in the city of Vancouver, is the second-most Republican district that a Democrat represents. The FiveThirtyEight data organization rates the seat as R+11. In 2022, Ms. Perez defeated Mr. Kent by less than a percentage point in one of the biggest upsets of that election year. The 2024 rematch, which is likely to occur after the state’s August 6th jungle primary, portends to be just as close.

WI-3

The GQR survey research firm went into the field over the June 10-16 period (400 WI-3 likely general election voters; live interview) and finds western Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) holding only a small lead over small business owner Rebecca Cooke (D). The ballot test favors the freshman Congressman by just a 50-46% margin. Mr. Van Orden’s favorability index, however, is barely positive at 41:40%.

Wisconsin’s 3rd District, anchored in the city of La Crosse and spans through all or part of 19 western counties. The FiveThirtyEight data organization rates the seat as R+9, but the Dave’s Redistricting App statisticians calculate a virtually even partisan lean. Former President Donald Trump carried the seat in 2020 with a 51.5 - 46.8% victory margin despite losing the statewide count. Prior to Mr. Van Orden converting this seat to the Republican column in 2022, Democrat Ron Kind represented the district for 26 years.