Many states held primaries for both the House and Senate on Tuesday, bringing President Biden and President Donald Trump one step closer to securing their respective nominations and also deciding a highly-anticipated Senate race between two candidates.
Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington, D.C., held their final presidential primaries of the season. Guam and the Virgin Islands will officially end their presidential primaries on Saturday when Democratic candidates run for office.
But other important primary elections took place Tuesday night, including in Montana, where Sen. Jon Tester (D) officially joined forces with Tim Sheehy, while in New Jersey, an establishment Republican delivered a surprise blow to Donald Trump, moving Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) one step closer to becoming the state’s next senator.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s primary election.
Kim won handily, but faced Menendez as a wildcard.
Rep. Andy Kim (Dynamo County, New Jersey) handily won the Democratic primary for the New Jersey State Senate on Tuesday, defeating several candidates who looked likely to lose by large margins.
Kim had been considered a front-runner after embattled Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey announced in March that he would not run as the Democratic nominee, eventually filing to run as an independent this week.
The New Jersey senator and his wife are being charged with crimes including that the senator acted as an agent for the Egyptian government, but the senator denies any wrongdoing.
Kim and other Democratic lawmakers have urged Menendez to resign, but he has ignored the calls.
Menendez faces a tough road to reelection as an independent, but it’s unclear how much of a stumbling block he’ll be able to put Kim under. If he wins a small but significant number of votes, that could give Republicans a chance to retake the seat.
Candidate Trump loses
In New Jersey, Republicans handed Trump a surprise defeat when they nominated real estate developer Curtis Bashaw for the New Jersey Republican Senate primary over pro-Trump candidate, Mendham Borough President Christine Serrano Glassner.
While most of the former president’s supporters have won their respective Republican primaries, New Jersey, the home state of vocal Trump critic Chris Christie, is one example that proves there are limits to Trump’s support.
Trump has largely stayed away from contentious Senate primary races, except for endorsing businessman Bernie Moreno over Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Republican state Sen. Matt Dolan.
Notably, Trump has yet to comment on his preferred senatorial candidate in Nevada, which will be one of the most competitive races for a senate seat this year. The Republican primary field includes Sam Brown, a retired Army captain who is supported by Senate Republicans, and Jeff Gunter, a former ambassador to Iceland who served under Trump.
A good night for the New Jersey establishment.
The clear winner in Tuesday night’s primary was New Jersey’s establishment, with several candidates, including Bashaw and Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), winning their respective primaries.
Mr. Menendez, the son of the embattled senator, survived a primary challenge from Hoboken Mayor Ravi Barra. Though prosecutors have not linked Mr. Menendez’s son to the senator’s corruption and bribery scandal, the scandal has dogged the House Democrats during their reelection campaigns, with Mayor Barra highlighting Mr. Menendez’s ties to the state party.
Mr. Bashaw’s victory in New Jersey was also a boost for mainstream Republicans, as he defeated Serrano Glassner, a strong Trump ally in the primary who called Mr. Bashaw a “coward” and a “false” ally.
Like Serrano-Glassner, Basho supported Trump as a presidential candidate. I’ve donated money before He is supporting former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s campaign in this election and has previously backed a letter calling Trump a “threat to democracy.”
Trump and Biden protest votes continue
While Biden and Trump have long been seen as the front-runners for their respective parties, both candidates have seen significant protest votes cast across the country, and Tuesday was no exception.
As of press time Tuesday night, Biden had 84 percent of the vote in New Mexico, while the No Vote, a movement that formed largely in protest of Israel and Hamas’ handling of the war, received nearly 10 percent. Democratic longshot candidate Marianne Williamson also received nearly 7 percent.
Trump received 76% of the estimated vote and 85% of the support, but nearly 15% of Republican primary voters voted for Trump’s rival Nikki Haley, Christie or an independent.
Haley announced last week that she would vote for Trump. Many of the early votes cast for her in the New Mexico primary were likely cast before she endorsed Trump. Still, her continued support suggests that some Republican primary voters do not see Trump as their preferred candidate.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, 66% of estimated votes had been counted at the time of writing, with nearly 9% still undecided, even though Biden had won 88% of the vote.
The results show that both candidates face an increasingly tense situation in which they are garnering support from opponents angry at their party’s standard-bearers, but it remains to be seen how this will translate in November.
Incumbents hold on
Tuesday’s primary election highlighted the power of incumbents, with several lawmakers avoiding primary upsets.
In addition to New Jersey’s Menendez, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte (R) also fended off a challenge from state Rep. Tanner Smith (R) in his primary, and Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) won his state’s primary for the 1st Congressional District.
In Iowa, Republican Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Rudy Feenstra also defeated challengers in their primaries.
The outcome will likely be seen as a welcome development for both parties ahead of an already tumultuous election cycle.
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