School, college and other closings for Monday

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

With everything going in the country — from the unrest in many cities after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — it's easy to have missed that there are elections being held.

But several states have primaries up and down the ballot: Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington, D.C. 

Pennsylvania is holding primary voting on Tuesday, though Gov. Tom Wolf extended the deadline for voting by mail one week, until June 9. 

Here are the races to watch. Live results will appear Tuesday evening. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has not yet officially clinched the nomination. He is 425 delegates short of the magic number of 1,991. With 500 delegates at stake Tuesday, he needs 85% of the delegates up for grabs, which he's unlikely to do. More likely, Biden will cross the threshold next week, June 9, when Georgia and West Virginia vote with their 133 delegates at stake (and when we'll get the results of Pennsylvania's primary with its 186 delegates).

Controversial conservative Rep. Steve King of Iowa 

 for reelection from Iowa's 4th Congressional District. After racist and pro-white nationalist remarks, much of the Republican establishment abandoned King. They've come for him before in his almost 20 years in Congress unsuccessfully. But this has been their best chance so far. King has trailed in the polls, with only $30,000 cash on hand and no TV ads running. The favorite among his challengers has been state Sen. Randy Feenstra, who painted King as ineffective in the House, given he was 

. But King is well known as a familiar choice for conservatives in western Iowa and has been resilient.

In Iowa's 2nd Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack is retiring, opening up his seat. State Sen. Rita Hart will be the Democratic nominee and will face off against either State Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks or ex-Illinois Congressman Bobby Schilling, who moved to Iowa in 2017. Miller-Meeks got the backing of Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Joni Ernst, as well as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Fomer Sen. Rick Santorum and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a top Trump ally, backed Schilling.

Steny Hoyer faces challenge from the left

A veteran lawmaker from Maryland's 5th Congressional District and No. 2 in House Democratic leadership, Hoyer faces a progressive primary challenge from 29-year-old McKayla Wilkes. Wilkes, a single mother, was inspired by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's victory in New York in 2018 over another veteran white, male Democratic leader. Wilkes raised $300,000 and said Hoyer, who has been in Congress almost 40 years, is out of touch with the district. The Democratic establishment remained behind Hoyer, though, including the Congressional Black Caucus, which endorsed him. He outspent Wilkes $2.7 million to $237,000.

The announced retirement of New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall set off a domino effect. Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Luján declared for Udall's Senate seat, leaving open his seat in the 3rd Congressional District. Enter: Valerie Plame, the ex-CIA agent. She raised and spent more than any candidate in this race and gained national attention with 

 showing her racing backward in a Chevy Camaro on a dusty road. 

But locally, her candidacy has looked less like an easy Sunday drive. She faced criticism for being a relative newcomer, moving to the area in 2007; the district is 41 percent Latino and 19% Native American, and another candidate, Teresa Leger Fernandez, got the endorsements of the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and EMILY's List. 

It is very possible that New Mexico sends an all-female House delegation to Congress in 2021, as freshman Democrats Deb Haaland and Xochitl Torres Small are the incumbents in the state's other two districts. But Torres Small has to win what's expected to be a tough reelection race in the 2nd District. Trump won there by 10 points in 2016, and the primary to decide who will take Torres Small on this fall is a contest between two Republican women.

between Yvette Herrell, the 2018 nominee, and Claire Chase, an oil executive. Both have campaigned on who's the most pro-Trump; Herrell got the backing of the House Freedom Caucus, but Chase outraised and outspent Herrell, with support from Defending Main Street, a group with ties to establishment Republicans.

Senate matchups to be set in Iowa and Montana

Democrats are hoping to take back the Senate this fall. They have an outside shot at that right now, but their odds have looked increasingly better of late. Partially, that's because of these two races. 

In Iowa, Democrats are targeting incumbent Republican Joni Ernst, but first there's the primary Tuesday. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee backed real estate executive Theresa Greenfield in the four-way contest. Greenfield raised $7.1 million and went into Tuesday as the favorite. Other Democrats include retired U.S. Admiral Mike Franken, attorney Kimberly Graham and Eddie Mauro, a businessman and former teacher and coach, who has spent the second most — $1.4 million — on this primary.

When Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock changed his mind and decided to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines, it suddenly put this race on the map for Democrats 

. Three other Democrats are on the ballot Tuesday, but Bullock has been expected to win easily, raising more than 10 times his next opponent.

The retirements of moderate Democrat Pete Visclosky in Indiana's 1st District and Republican Susan Brooks, one of only 13 Republican women in Congress, in the 5th District has opened up both of these ideologically divergent seats. More than half a dozen Democrats have competed in the 1st District, which is suburban and exurban Chicago, a place that went for Hillary Clinton with 54 percent of the vote in 2016. 

In the 5th District, a handful of Republicans have duked it out, including state Sen. Victoria Spartz, who raised and spent the most and got the backing of the Club for Growth, and Beth Henderson, a local businesswoman with the endorsement of Indiana Sen. Mike Braun. Democrats have rallied around one candidate, Christina Hale. This district has been in GOP hands for a long time, but it could be one to watch this fall. The Cook Political Report lists it as only "lean Republican." Trump won it with 53% in 2016. 

Politics and Government News

Election 2020

Domenico Montanaro

Author

Iowa Rep. Steve King faces a strong GOP primary challenger, after years of incendiary comments put him on the outs with his party. Eight states and the District of Columbia vote on Tuesday.

Tuesday's primaries: Races to watch and live results

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox