The midterm primary rush continued on Tuesday as Darline Graham advanced to a runoff for the US Senate seat in South Carolina. Elsewhere, a high-profile democrat socialist lost a tight battle in the primary race for governor, and a Donald Trump pick lost in the Minnesota gubernatorial contest.
In South Carolina, Republicans held a special Senate primary to choose a new nominee following the sudden death of longtime incumbent Lindsey Graham in July. His sister, Darline Graham, announced she would stand for a full six-year term shortly after being chosen by South Carolina's governor to fill her brother's seat until January.
Despite receiving high-profile support from President Trump, who said he encouraged Graham to run, Republicans didn't clear the way for her nomination, with 10 candidates standing.
Graham fell short of the 50% support needed to win outright and will advance to a runoff on Aug. 25, when she will face Rep. Ralph Norman.
In Wisconsin, there was a messy battle between the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic party over who should be their nominee to replace Gov. Tony Evers, who has chosen not to seek another term.
Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist state lawmaker, held a consistent lead throughout the primary, but lost to moderate Democrat David Crowley.
Evers had warned voters he believed Hong may be too far to the left to defeat the likely Republican nominee, Rep. Tom Tiffany, in the general election. Instead, the governor threw his support behind Milwaukee County Executive Crowley, who briefly dropped out of the race before resuming his campaign with less than a month left in the primary.
After polls initially suggested Crowley had an enormous amount of ground to make up to pull off a victory, he was declared the winner with 39.8% to Hong's 39.4%.
Minnesota is seeing a large amount of turnover in its most important elected offices.
Gov. Tim Walz is not seeking reelection, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who has chosen to leave the Senate to run for governor, was effectively unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The Republican side was much more competitive. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell was backed by Trump, who said shortly before the contest that Lindell "deserves a BIG WIN." However, although Lindell initially enjoyed a healthy lead in the campaign, Lisa Demuth, speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, secured a comfortable victory, winning with 43.4% of the vote to Lindell's 32.5%.
The dynamic is flipped in the race for Minnesota's other Senate seat, which retiring Democrat Tina Smith is vacating.
Former NFL broadcaster Michele Tafoya locked in the GOP nomination with 52.1%, while the Democratic Party saw Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a progressive, win a decisive victory with 59% of the vote to defeat centrist Rep. Angie Craig.
Vermont's Democratic gubernatorial primary was won by economist Amanda Janoo, who defeated Aly Richards, a former gubernatorial aide and childcare advocate.
She will face a steep challenge as she tries to unseat Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who was recently declared the most popular governor in America and won by more than 50 points the last time he was on the ballot.
The Democratic primary in Connecticut's First Congressional District typified the generational struggle within the party.
Rep. John Larson, seeking a 15th term in the House, was ousted by former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin as another veteran Democrat lost. According to the Associated Press, Larson became the seventh Democratic member of the House to lose a primary this year as the party switches to a new generation. In the state primary for governor, Ned Lamont comfortably defeated progressive challenger Josh Elliott.
In Alabama, more than half the state had a primary do-over thanks to a new congressional map that was put in place after its official primary had already been held. The new district lines, which eliminate one of Alabama's two majority-Black districts, were imposed in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that rolled back previous limits on racial gerrymandering. That meant voters in four of the state's seven districts cast their primary ballots for a second time.
The biggest changes were made to Alabama's 2nd District, a former Democratic stronghold that was broken up and now favors Republicans.
Republican Rhett Marques, who was backed by President Donald Trump, beat five GOP rivals for the chance to try to unseat incumbent Rep. Shomari Figures, who forecasters expect to be one of as many as 16 Democrats to lose their seats as a result of a wave of redistricting by red-state Republicans this midterm cycle.
There are more important dates on the primary calendar on the road to the midterm election. Here's a rundown of the races to watch across the country.
Alaska's unique nonpartisan "jungle" primary system means that the four highest-ranking candidates in its Senate and gubernatorial races will move on to the general election, which will be decided by a ranked-choice vote. The Senate contest has become complicated thanks to the presence of two Republican candidates named Dan Sullivan. One of them is an incumbent senator seeking reelection, the other is a little-known former Forest Service employee. Dan Sullivan, the senator, filed a lawsuit seeking to get the other Dan Sullivan's name removed from the ballot on the argument that his presence will confuse voters, but he has been unsuccessful so far.
Florida will elect a new governor this year. Rep. Byron Donalds, a strong Trump ally, is the overwhelming favorite to win the GOP nomination. Democrats haven't won a governor's race in Florida since 1994, but one March poll showed Donalds leading the two main Democratic candidates — Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and former GOP Rep. David Jolly — by single digits. It's a similar story in the Florida Senate race: Incumbent Republican Ashley Moody was outpacing potential opponents in the crowded Democratic field by roughly 8 points.
Wyoming politics rarely gets national attention, but the nation's least-populated state has some intriguing GOP contests up and down the ballot. Five Republicans are running for a Senate seat. Trump has endorsed Rep. Harriet Hageman, a MAGA-friendly congresswoman who is best known for ousting Trump critic Liz Cheney from the House. There are also crowded GOP primaries in Wyoming's gubernatorial race and for its lone seat in the House of Representatives.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Mike Mazzei, the state's budget secretary, are in a runoff after neither was able to secure 50% of the vote in June's Republican primary. Trump threw his support behind Mazzei before the first round of voting, but the two candidates finished the primary essentially tied, and head-to-head polls suggest the contest is a genuine tossup.
Progressive Democrat Ed Markey, 79, is running for another term in the Senate. He's being challenged by Rep. Seth Moulton. Despite age being a major issue throughout the Democratic electorate, polls show Markey holding a solid though not insurmountable lead over his 47-year-old primary opponent.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is not running for reelection. Rep. Chris Pappas has a huge lead in polls of the Democratic Senate primary. Republicans have recruited two former senators in their effort to flip Shaheen's seat. Polls show John Sununu, who Shaheen knocked out of the Senate in 2008, with a healthy edge over former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown.
Rhode Island's Democratic governor, Dan McKee, seems to be at serious risk of being knocked out of office by a member of his own party. With a disapproval rating among likely voters of 76%, he trails former corporate executive Helena Foulkes by a significant margin in recent polls.