Primary elections 2022 live: Voters in New York and Illinois head to the polls as Boebert faces challenge
Tuesday will see another wave of primary showdowns across the country as US voters turn out to make crucial decisions ahead of November’s general elections.
This week’s challenges include the numerous battles taking place in New York, where redistricting as well as the resignation of Gov Andrew Cuomo have brewed up a particularly interesting election season. Gov Kathy Hochul is running for her first full term should she survive her primary election tomorrow, while Republicans are set to conclude their own multi-candidate gubernatorial primary that is likely to see the defeat of Andrew Giuliani, son of ex-Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Illinois will also hold a number of crucial primary contests.
Meanwhile in Colorado Rep Lauren Boebert is set to be the latest far-right Trump acolyte to face her own primary challenge; she’s facing a challenge from Don Coram of the Colorado General Assembly and could potentially be in danger due to the interference of Democrats using the state’s open primary system to back her opponent.
Ms Boebert is also facing a coordinated effort to dig into her past by David Wheeler, the head of the “Fire Boebert” PAC who previously led a drip-drip campaign of damaging revelations that contributed to Madison Cawthorn’s primary defeat in North Carolina.
Key Points
New York, Colorado, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Illinois, Nebraska, Utah and South Carolina to vote Tuesday
Lauren Boebert faces key test in Colorado primary
Rudy Giuliani’s son faces first election day in New York
Republican who supported Jan 6 commission could lose seat
Illinois race for governor drenched in cash
17:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Seven GOP primaries will be decided in Illinois on Tuesday. While the gubernatorial contest has garnered the most attention, Democratic incumbent JB Pritzker, a billionaire who has given $125m to his own campaign, is favoured to win reelection.
In the GOP contest to challenge him, hedge fund founder Ken Griffin has given $50m out of the total $53m raised by the campaign of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who would be the state’s Illinois first Black governor if successful, FiveThirtyEight noted.
GOP donor Richard Uihlein has given $9m to state Senator Darren Bailey, who has brought in $11m in total. Mr Uihlein has also contributed $8m to a political action committee supporting Mr Bailey.
Jesse Sullivan, a venture capitalist, has collected $12.6m, with $11m coming from three donors.
Americans heading to the voting booths for first time since end of Roe v Wade
16:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Voters in the US are heading to cast their ballots for the first time since the striking down of Roe v Wade, clearing the way for dozens of states to outlaw abortion.
On Tuesday, primaries are being held in Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma and Utah and runoffs are being conducted in Mississippi and South Carolina, and Nebraska is holding a special election.
Politico Politics editor Scott Bland said that he’s “looking for the first concrete signs of how the [Supreme Court] decision might affect Democratic primaries and the party as a whole going forward this year. In 2018, we saw a powerful swell of interest in female candidates in Democratic primaries all over the country — do we see evidence of anything like that happening this time? Are there any shifts in turnout that we can reasonably categorize as a response to the Dobbs ruling?”
Rudy Giuliani’s son faces his first feedback from voters
15:00 , John Bowden
Tuesday’s elections will see the first time New York voters get the chance to vote for (or against) a Giuliani in decades.
Known by some as “America’s Mayor” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks struck his city during his mayoral tenure, Rudy Giuliani saw his reputation diminish to a great extent with his performance as lead attorney for Donald Trump’s ill-conceived effort to overturn the 2020 election in the courts. Now, just under two years later, his son Andrew is a candidate in the Republican primary for New York governor. It’s his first foray into politics at any level.
Mr Giuliani (the younger) is not likely to win his primary on Tuesday; Rep Lee Zeldin is the frontrunner for the GOP contest. If he loses, it will likely be because many voters did not want to trust the governor’s mansion in one of the US’s biggest states to a political newcomer.
Read more from The Associated Press:
Andrew Giuliani invokes famous dad in bid for NY governor
ICYMI: Republican who voted for Jan 6 commission faces crucial test
14:31 , John Bowden
A Republican congressman who voted to create an independent commission to investigate the January 6 attack is at risk of losing his seat on Tuesday.
Rep Michael Guest of Mississippi is facing a Trump-backed challenger in his state’s runoff. The congressman previously trailed him by a few hundred votes in the state’s primary election earlier this month.
His opponent, Navy veteran Michael Cassidy, has used his vote against him as well as his support for sending military aid to Ukraine, a prospect opposed by the isolationist far-right of the GOP.
ICYMI: Two super PACs rally to oust Lauren Boebert
14:00 , John Bowden
Rep Lauren Boebert, one of the House’s most controversial members, is set to face Don Coram in Tuesday’s GOP primary for the 3rd congressional district of Colorado.
She’s favoured to win, but faces a competitive challenger in Don Coram, a member of the state legislature, due in no small part to her own controversial remarks and actions. Two major PACs, the Fire Boebert PAC and the Better Than Boebert PAC, are backing her opponent.
What to watch in primaries in Colorado, Illinois, elsewhere
ICYMI: Here are the states set to vote today
13:31 , John Bowden
Voters in eight states will head to the polls on Tuesday. Those states are New York, Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi, Nebraska, Utah, South Carolina and Oklahoma. New York’s primaries tomorrow will include races for statewide seats like the governor and lieutenant governor, while other seats including those in the state legislature and Congress will have their races conclude in August.
Democrats look for challenger to oust Senate’s lone Black Republican
12:31 , John Bowden
Democrats are heading to the polls on Tuesday for a runoff election in South Carolina to determine which candidate will face Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the US Senate, in November.
Krystle Matthews and Catherine Bruce will duke it out for the chance to wage an uphill battle against Mr Scott in deep-red South Carolina. He previously won reelection in 2016 with more than 60 per cent of the vote.
Two US Senate seats up for grabs in Oklahoma
11:31 , John Bowden
Voters are heading to the polls in deep-red Oklahoma on Tuesday to decide the fate of the state’s two US Senate seats, a rare occurrence that is only happening due to the early retirement of incumbent Sen Jim Inhofe.
His colleague, Sen James Lankford, is facing a candidate in the state’s GOP primary who raising claims of RINOism due to Mr Lankford’s refusal to support Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
Mr Inhofe’s seat, on the other hand, will likely go to one of numerous candidates in a crowded Republican field for the open seat; currently-serving Rep Markwayne Mullin is among the challengers.
Read more from The Associated Press:
Oklahoma voters to cast ballots for 2 US Senate seats
Poll spells midterm trouble for GOP
10:31 , John Bowden
A new poll released on Sunday from CBS News indicates a troubling dynamic arising for Republican candidates ahead of November’s midterms.
Following Friday’s ruling by the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade, the survey shows independents and Democrats particularly more energised by the issue and eager to vote this fall. And clear majorities of both groups opposed the ruling.
That could be a problem for Republicans trying to win back the House and Senate as more and more GOP-led state legislatures around the country pursue restrictions and outright bans on abortion care services.
Read more from The Independent’s John Bowden:
New poll suggests midterm voter backlash against GOP over Roe v Wade ruling
Illinois Republicans to pick nominee to face Gov. Pritzker
09:15 , John Bowden
J.B. Pritzker is running for reelection as the popular Democratic governor of Illinois, home state of former first lady Michelle Obama. He’s emerged as a leader among Democratic state governors around the country, particularly given last year’s resignation of New York’s Andrew Cuomo.
On Tuesday, he’s expected to coast to victory against one primary challenger. For that reason, the millionaire-turned-governor and his Democratic allies have spend upwards of $30m attempting to sink the campaign of a centrist Republican candidate running in Tuesday’s primary in the hopes of seeing him fall to a Trump-backed rival who is seen as less electable in the purple-blue state.
Read more about the dynamics of the race from The Associated Press:
Illinois Republicans to pick nominee to face Gov. Pritzker
Mike Lee faces crucial challenge in Utah
08:15 , John Bowden
Donald Trump’s conservative ally in Utah, Mike Lee, is facing two primary challengers today. The two well-funded candidates, Ally Islom and Becky Edwards, have hit Mr Lee on a number of issues including his support for discredited conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell and her efforts to help Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election.
He also faces lingering bad blood in the Mormon-heavy state after comparing Mr Trump to Captain Moroni from the Book of Mormon at an event. Mr Lee himself is a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints.
If he loses today, a fairly unlikely prospect, it will send a significant message about Utah’s GOP electorate which in recent years sent impeachment-supporting Mitt Romney to the Senate as Mr Lee’s colleague.
Boebert denies she ‘encouraged’ official to commit crimes
07:05 , John Bowden
Lauren Boebert’s office has released a statement to The Washington Post denying a claim from an embattled GOP county clerk whose efforts to prove nonexistant fraud in the 2020 election led to actions that resulted in her indictment on numerous criminal charges.
Now Mesa County clerk Tina Peters is claiming in statements to journalists that Ms Boebert “encouraged” her actions.
Read more in The Independent from John Bowden:
Lauren Boebert’s spox denies she ‘encouraged’ indicted GOP official to commit crimes
Republican who voted for Jan 6 commission faces crucial test
06:05 , John Bowden
A Republican congressman who voted to create an independent commission to investigate the January 6 attack is at risk of losing his seat on Tuesday.
Rep Michael Guest of Mississippi is facing a Trump-backed challenger in his state’s runoff. The congressman previously trailed him by a few hundred votes in the state’s primary election earlier this month.
His opponent, Navy veteran Michael Cassidy, has used his vote against him as well as his support for sending military aid to Ukraine, a prospect opposed by the isolationist far-right of the GOP.
Rudy Giuliani’s son makes a foray into politics
04:44 , John Bowden
Tuesday’s elections will see the first time New York voters get the chance to vote for (or against) a Giuliani in decades.
Known by some as “America’s Mayor” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks struck his city during his mayoral tenure, Rudy Giuliani saw his reputation diminish to a great extent with his performance as lead attorney for Donald Trump’s ill-conceived effort to overturn the 2020 election in the courts. Now, just under two years later, his son Andrew is a candidate in the Republican primary for New York governor. It’s his first foray into politics at any level.
Mr Giuliani (the younger) is not likely to win his primary on Tuesday; Rep Lee Zeldin is the frontrunner for the GOP contest. If he loses, it will likely be because many voters did not want to trust the governor’s mansion in one of the US’s biggest states to a political newcomer.
Kathy Hochul expected to sweep NY’s Dem primary
03:53 , John Bowden
Gov Kathy Hochul is expected to sweep the field in tomorrow’s Democratic primary as she seeks to win her first full term. Previously the state’s lieutenant governor, she took office after Gov Andrew Cuomo resigned in 2021.
She faces Juumane Williams, a popular progressive who lost to her in the lieutenant governor’s race in 2018, as well as Tom Suozzi, a conservative Democrat.
A crowded field of GOP candidate is vying to face her (or whichever of her rivals wins Tuesday’s primary) in November, though the election of a Republican governor in New York would be a rare occurrence.
Boebert to face primary challenger
Monday 27 June 2022 21:05 , John Bowden
Rep Lauren Boebert, one of the House’s most controversial members, is set to face Don Coram in Tuesday’s GOP primary for the 3rd congressional district of Colorado.
She’s favoured to win, but faces a competitive challenger in Don Coram, a member of the state legislature, due in no small part to her own controversial remarks and actions. Two major PACs, the Fire Boebert PAC and the Better Than Boebert PAC, are backing her opponent.
What to watch in primaries in Colorado, Illinois, elsewhere
Here are the states set to vote on Tuesday
Monday 27 June 2022 20:04 , John Bowden
Voters in eight states will head to the polls on Tuesday. Those states are New York, Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi, Nebraska, Utah, South Carolina and Oklahoma. New York’s primaries tomorrow will include races for statewide seats like the governor and lieutenant governor, while other seats including those in the state legislature and Congress will have their races conclude in August.
