Today marks the first major primary being held after both the coronavirus and the recent protests sweeping the nation over the brutal killing of George Floyd. Primaries are being held in Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota. Along with primaries for the presidential elections, primaries are being held for congressional elections. The races being held for representatives are important to look at, as they signal how people may vote in the later congressional and presidential elections in November.
In the Republican congressional primary being held in northwest Iowa, Rep. Steve King may lose the nomination. Along with his track record of deeply racist rhetoric, King has virtually no power in Congress due to him losing spots on committees. His opponent, Senate President Randy Feenstra, is arguing for his election by saying that King cannot effectively represent his district without the lost committee spots. Feenstra has an endorsement from many well established Republicans, but the race will still be tight: minor candidates could block Feenstra from enough votes to oust King.
Meanwhile, in Montana, the congressional primary is heating up. Steve Bullock, who has served as Montana's governor, has recently entered the race against Sen. Steve Daines. Bullock has one of the highest approval ratings in the state, and many Democrats see him as the only person who could defeat Daines. The election has the power to determine which party will control the Senate, so the stakes are high. However, GOP operatives trying to defeat Bullock are using an interesting tactic: getting the Green Party on the ballot. By getting the Green Party on the ballot, Bullock could lose a small, but crucial, percentage of liberal votes. However, not one, but two, people are running for the Green Party nomination. One of the candidates, Dennis Daneke, has pledged to drop out of the race to help Bullock if he got nominated. As a result, the GOP is using the Go Green Montana PAC to endorse Daneke's opponent, Wendie Fredrickson, and to accuse Daneke to be a "puppet of big Democrats".
7 Races To Watch On The First Primary Day Of The Pandemic
The coronavirus electoral pause ends Tuesday with major races in Iowa, New Mexico, and Maryland
BY DEVIN BOONE
JUNE 2nd, 2020
Tuesday marks the first major multistate election day since the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, with the nominations for critical House and Senate races up for grabs and a number of nationally known politicians at risk of losing their seats.
Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Dakota are all holding primaries on Tuesday. Races across the eight states will point to additional signs about the direction of both the Democratic and Republican parties. Will Republicans tolerate Trump-like rhetoric on race from a candidate other than Donald Trump? Does Democrats’ preference for Joe Biden-like moderation translate down-ballot? How does the shift to vote-by-mail impact pandemic-era turnout?