begin quote from: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/june-7-primary-election-results
California, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and other states hold primaries
By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Elise Hammond, JiMin Lee, Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes, CNN
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CNN Projection: Alex Padilla makes the ballot for both special and general elections in California
From CNN's Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo
Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California will advance to the special general election for the remainder of Vice President Kamala Harris’ term, CNN projects. CNN also projects that he will make the ballot for the regular general election in November for the full six-year term that starts in January.
Padilla was appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 to the seat Harris vacated when she became vice president.
CNN Projection: California Gov. Gavin Newsom will advance to general election
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza, Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo
Incumbent Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California will advance to the general election, CNN projects.
Newsom, who comfortably beat back an attempt to recall him last year, is seeking a second term.
CNN Projection: Rep. Steven Palazzo will advance to a runoff in Mississippi GOP primary
From CNN’s Gregory Krieg
Mississippi Rep. Steven Palazzo is headed to a Republican primary runoff, CNN projects, putting the incumbent in danger of losing his seat amid a series of ethics controversies. The second spot in the runoff is too early to call.
Palazzo is on track to collect the most votes in a seven-candidate field, but fell significantly short of the majority needed to clinch the nomination, setting up a one-on-one race against one of his fellow candidates on June 28.
A military veteran, Palazzo was first elected during the tea party wave of 2010. But a report last year from the Office of Congressional Ethics last year found “substantial” evidence he used campaign and congressional funds for personal use, sent staff on personal errands and sought to wield his official power to help his brother reenlist in the Navy.
The report was taken up for review by the House Ethics Committee.
Palazzo has denied any wrongdoing, but his political vulnerabilities stretched beyond ethics concerns – and made him a prime target for a primary challenge from a number of well-known figures in the Gulf Coast district.
Despite railing against proxy-voting and joining a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trying to end the practice, Palazzo has frequently taken advantage of the option – leading to charges of hypocrisy from his primary rivals that had already pounced on old nickname coined by some early critics: “No-Show Palazzo.”
Palazzo didn’t help his own case when he skipped out of a candidate forum in May, citing "meetings dealing with national security,” only to post pictures online of him and his son eating at a local restaurant during the event.
Polls are closing across California
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza, Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo
It's 11 p.m. ET and polls are closing across California.
Here are some of the key races voters are weighing in on:
- Los Angeles mayor: Real estate developer Rick Caruso and US Rep. Karen Basshave emerged as the frontrunners in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti. Caruso has made crime and homelessness in the city a focus of his campaign. If no one wins the majority vote, the top two candidates will advance to a November runoff.
- San Francisco attorney general: District Attorney Chesa Boudin is facing a recall election. If a majority of voters support the recall, Mayor London Breed would appoint an interim district attorney.
- Senate: Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, whom California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed to now-Vice President Kamala Harris' seat last year, is running for a full term as well as in a special election for the remainder of Harris' term.
- 22nd Congressional District: There is a special general election to replace former GOP Rep. Devin Nunes. But, the person who wins won't hold the seat long. Because of redistricting, the 22nd district will cease to exist in its current form when the new Congress is sworn in next year.
- Other competitive House seats: California's new congressional map offers both Democrats and Republicans opportunities to pick up seats. Read more about the races to watch here.
CNN Projection: Weatherman Mark Ronchetti will win New Mexico Republican nomination for governor
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza
Republican Mark Ronchetti will win the New Mexico Republican nomination for governor, CNN projects.
Ronchetti, a former weatherman who was the Republican nominee for a US Senate seat in New Mexico in 2020, beat a field of three other contenders vying for the nomination, following the New Mexico Republican party’s pre-primary convention in February.
State Rep. Rebecca Dow, US Army veteran and financial advisor Gregory Zanetti and retired USAF reserve member and Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block also ran for the GOP nomination.
Ronchetti held a steady fundraising advantage over the other GOP candidates throughout the race, according to local news.
He will face incumbent Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in the November general election. Republicans view the race as an opportunity to pick up a governor’s seat in a key border state, where immigration is an important issue.
Lujan Grisham, for her part, became the first Democratic Latina to be elected governor in the US in 2018 and ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination this year.
The Republican Governor’s Association has slammed Lujan Grisham over her response to the situation at the US southern border as well as high inflation and Covid-19. Republicans have also attacked Lujan Grisham for controversy during her first term in office.
Ronchetti has prioritized border security and crime while running for the GOP nomination.
During his primary campaign, he criticized Lujan Grisham for her stance on the oil and gas industries as well as her spending practices as governor and response to inflation and crime.
CNN Projection: GOP Rep. Chris Smith wins renomination in New Jersey 4th Congressional District
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza
New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, the longest-serving member of the state delegation, will win the GOP nomination in the 4th Congressional District, CNN projects.
Smith, who was first elected in 1980, fended off an array of primary challengers, including conservative talk radio host Mike Crispi, who was endorsed by Trump allies such as Roger Stone and Rudy Guiliani, and former FBI agent Steve Gray. Both had sought to cast the veteran incumbent as too moderate
Smith was one of the few Republicans to vote for President Biden’s infrastructure bill. He is also the co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.
Progressives get brushed back in New Jersey
From CNN's Gregory Krieg
Progressives didn’t invest much in the New Jersey House primaries, but that didn’t mean they weren’t paying attention to Tuesday night’s results.
Results from the 10th Congressional District, where Imani Oakley, the former New Jersey Working Families legislative director, challenged Rep. Donald Payne Jr., were of particular interest. A strong showing from Oakley might have set the stage for another, better-funded and organized effort to oust Payne in two years.
But Payne, a five-term incumbent who took over the seat from his late father, raced out to an early lead and comfortably clinched the nomination.
A new PAC, Team Blue, co-chaired by Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Terri Sewell of Alabama and Cheri Bustos of Illinois, was also paying close attention. Before polls closed on Tuesday, they put out a statement reiterating their support for Payne – with a jab at the left for good measure.
“Rep. Payne, a proven progressive, is facing a primary challenge from the extreme left, mirroring the recent, failed effort to take down Rep. Shontel Brown in Ohio,” the co-chairs said.
Oakley, in a statement, ripped the party establishment in New Jersey's over what she described as “dirty tricks” and lamented the continued influence of “our state’s corrupt political machine,” but vowed to continue her fight.
Whether national progressives will be there to back her is another question. The larger local progressive organizations, including the New Jersey WFP, almost unanimously backed Payne.
Results from the Garden State’s 8th Congressional District, where Rep. Albio Spires retired to make way for Robert Menendez Jr., son of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, were also dispiriting for progressives. Menendez Jr. has never held office, but quickly secured key endorsements in a district that might have otherwise invited a competitive contest.
Menendez Jr. ultimately faced two other candidates, including progressive David Ocampo Garajales, who looks unlikely to crack 15% of the vote.
Signs of low turnout in California and New Jersey primaries present warning for Democrats
From CNN's Maeve Reston
Democrats faced fresh warning signs Tuesday night in two blue states at a moment when they are trying to get their base voters energized and primed for an intensely competitive election year.
In both California and New Jersey — states with key US House races that could determine control of Congress — early metrics suggest that turnout has been low, reflecting the sour mood of voters about gas prices, rising crime and an uncertain economy.
Voter disengagement was most evident in California, where nearly 22 million ballots were mailed out to every eligible voter. Only about 18% of ballots had been returned as of Tuesday even though they were mailed to voters weeks ago, according to ballot tracking data from the California-based firm Political Data Intelligence. This comes despite an array of competitive House races — where the top two vote-getters regardless of party will advance to the general election — and several marquee local contests, including the race for mayor in Los Angeles and an attempted recall of San Francisco's district attorney.
In New Jersey, few of the state's voters opted to cast their ballots in the three-day window for in-person early voting, but Secretary of State Tahesha Way noted in an interview with ABC News that the process is new, meaning it could take some time for voters to take advantage of it. Those early indicators, however, stand in sharp contrast with the high turnout during early voting in states like Georgia, where a more restrictive new voting law led activists to redouble their efforts to get voters to cast their ballots ahead of the primary.
The May calendar was dominated by big US Senate contests where former President Donald Trump's influence was repeatedly tested. But now the focus shifts to these competitive House races that will offer a window into how much voters intend to blame the party in power for their current unease about the state of the economy and the country.
Those dynamics are most apparent in California, where Democrats currently hold all the statewide offices and dominate the congressional delegation. The new map that was drawn by the state's nonpartisan redistricting commission last year yielded as many as ten competitive House races in California, where Democrats were bullish about the potential for pickups.
But Golden State voters are contending with the highest gas prices in the nation and unnerved by the spike in violent crime, as well as a crushing homelessness crisis that many say seems to be worsening, even though billions of dollars are flowing to build housing for those living on the streets. All those issues have surfaced in the close races in the state, emboldening Republicans who are advancing the notion that things are spiraling out of control.
Read more here.
CNN Projection: Mike Franken will win Iowa Democratic Senate primary
From CNN's Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo
Retired Navy Adm. Mike Franken will win Iowa's Senate Democratic primary, CNN projects, and is set to take on longtime Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley in the general election in November.
He was facing off against former Rep. Abby Finkenauer and Glenn Hurst.
Finkenauer had been a favorite to win the race. She served one term in Congress after being elected in 2018 and won a district former President Donald Trump carried in 2016. She became the second youngest women ever to be elected to Congress when she won at 29. She lost her reelection campaign to Ashley Hinson in 2020.
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in April that Finkenauer could appear on the 2022 primary ballot after a lower Iowa court said some of the signatures on her nominating petition should be ruled invalid.
The polls are closing in Montana
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza, Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo
It's 10 p.m. ET, and the polls are closing in Montana.
Montana is hosting two US House races for the first time in decades after the state gained a second seat in reapportionment following the 2020 census. The newly drawn district favors Republicans.
Ryan Zinke, the former interior secretary under former President Donald Trump, is running for that new seat, covering the western part of the state.
Former state Sen. Al Olszewski is staging the most serious challenge to Zinke’s bid but has raised just a fraction of the campaign cash haul that Zinke’s brought in.
CNN Projection: Kristi Noem will win South Dakota Republican governor primary
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza
Incumbent Gov. Kristi Noem will win the South Dakota Republican nomination for governor, CNN projects.
Noem fended off a primary challenge from state Rep. Steve Haugaard. She is seeking a second term leading a red state that backed former President Donald Trump by 26 points in 2020.
Noem, a forceful champion of Trump, has been talked about as a potential running mate for the former President if he were to run again in 2024 and is considered a potential 2024 presidential contender herself. She raised more than $800,000 ahead of the primary, according to campaign finance reports.
She has been outspoken on a number of issues, including Covid-19 restrictions and gun rights. Earlier this year, she accused President Joe Biden in a speech of projecting weakness on the world stage, saying he had been "wrong on every major foreign policy decision that he has been part of for almost 50 years" and charging that his leadership style has emboldened leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Though she has risen to the national spotlight, in South Dakota, Noem’s ambitions have been clouded by the controversy over a July 2020 meeting that she held with members of her staff, her daughter — who was applying to become a state-certified real estate appraiser at the time — and top state officials who oversaw that program.
Noem also previously hired her daughter Kennedy Noem in 2018 as a policy analyst as Kennedy was graduating from college.
CNN Projection: Sen. Chuck Grassley wins Iowa Republican Senate primary
From CNN staff
Sen. Chuck Grassley will win the Iowa Republican Senate primary, CNN projects.
Grassley is seeking an eighth term and with Sen. Pat Leahy’s retirement after this year, he will be the senior-most senator in 2023 regardless of whether the GOP takes control in the midterm or not.
If the GOP does take control in November, then he would likely be in line to once again be Senate president pro tempore. This means he would be third in the presidential line of succession behind the vice president and speaker.
Right now, Grassley sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee and holds several other influential committee spots. With reelection, Grassley would also become the eighth longest-serving senator of all time.
Former Iowa Rep. Abby Finkenauer is the highest-profile Democrat aiming to challenge Grassley in the fall. Though Iowa has trended more conservative in recent years and backed former President Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020. The Iowa Democratic Senate primary has not yet been projected
CNN Projection: Iowa makes history with all-female gubernatorial matchup
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza
For the first time in Iowa history, both Democrats and Republicans in the state will have women as their nominees for governor. Incumbent GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds and Democrat Deidre DeJear were unopposed in their primaries Tuesday and advanced to the November general election, CNN projects.
Reynolds was the state lieutenant governor when she was elevated to the governorship after Gov. Terry Branstad resigned to become US ambassador to China under President Donald Trump. Reynolds was elected to a full term in 2018. She attracted national attention earlier this year when she gave the GOP response to President Biden’s State of the Union address.
DeJear was the losing Democratic nominee for Iowa secretary of state in 2018.
Reynolds is the favorite to win in November in a state that has trended red in recent elections.
CNN Projection: These political legacies will prevail in New Jersey's House primaries
From CNN’s Paul LeBlanc
In two New Jersey districts, Tuesday’s House primaries were a family affair.
CNN projects that Robert Menendez Jr. — the son of Sen. Bob Menendez — will capture the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 8th District while Thomas Kean Jr. — the son of former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean — will win the GOP primary for New Jersey’s 7th District.
Both candidates enjoyed high name recognition and strong polling numbers throughout their respective primaries. Sen. Bob Menendez has represented New Jersey in the Senate for over 15 years and chairs the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The older Kean, meanwhile, served as New Jersey’s governor from 1982 to 1990. Kean’s grandfather, former US Rep. Robert Kean, also represented New Jersey in Congress for 20 years.
Menendez Jr. rebuffed questions about his father on the campaign trail, telling reporters it’s not something voters are concerned with and only describing his dad as a “trailblazing political leader” on his website without naming him.
Kean Jr.’s campaign website leans more into his family’s political legacy, stating, “Tom’s allegiance to public service has been inspired by the proud heritage of the Kean family,” with the younger Kean committed to “continuing a legacy of dedicated public service to New Jersey.”
Menendez Jr. is an attorney and serves as Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey while Kean Jr. served as minority leader of the New Jersey state Senate until January.
High gas prices and economic issues complicate congressional elections for Democrats in California
From CNN's Maeve Reston
It has been a year of difficult choices for families in California's 22nd Congressional District — a place Democrats have long eyed as one of their top pickup opportunities as they look to hold onto the US House in this fall's midterms. But as the Golden State contends with the highest gas prices in the nation, the financial pain felt by families is overshadowing every other issue as they weigh their choices in the primary election.
Yessenia Maldonado, a 46-year-old dental assistant and single mom of six, makes weekly calculations of what she must give up in exchange for one extra gallon of gas.
"Am I going to buy the milk for my kids or am I going to buy the gas to go to work? Because it's kind of the same price," she said during a recent grocery trip to Costco, adding that she now limits her drives to the essential trips.
Mary Conrad, 69, resorted to applying for food stamps as she tries to get by on her Social Security and disability checks.
"There's just not enough money, so I'm charging my credit cards to eat," Conrad said.
What this means for Democrats: Many people say they don't see anything happening in Washington to address their concerns. The frustration with the party in power is palpable, a foreboding sign for Democrats in districts like this one where the party had hoped their recruit, California state Assemblyman Rudy Salas, could unseat GOP Rep. David Valadao, who won his seat back in 2020 at the same time President Joe Biden was carrying it after losing it in 2018.
When the nonpartisan redistricting commission drew its final lines for the Golden State last year, Democrats viewed California as a treasure trove of opportunities with as many as eight to 10 competitive House races up and down the state.
To Democratic strategists, Valadao initially looked even more vulnerable because he had voted to impeach former President Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021, insurrection, which angered some GOP voters. But out of the six House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump and are running for reelection, Valadao is the only one the former President has not yet endorsed against.
Democrats will be closely watching to see how Salas finishes in the primary as they try to determine whether their party's voters are motivated to cast ballots in this sour economic climate.
With inflation showing no signs of abating — and gas prices in the state topping an average of $6.15 per gallon on Memorial Day — Democrats' success increasingly hinges on the ability of candidates like Salas to show frustrated voters that they understand the economic pain and are trying to address it.
Read more about how gas prices and economic issues are dominating congressional races.
CNN Projection: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will win New Mexico Democratic nomination for governor
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza
Incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will win the New Mexico Democratic nomination for governor, CNN projects.
Lujan Grisham, who became the first Democratic Latina to be elected governor in the United States in 2018, ran unopposed for the nomination.
After serving as the secretary of health under New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Lujan Grisham was elected to Congress in 2012. During her time on Capitol Hill, she chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. She then opted to run for governor in 2018, when she easily defeated Republican Steve Pearce.
Republicans are looking at the general election as an opportunity to pick up a governor’s seat in a key border state, where immigration is an important issue. CNN has not yet projected in the Republican primary.
The Republican Governors Association has slammed Lujan Grisham over her response to the situation at the Southern US border as well as high inflation and Covid-19. Republicans have also attacked Lujan Grisham for controversy during his first term in office. Lujan Grisham and her gubernatorial campaign settled last year with a former staffer who accused the Democrat of sexually mistreating him during a meeting.
Lujan Grisham was once a leading contender to join the Biden administration as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, but the role ultimately went to Xavier Becerra, California's first Latino attorney general.
Ryan Zinke, Trump's former interior secretary, eyes a comeback in Montana
From CNN's Eric Bradner, Dan Merica and Gregory Krieg
Former Rep. Ryan Zinke, who left his seat for a scandal-plagued tenure as Trump's interior secretary, is attempting a political comeback in Montana — but is facing familiar questions about whether he spends most of his time there or in California.
Zinke, a former Navy SEAL and Montana state senator who was first elected to the House in 2014 and reelected in 2016 before resigning to join Trump's Cabinet, is seizing on an opening created when the 2020 census results handed the Treasure State a second congressional district. Rep. Matt Rosendale, who holds the state's one at-large district seat, is running for reelection in the newly created 2nd District, while Zinke campaigns in the 1st District.
But Zinke is facing criticism from rivals to his right over whether he was sufficiently supportive of Trump and the former President's effort to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.
He also faces questions about whether he lives in Montana after Politico reported last month that his wife had claimed a home in Santa Barbara, California, as her primary residence on tax records and other forms. Zinke's campaign responded to the report by saying he lives in Whitefish, Montana, and that his wife had inherited and kept her parents' former home in California, of which she is the sole owner.
Zinke faces four other candidates in Tuesday's primary, including former state Sen. Albert Olszewski and pastor Mary Todd.
Read about Montana's redistricting here.
CNN Projection: Rep. Jeff Van Drew captures GOP primary in New Jersey’s 2nd District
From CNN's Paul LeBlanc
Rep. Jeff Van Drew has won the GOP primary in New Jersey’s 2nd District, CNN projects, advancing to a general election bid for his third term in Congress.
Van Drew’s win is another affirmation of his abrupt departure from the Democratic party in 2019. At the time, Van Drew cited his discomfort with impeaching then-President Donald Trump, though detractors cast the switch as a more craven political calculation to stay in power.
That decision culminated in an Oval Office photo-op with Trump, where Van Drew pledged his "undying support" to the then-President. “I think they were very kind, very gracious, very nice, very supportive,” Van Drew said at the time about the Republican welcome to his change in affiliation. “And I appreciated that.”
Van Drew’s South Jersey seat became slightly more Republican in redistricting. While Trump carried it by 3 points in 2020, he would have carried the redrawn seat by 5 points.
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Polls are closing across New Mexico, Iowa and South Dakota. Here are the key races to know in each state.
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza, Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo
It's 9 p.m. ET, and polls are closing in New Mexico, Iowa and across South Dakota.
Here are the key races to know in each state:
In New Mexico, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham faces her first gubernatorial reelection campaign. Five Republicans are running to go up against her in the fall. Election officials can start processing and counting mail ballots before election day, so the first results released will likely be early votes.
In Iowa, former US Rep. Abby Finkenauer faces retired Navy Vice Adm. Mike Franken and Minden City Council Member Glenn Hurst in the Democratic primary to take on Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in November. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Democrat Deidre DeJear, who ran for Iowa secretary of state in 2018, are running unopposed in their gubernatorial primaries. And three of the state's four US House members face competitive races this fall.
In South Dakota, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, a potential 2024 presidential contender, is running for reelection in the reliably red state. She faces a primary challenge from state Rep. Steven Haugaard, a former state House speaker.
Voters saw a lot of familiar names on the ballot in New Jersey's primary races
From CNN's Eric Bradner, Dan Merica and Gregory Krieg
The candidates might be new, but the names are not.
New Jersey is home to some of the most powerful political machines in the country and, though a few have been rattled in recent election cycles, their strength is expected to be on display again this year.
In northern Jersey's 8th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Albio Sires' retirement announcement did not trigger a rush of candidates to the safe blue district across the Hudson River from New York City. Instead, Sires and other local leaders quickly endorsed Robert Menendez Jr., son of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez. The younger Menendez has vastly outraised and outspent the two other candidates, David Ocampo Grajales and Ane Roseborough-Eberhard.
Nearby, in the heavily Democratic 10th Congressional District, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. is a strong favorite to win the nomination again despite a spirited challenge from Imani Oakley, the former New Jersey Working Families legislative director.
Oakley's campaign was dealt a blow during a redistricting process that helped consolidate Payne's base. Akil Khalfani, director of the Africana Institute at Essex County College, is also in the race. He ran as an independent in the 2020 election but won barely 1% of the vote.
On the Republican side, the big race was in central Jersey's 7th Congressional District. There, CNN projects Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski will defeat former state Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean Jr., son of former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean. Malinowski also narrowly defeated Kean Jr. in 2020.
CNN Projection: Rep. Tom Malinowski will win New Jersey Democratic primary
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza and Andrew Menezes
Rep. Tom Malinowski will win the Democratic primary in New Jersey's 7th District, CNN projects.
Malinowski narrowly won a second term in 2020 from an ancestrally Republican Central Jersey district that Biden carried by 10 points.
His GOP opponent in that race, Tom Kean Jr., the son of a popular former governor, is back for a rematch, with much-improved prospects in a swing seat that became more Republican in redistricting -- Biden would have carried the new version by 4 points. Malinowski is also facing an ongoing congressional ethics investigation over allegations that he failed to properly disclose stock transactions.
Kean, a former state Senate minority leader, is viewed as the favorite in the GOP primary, which also includes pastor and 2021 gubernatorial candidate Phil Rizzo, state Assemblyman Erik Peterson and businessman John Isemann.
Malinowski was first elected in 2018, unseating Republican Rep. Leonard Lance by 5 points as Democrats flipped four seats in the Garden State amid that year’s blue wave. He held on to his seat two years later, beating Kean by just over a point.
Karen Bass closed out the LA mayoral primary as a joyful warrior but vastly outspent
From CNN's Maeve Reston in Los Angeles
The spending in the Los Angeles mayor’s race to replace term-limited Mayor Eric Garcetti has been astronomical by any measure.
Real estate developer Rick Caruso, a billionaire and former Republican who switched his registration to Democrat earlier this year, has spent at least $40 million on his bid, according to the latest tallies posted by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission – with much of that money coming from loans to his campaign.
One-time frontrunner Karen Bass, a six-term Democratic Congresswoman who was vetted as a potential vice presidential candidate for President Biden, had spent less than $3.3 million by comparison at the time of that last June 1 report.
Despite that massive financial imbalance, polls still show a close race between the two that is all but certain to head to a runoff after all the ballots are counted in Tuesday’s primary.
Bass entered this final stretch adopting the stance of a joyful warrior. Dressed in a red suit after greeting voters at church Sunday morning, she spent the day on a final tour of LA – from South Central to the city’s West side – in a red double decker bus, dancing to the likes of Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston as she waved to drivers and people on the sidewalk from the open-air upper deck.
At one point, she belted out the words to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” alongside labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, who had joined the tour during a stop in Boyle Heights.
Shimmying to the music alongside Bass was former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a close friend and ally who has known Bass since the 1970s. In aviators and black slim-fit jeans, he was up on his feet (getting in the groove) so often while the bus was in motion that he almost got clocked by traffic light and then a tree branch. And at one point, he ducked out of the way of a power line as the bus made its way from South LA over to the Eastside.
“Mr. Mayor, please stay seated,” one aide implored.
Rallying the canvassers she met at numerous stops, Bass urged them not to be daunted by Caruso’s spending.
“I don’t care how much money you spend, it’s the power of the people that wins!” she said through a megaphone
Villaraigosa sought to amplify that message throughout the day with a simple refrain: “LA is not for sale.”
Watch CNN's Kyung Lah reporting on LA's mayoral race and where things stand in voting:
Polls are closing in New Jersey and Mississippi
From CNN's Rachel Janfaza, Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo
It's 8 p.m. ET, and polls are closing in New Jersey and Mississippi.
Mississippi held primaries for its four congressional seats, but no statewide races were on the ballot this year. Notably, Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo, who is under a congressional ethics investigation, faces a competitive GOP race.
All four of Mississippi's representatives are running for reelection. Candidates in the state must win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.
In New Jersey, voters are deciding on who will fill its 12 US House seats. No statewide races were on the ballot.
Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski is vulnerable in the 7th Congressional District after his seat became more Republican in redistricting. And Rob Menendez, a Port Authority commissioner and the son of Sen. Bob Menendez, is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Albio Sires in the 8th District.
New Jersey voters can register in either the Democratic or Republican parties, and then voters can only participate in their affiliated party’s primaries.
Polls will close soon in key states
From CNN's Maeve Reston
It is 7:30 p.m. ET, and polls will start closing soon in New Jersey and Mississippi.
Voters in these two states and in California, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota are casting ballots as the focus shifts from the big US Senate contests that dominated the May calendar — where former President Donald Trump's influence was repeatedly tested — to competitive House races that will offer a window into how much voters intend to blame the party in power for their current unease about the state of the economy and the country.
Those dynamics are most apparent in California, an overwhelmingly blue state where Democrats currently hold all the statewide offices and dominate the congressional delegation. The new map that was drawn by the state's nonpartisan redistricting commission last year yielded as many as ten competitive House races in California, where Democrats were bullish about the potential for pickups.
But Golden State voters are contending with the highest gas prices in the nation and unnerved by the spike in violent crime, as well as a crushing homelessness crisis that many say seems to be worsening, even though billions of dollars are flowing to build housing for those living on the streets. All those issues have surfaced in the close races here, emboldening Republicans who are advancing the notion that things are spiraling out of control. Under California's "top-two" system, the two candidates who receive the most votes, regardless of party, will advance to the November ballot regardless of party.
The primary elections taking place coast to coast Tuesday will serve as a barometer of the electorate's mood as Democrats confront frustration over soaring gas and grocery prices, rising crime and homelessness — issues that have complicated the party's hopes of maintaining control of the US House in November.
Read more about today's primaries here.
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