Primary elections in five states and DC kick off next Tuesday
The U.S. presidential primary season continues, with five states and the District of Columbia holding their elections on June 4.
Voters in D.C., Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota will head to the polls on Tuesday to cast their votes for statewide positions, including U.S. Senate and U.S. House races. The results of these congressional races can tip the balance of power on Capitol Hill, while the outcome of the gubernatorial election will strongly influence the political direction of each state.
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
District of Columbia
Elections in the nation’s capital city are somewhat unique: D.C. residents can only elect a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, two shadow Senators, and one shadow Representative whose role is to petition Congress for statehood.
Two Democrats, voting rights attorney Ankit Jain and former lobbyist Eugene Kinlow, hope to fill the seat of current shadow Senator Michael D. Brown after he announced plans to retire.
In the race for shadow Representative, Linda Gray, vice chair of the D.C. Democratic Party, is challenging incumbent Representative Oye Owolewa (D), who has held her seat since 2020. Ciprian Ivanof is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.
D.C. residents also elect a House delegate, another non-voting position. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, 86, is seeking her 18th term in office, and Kelly Mikel Williams is running against her for the Democratic nomination.
Iowa
The Hawkeye State’s four U.S. House of Representatives seats are up for re-election and two Republican incumbents, U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Randy Feenstra, will face primary opposition in June.
More: The 2024 Senate elections are fast approaching. These are the seats up for reelection.
In the 3rd Congressional District, freshman lawmaker Zach Nunn, a Republican, seeks a second term. Lanon Baccam and Melissa Vine, a small business owner and nonprofit leader, are facing off for the Democratic seat.
Iowa’s U.S. Senators, Republicans Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, are not up for re-election this year.
Montana
Montana’s Republican Governor, Greg Gianforte, is seeking re-election this year and is in a primary race on June 5 against Tanner Smith, a first-term Republican member of the state House. If he wins the primary, he will face off against Ryan Busse, a Democrat, in the general election.
A Democrat in a deeply red state, incumbent U.S. Senator Jon Tester is up for re-election and running against Michael Hummert, a U.S. Navy veteran based in Helena, for the Democratic nomination. After U.S. Rep. Matthew M. Rosendale dropped out, Tester’s likely opponent is GOP nominee Tim Sheehy, a businessman and veteran with a Trump endorsement.
Of Montana’s two U.S. House seats up for election, the 2nd Congressional District is proving highly competitive. A dozen candidates, eight Republicans, and four Democrats are trying to fill the seat held by two-term Republican Congressman Matt Rosendale, who is stepping down.
The primary race on June 4 will determine which Republican and Democrat will square off in November.
Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson, Bridger Aerospace CEO Tim Sheehy, and Charles Walking Child, an environmental contractor based in Helena, are competing to be the Republican U.S. Senate nominee. A handful of candidates are also running as independents.
The state will also hold elections for the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, among other positions.
New Jersey
The Garden State’s ballots will have some noticeable changes this year due to a federal lawsuit filed by Democratic U.S. Representative Andy Kim, who is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. The party’s primary ballots will use the office-block style used in all 49 other states instead of the county-line style used in New Jersey for decades.
Kim is aiming to unseat Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who has been in office since 2006. The New Jersey politician is currently on trial facing federal bribery and corruption charges, with allegations that he agreed to help Egypt’s government with weapons sales and financing in exchange for a middleman’s help to get his then-girlfriend, now-wife, a well-paying job.
Kim will face activist Lawrence Hamm and labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina for the Democratic primary.
More: Bob Menendez: New Jersey Senator's federal bribery trial explained
Four candidates are vying for the Republican ticket, including Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner. However, the odds of a Republican being elected seem slim, as the last Republican candidate elected to the U.S. Senate was in 1972.
New Mexico
In New Mexico’s 2024 U.S. Senate elections, incumbent Democrat Martin Heinrich, who has been in office since 2013, is up for re-election. Though he will run unopposed in the Democratic state primary, he will face off against Republican Nella Domenici in November.
Democratic U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury is running for re-election in the 1st Congressional District, a Democratic-leaning district that represents Albuquerque and central New Mexico. Steve Jones, a retired accountant, and Louie Sanchez, a healthcare salesman and gun range owner, will face off for the Republican nomination in June.
In New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, former congresswoman Yvette Herrell, a Republican, is trying to regain her seat from incumbent Democrat Gabe Vasquez, a first-term lawmaker who unseated Herrell in 2022. Neither is currently facing a primary opponent.
South Dakota
The Mount Rushmore State’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican Dusty Johnson, is running unopposed in the Republican primary on Tuesday. However, in the November general election, he will face off against Democrat Sheryl Johnson, a retired businesswoman and former Sioux Falls School District employee. Johnson announced her candidacy in March.
Maya Homan is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY who focuses on Georgia politics. She is @MayaHoman on X, formerly Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: 2024 Primary preview: House, Senate races to watch on June 4
