California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New Jersey and South Dakota are set to hold primaries on Tuesday. In California, the top two, regardless of party, will run in the November general election; parties from other states will select their candidates for the middle legislatures.
Former Republican billionaire versus progressive Democrat in Los Angeles Liberal
Can a former Republican real estate developer take advantage during his years of private power in Los Angeles to become the next mayor of the Liberal bulwark?
That’s the question at stake in Southern California on Tuesday, where billionaire Rick Caruso offers MP Karen Bass a big challenge in her bid to be mayor of Los Angeles.
Caruso has poured millions of his own fortune into the race, pledged to tackle the city’s widespread homelessness situation, fight corruption and tackle the city’s crime rate by increasing the size of the police force. In a television ad, the former Republican said he was running “because the city we love is in a state of emergency,” citing “homelessness” and “people living in fear for their safety.” “.
Bass, a longtime congresswoman and former member of the California State Assembly, highlights many of the same issues, such as crime and homelessness, but with a more progressive message and promotes their connection. with the city. If she became mayor of Los Angeles, she would be the first woman to hold office.
Chances are this is only the first time Caruso and Bass have faced each other. If no candidate in the 12-person field gets 50% of the vote, the top two finishers in the race will advance to a second round in November.
The San Francisco District Attorney is at risk of being fired
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was fired in 2019 for concerns about police misconduct, criminal justice reform and mass imprisonment, a high point for the movement to choose more progressive prosecutors.
Three years, and a pandemic, then, the winds have shifted so dramatically against the progressive prosecutor and his lax approach to certain types of crime that he faces a retreat.
Boudin’s effort and time in office are inseparable from the coronavirus pandemic, which coincided with rising property crime rates in San Francisco. The recall refers to both sentiment among San Francisco residents and crime rates: homelessness remains a persistent problem in the city, as residents report feeling uncomfortable in large commercial areas due to drug use. and crime.
Boudin wanted to fight the effort by calling it a natural reaction to the election of a progressive prosecutor, linking the effort to Republicans and police unions. But while Republican money helps the effort, the push to remember Boudin was initially backed by Democrats.
House Republicans face challenges from the right
On the map of Tuesday’s primaries, House Republicans face challengers who have questioned his conservative good faith and loyalty to Trump.
In California, Rep. David Valadao, one of 10 Republicans in support of Trump’s 2021 ouster, faces the challenge of Republican Chris Mathys, who has campaigned as a staunch supporter of Trump and voted for Valadao. his main argument against the holder.
In South Dakota, a trio of statewide elected Republicans, Gov. Kristi Noem, Sen. John Thune and Rep. Dusty Johnson, are facing primaries from the right. The most serious challenge seems to be the effort of state Representative Taffy Howard to oust Johnson. He has accepted Trump’s lies about the results of the 2020 election and criticized Johnson for voting to certify the votes of the Electoral College.
And in New Jersey, Rep. Chris Smith, who was first elected in 1980, faces Conservative radio presenter Mike Crispi and former FBI agent Steve Gray, who described the veteran incumbent as to moderate mass.
California’s “orange curtain” is once again trending toward Republicans
In 2018, Orange County offered Democrats what it had previously offered millions of people: endless opportunities and an important promise. The party seized anti-Republican sentiments and turned the historically Republican area, politically known as the California Orange Curtain, into a Democratic stronghold, winning all six seats in the county Congress that year.
But times have changed.
In 2020, Republicans regained two seats in Orange County – Michelle Steel and Young Kim defeated Democratic incumbents to reverse two seats – and the party hopes to win at least two more seats in the Orange County Congress this year. year, which could be a historically bad year for Democrats.
The change shows how quickly the political landscape of an area can change. In just four years, Democrats have recently gone from dominating Orange County to being severely threatened.
A change of guard in New Jersey? (Sort of.)
Candidates may be new, but names may not.
New Jersey is home to some of the most powerful political machines in the country, and while a few have been shaken in recent election cycles, their strength is expected to show again this year.
In the 8th District of the North Jersey Congress, the announcement of the retirement of Democratic MP Albio Sires did not trigger a race for candidates in the safe blue district across the Hudson River from New York City. Instead, Sires and other local leaders quickly backed Robert Menendez Jr., the son of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez. The young Menéndez has surpassed enormously and has surpassed the other two candidates, David Ocampo Grajales and Ane Roseborough-Eberhard.
Nearby, in the 10th district of Congress, a strong Democrat, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. is a strong favorite to win the nomination again despite a strong challenge from Imani Oakley, the former legislative director of working families in New Jersey. The Oakley campaign received a blow during a district redistribution process that helped consolidate Payne’s base. Akil Khalfani, director of the African Institute at Essex County College, is also involved in the race. He ran as an independent in the 2020 elections, but barely got 1% of the vote.
As for the Republican side, Tuesday’s big race is in the 7th Congressional District of Central Jersey, where former Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean Jr., son of former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, is the leader in a field full of people fighting for a general. election date with Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski, who narrowly defeated Kean Jr. in 2020. But Malinowski, who has faced ethical issues, will have a tough battle to win again after the seat was stripped of some Democratic strongholds during the redistricting.
The troubled Mississippi Republican faces the main challenge
Deputy Steven Palazzo, first elected to Congress during the 2010 tea party wave, faces six Republican primary opponents amid allegations that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on fundraising. campaign and Congress and used his position to assist his brother in the effort to re-enlist in the Navy. .
Among his rivals in the Gulf Coast District, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell and Hancock County businessman Clay Wagner are considered the most likely, if not defeated, Palazzo to send the race. to a second round on June 28th. Tuesday’s winner needs more than 50% of the vote to get the nomination. State Senator Brice Wiggins, Carl Boyanton, Kidron Peterson and Raymond Brooks are also in the running.
In addition to ethical controversies, Palazzo’s opponents have criticized him for his record of attending Congress. Despite publicly opposing the House delegation vote, he has made good use of the option, exercising it dozens of times even after joining a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy. Hairy, to try and stop her.
And in another potentially damaging episode, Palazzo made headlines last month when he withdrew from a candidate forum citing “national security meetings” and then posted an online photo with his son at a restaurant during the event.
The seat of the Central California Valley needs to be filled
Former Republican Congressman Devin Nunes’ next incumbent Congressman will be selected on Tuesday.
The seat was vacated when Nunes, the controversial MP who tried to help Trump avoid scrutinizing Russia’s turnout in the 2016 election, decided to leave Congress to become CEO of the media company. of Trump, Trump Media & Technology Group.
The seat, which includes much of California’s San Joaquin Valley, leans toward Republicans, and all indications are that Republican Connie Conway, the former minority leader in the California State Assembly, will win. the race. He finished well ahead of Democrat Lourin Hubbard in the April primary.
Zinke tries to come back from Montana
Former MP Ryan Zinke, who left his seat due to a scandal-ridden term as Trump’s secretary of the interior, is trying to return to Montana, but faces family questions about whether he will spend most of his term. his time there or in California.
Zinke, a former Montana State and Navy SEAL senator who was first elected to the House in 2014 and re-elected in 2016 before resigning to join Trump’s cabinet, is taking advantage of an opening created when the results of the 2020 census gave Treasure State a second congressional district. Deputy Matt Rosendale, who holds the only seat in the state’s general district, is running for re-election in the newly created 2nd District, while Zinke is campaigning in the 1st District.
But Zinke faces criticism from rivals on his right over whether he gave enough support to Trump and the former president’s efforts to build a wall on the U.S.-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 his primary residence in tax records and other forms. Zinke’s campaign responded to the report by saying that he lives in Whitefish, Montana, and that his wife had inherited and preserved his parents’ old home in California, of which she is the sole owner.
Zinke faces four more candidates in Tuesday’s primary, including former state senator …