Tuesday’s primaries in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut and Vermont will determine matchups in a series of competitive races that will be key to the House and Senate battles in November.
While this week’s primaries lack drama, they will officially kick off the general election in four states, most notably Wisconsin, a presidential battleground that will be central to Democrats’ efforts to retain their narrow Senate majority.
Business man Eric HovdeFavored by former President Donald Trump, she is expected to advance from Wisconsin’s Republican primary to face Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin because she faces no high-profile challengers.
Three other senators up for re-election — Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar, Connecticut’s Chris Murphy and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders — will also learn who their GOP challengers will be Tuesday, but their races are not expected to be competitive this fall.
And the Republicans They were looking to accommodate Minnesota Beating Klobuchar in the presidential race would be a tall order, as he has won each of his last three races by 20 percent or more. Former NBA player Royce White led the GOP field in fundraising and received the party’s statewide endorsement in the primary, but he faced criticism regarding unpaid child support and past inflammatory comments.
Tuesday’s primaries will also determine matchups for some prominent House seats, with Republicans looking to defend their slim majority.
GOP Reps. Derrick Van Orden and Wisconsin’s Bryan Steil could face competitive races in November. While Steil is expected to face former Democratic Rep. Peter Barca, many Democrats are running against Van Orden. Top fundraisers in the Democratic primary include nonprofit leader Rebecca Cook, state Rep. Katrina Shankland and activist Eric Wilson.
Two potentially vulnerable House Democrats — Minnesota’s Angie Craig and Connecticut’s Jahana Hayes — will also find out which Republican they will face in Tuesday’s general election. Hayes is expected to seek a rematch against former state Sen. George Logan, whom he defeated by just one point in 2022 in Connecticut’s 5th District.
Trump endorsed Marine veteran Joe Teirab in the GOP primary to challenge Craig in Minnesota’s 2nd District. Teirab is the first after the Republican primary candidates his main rival dropped out last month.
Minnesota is on defense
Both House members are looking to fend off their primary opponents on Tuesday.
Democratic-Republican Ilhan Omar wants to face multiple challengers in the dark blue 5th District, which includes Minneapolis. His best-funded challenger is Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels, who he defeated by just 2 points in 2022.
This time, Omar far outpaced Samuels, spending more than $6.1 million on the race to Samuels’ $1.2 million as of July 24, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.
Unlike other members of the “caucus” of progressive lawmakers who lost primaries this year, Omar did not have to face an onslaught of attack ads from outside groups. The United Democratic Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group, has not entered Omar’s race after spending millions trying to defeat Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman New York and Cory Bush Missouri State.
In Minnesota’s deep red 7th District, GOP Rep. Michelle Fischbach could not secure the approval of the participating state at the April convention, but he He emphasizes that he receives support from Trump on the air. Fischbach also got an on-air boost from America Leads Inc., an outside group that has backed other House Republicans in recent primaries.
Fischbach’s main challenger is businessman Steve Boyd, who said in an April statement that the party’s failure to win the endorsement “shows that Americans are fed up with the establishment in Washington.”
A special election in northeastern Wisconsin
There are two primary elections for Wisconsin’s 8th District on Tuesday’s ballot. One is a race to serve a two-year term starting in 2025, and the other is a race to fill the final months of Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher’s term after he resigns in April.
Republicans are expected to hold the seat in the fall — Gallagher won multiple times during his tenure, and Democrats haven’t represented the Green Bay Packers’ district in 14 years.
Three candidates are running in both the special and regular primary elections. Trump and many of his allies have backed Tony Wied, the Republican Party’s top fundraiser.
Both of Wied’s opponents have legislative experience: state Sen. André Jacque and former state Senate President Roger Roth.
Only a Democrat, OB-GYN Christine Lyerlyis on the primary ballot.
Will Wisconsin voters limit Evers’ power?
Wisconsin’s ballot also includes two constitutional amendments that put Democratic Gov. Tony Evers at odds with the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The first ballot measure would declare the Legislature has “sole authority” to determine how state dollars are appropriated, while the second would prevent the governor from appropriating federal dollars “without the approval of the Legislature.”
Republican lawmakers, who voted to add the questions to the preliminary ballotframe the amendments as a necessary legislative check on the authority of any governor. But Democrats oppose the effort, arguing it’s wrong to limit the governor in this way. especially in an emergency.