Tuesday Primaries in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin; Georgia Runoffs
By 270toWin Staff
August 11, 2020
Four states hold primaries Tuesday. In addition, there are some primary runoffs in Georgia. Overview and live results for some of the more interesting races are below, along with a link to all contested congressional and/or gubernatorial primaries in each state.
Polls Close (Eastern Time)
Your individual polling place may have different hours. Do not rely on this schedule to determine when to vote.
| 7:00 PM | Georgia, Vermont |
| 8:00 PM | Connecticut |
| 9:00 PM | Minnesota, Wisconsin |
Results by State
| Connecticut | Minnesota | Vermont | Wisconsin | Georgia (runoff) |
Connecticut
President: Just one week before the Democratic convention, the much-delayed presidential primary calendar concludes. Although both nominations have long been decided, there is a 'contested' primary in both parties.
House: Democrats control all five seats. All incumbents are seeking another term and are unopposed for renomination. Most analysts see these seats as safely Democratic in November.
There are two primaries on the GOP side. Use the link below for full results.
Minnesota
Senate: Democratic Sen. Tina Smith is seeking her first full term. She joined the Senate in January, 2018, appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton after the resignation of Al Franken (D). Smith then won a special election that November to complete the final two years of Franken's term.
Smith has drawn nominal primary opposition.
On the GOP side, the likely nominee is former Rep. Jason Lewis, who represented the state's 2nd congressional district for one term before being defeated by Democrat Angie Craig in 2018.
Smith is favored in the general election, although she's only averaging a six-point lead in limited polling thus far.
House: This is one of the most competitive states in the country. Half of the eight seats flipped in 2018, including the only two GOP gains in the nation (outside of a redistricted Pennsylvania seat). For more background, see this week's Road to 270 article by Drew Savicki.
The most interesting primaries of note are in Districts 5 and 7.
District 5: Freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has drawn a strong primary challenge from attorney Antone Melton-Meaux. Omar has received the endorsement of several high profile House colleagues, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the other three members of 'The Squad': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has endorsed Melton-Meaux. Both candidates have reported similar amounts of fundraising.
This Minneapolis-area district is the most Democratic in the state - Omar won by a 56 point margin in 2018. Whoever emerges as the nominee will be an overwhelming favorite in November.
District 7: This district occupies most of the western part of the state. Democratic incumbent Collin Peterson is seeking a 16th term. Peterson has held on as this mostly rural district has become increasingly conservative. Peterson's margins since 2012: 26%, 9%, 5%, 4%. Donald Trump won here by 31% over Hillary Clinton in 2016, by far the largest margin of any of the 30 Trump-won districts (<- scroll to bottom of page) represented by a Democrat.
in 2016 and 2018, Republicans nominated Air Force veteran Dave Hughes. He's back for a third try, along with several others, but the favorite this time looks to be former Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach. She has the endorsement of both President Trump and the state GOP.
Vermont
Governor: Vermont and neighboring New Hampshire are the only two states where governors face the voters every two years instead of four. Republican Gov. Phil Scott is seeking a third term. He's favored to win in November despite the deep blue lean of the state. The consensus rating is Likely Republican.
Scott faces a nominal primary challenge. There are four candidates on the Democratic side. The two frontrunners appear to be the state's Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and former Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe.
House: Rep. Peter Welch is seeking an 8th term in the state's at-large district. He's unopposed for renomination and heavily favored in November.
Wisconsin
House: There are five Republicans and three Democrats in the delegation. All are seeking another term, except the most senior member, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-5), who is retiring after over forty years in the House.
District 3: This district in the southwestern part of the state is the only one that is on the competitive radar in November. Incumbent Ron Kind won his 12th term by 19% in 2018. However, it is a district that Donald Trump won by nearly 5%. The current rating is Likely Democratic.
Kind has drawn a primary challenge from a progressive political newcomer, physician Mark Neumann. Kind has had far more fundraising success, and is expected to prevail. Two candidates are competing for the GOP nomination.
District 5: With Sensenbrenner's retirement in this district Trump won by 20%, the winner of Tuesday's primary will be a heavy favorite in November. That is expected to be Scott Fitzgerald, the Majority Leader of the state Senate.
Georgia (runoff)
There are four U.S. House primaries where no candidate got a majority of the vote during the June 9 primary. Of most interest are the GOP runoffs in Districts 9 and 14. These are both very (very) conservative districts in north Georgia, so the runoff winners here are almost certain to be the next members of Congress.
District 9: Rep. Doug Collins is not seeking a 5th term but instead running for U.S. Senate in the state's special election. The runoff features state Rep. Matt Gurtler and business owner Andrew Clyde. In the nine-candidate June primary, Gurtler finished with 21%, slightly more than Clyde's 18.5%.
District 14: Six-term incumbent Tom Graves is retiring. The June primary here also featured nine hopefuls, with businesswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene finishing first with 40% of the vote. Neurosurgeon John Cowan finished second with 21%. Greene is a controversial candidate, disavowed by some House GOP leaders for racist Facebook postings and support of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
There are also two Democratic runoffs, one in the aforementioned District 9. Coastal District 1 isn't quite as conservative as some other GOP strongholds in this state; Republican Buddy Carter won his 3rd term by 15% in 2018. However, at this point, most forecasters rate it as Safe Republican in November.
