Tuesday is primary day in Mississippi. The GOP primary for Lieutenant Governor looks like the most interesting race we're following. Overview and results below.
Ohio Issue 1: Separately, voters in Ohio will vote on an amendment to the State Constitution. It is drawing a lot of attention. See our separate article for more information and live results.
Mississippi Primary
Polls close at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. In primaries where no candidate gets a majority, the top two finishers will have a runoff on August 29.
Winners will advance to the November 7 general election.
This past Thursday, Republican Rep. Dan Bishop (NC-08) announced he was running for North Carolina Attorney General in 2024. He becomes a credible candidate for a position held by Democrats for all but a few months of the past 120 years.11Republican James Carson, Jr. was appointed by fellow GOP Gov. James Holhouser, Jr. after Democrat Robert Morgan resigned in August, 1974. He lost a special election later that year to Democrat Rufus Edmisten.
That brings to 13 the number of current members not seeking reelection to the House next year. All but two are seeking another office, with ten running for U.S. Senate. Bishop is the only announced departure seeking a different office. Not included in the 13 is Utah District 2 Rep. Chris Stewart (R), who is resigning effective September 15.
Six Democratic and four Republican-held seats are considered 'safe' for the incumbent party in 2024. The other three seats, held by Democrats, have varying levels of competitiveness.
Tennessee is holding several Thursday races this week. Special elections will be held for four seats in the State House, while Nashville residents will vote on a new mayor.
Polls close at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.
Tennessee State House
Republicans hold a dominant 75-24 margin over Democrats in the Tennessee House of Representatives. There are no vacancies, as open seats are generally filled on an interim basis until a special election can be held.
That is the case with the four seats being contested Thursday. Three of these are special general elections; winners will serve out the remainder of the two-year term; the next regularly scheduled elections are in November, 2024. Party primaries are being held in District 51.
The first elections in August include three mayoral primaries and a state house special primary.
Mayoral Primaries
Three of the nation's 100 most populous cities will hold mayoral primaries on Tuesday.11City rankings are based on July 1, 2022 Census Bureau population estimates. They are for the city itself, not the associated metropolitan area.
The primaries are ordered by population, starting with the largest city, Tucson.
Cook Political Report is out with its initial electoral college race ratings for the 2024 presidential election. The forecaster projects an extremely narrow playing field, with the election likely to be decided by voters in just seven states. Read the analysis ($) from Amy Walter.
There are four toss-ups: Pennsylvania (19 electoral votes), Georgia (16), Arizona (11), and Wisconsin (10). These were the most closely-contested states in the 2020 presidential election, all narrowly won by Joe Biden after Donald Trump took them in 2016. North Carolina (16) starts as Leans Republican, while two states, Michigan (15) and Nevada (6) are Leans Democratic.
Taken together, safe and likely electoral votes are almost evenly split; Democrats hold a 226-219 edge in the ratings.
Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire said Wednesday that he will not run for reelection in 2024. The announcement comes less than two months after he opted out of a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
After much consideration, I have decided not to run for another term as Governor in 2024.
Be assured we will keep working and that the Granite State will continue to be our priority for the next 18 months. pic.twitter.com/VSNNd9BlaA
Sununu is in his fourth term as governor. New Hampshire - along with neighboring Vermont - are the only two states with gubernatorial terms of two years.
The decision transforms next year's gubernatorial race into one of the most competitive in the nation. Both Sabato's Crystal Ball and The Cook Political Report quickly moved their respective ratings to toss-up.
The first special election in about four weeks will fill a vacancy in the Wisconsin State Assembly.
District 24
Republicans hold a 63-35 partisan edge in the Wisconsin State Assembly. There is a single vacancy. Members serve two-year terms; the next regular elections are in 2024.
The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court ordered the state's congressional maps to be redrawn. Republicans, who will likely lose seats with a new map, are expected to take the case to the Court of Appeals, which is the state's highest court.
The ruling, if upheld, returns the process to the Independent Redistricting Commission, created out of a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2014. The Commission was unable to reach a consensus in its work after the 2020 Census, handing control to the Legislature. Democrats, with large majorities in both branches, passed a map that heavily favored the party.
Democrats held 19 of 27 seats after the 2020 election. Projections based on the enacted map said it could give Democrats as many as 22 of 26 seats.11The state lost a congressional seat based on the 2020 Census.