Election News

The Georgia and Maine State Houses each have one vacancy to be filled by special election on Tuesday.

State House Special Elections

Georgia District 68 (Runoff)

Republicans hold a 101-78 partisan edge in the Georgia House of Representatives. There is a single vacancy. Members serve two-year terms; the next regular elections are in 2024.

District 68 is located in the southern part of the Atlanta area. Democrat Tish Naghise died in March. Five Democrats ran in the May 16 special election. None received a majority, necessitating Tuesday's runoff. The top two finishers, Mark Baker and Derrick Jackson, each received about 1/3 of the vote.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's redistricted congressional district map is in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling upheld an earlier District Court decision that essentially said the state needs to create a second majority minority district to better match the state's Black population of about 26%.

The Supreme Court had previously stayed the lower court ruling, allowing the existing map to be used for the 2022 midterm elections. Little changed from the map of the prior decade, the election again yielded a 6-1 delegation favoring Republicans.

There are similar court challenges to congressional maps in other Southern states, including Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina. That could yield several seats likely to favor Democrats.  

The Associated Press reports that "after a trio of new announcements this week, the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set." The question now is whether any of the nine notable candidates not named Donald Trump can keep him from his third consecutive GOP nomination.

The AP article goes on to say that "as of now, the former president is running in a field that features no fewer than nine high-profile challengers. They include Mike Pence, a former vice president; four current or former governors: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations and also a former South Carolina governor; U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina; biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; and conservative talk show host Larry Elder, an unsuccessful candidate for California governor.

Polling

Tuesday is primary day in New Jersey, one of just four states with legislative elections this year. The others - Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia - will hold their primaries in the weeks ahead; see the election calendar at the bottom of this article.

Separately, residents of Denver will elect a mayor in Tuesday's runoff election.

New Jersey Primary

Polls close at 8:00 PM. Winners will advance to the November 7 general election.

State Senate

Democrats hold a comfortable 25-15 majority in the New Jersey State Senate. The chamber uses a 2-4-4 election cycle. In that system, the first election after redistricting is for a two-year term, with the two subsequent elections for a four-year term.  Applying that to this decade, the 2021 Senate elections were for a two-year term, while those this year and in 2027 will be for a four-year term.

The Salt Lake Tribune has learned that Utah Rep. Chris Stewart (R) plans to resign from Congress in the near future, possibly this week. The departure is expected to be for personal reasons, reportedly to address family health issues. 

Stewart is in his 6th term representing Utah's 2nd congressional district, which covers much of the western and southern part of the state. Like all four of the state's safely Republican districts after 2021 redistricting, it also includes a portion of the Salt Lake City area.

Stewart was reelected by a 26% margin in 2022.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has joined the 2024 presidential race. His campaign filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday afternoon, to be followed by an official announcement during a Twitter Spaces audio livestream interview at 6:00 PM Eastern Time.

To listen to the livestream, visit Twitter.com on a web browser or open the Twitter app on your phone.

DeSantis released this video late Wednesday afternoon.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott formally launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Monday. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, made his announcement in North Charleston, after an introduction by the second-highest-ranking Senate Republican, John Thune of South Dakota, who has endorsed him.  

Scott is attempting a more traditional conservative, positive message, a contrast to the current frontrunner, former President Donald Trump. Whether that resonates with the GOP base, particularly in an increasingly crowded field, remains to be seen.

According to the New York Times, "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, are expected to enter the race in the coming days. Chris Sununu, the popular Republican governor of New Hampshire, hinted over the weekend that he was likely to throw his hat in the ring as well, scrambling the battle for the state with the first Republican primary. Mike Pence, Mr. Trump’s former vice president, is still mulling a run."

Democratic Sen. Tom Carper said Monday that he will retire at the end of this term. Carper was first elected in 2000, and won his fourth term by a 22% margin in 2018.

Tune in to hear my announcement live: https://t.co/4p83TdQYhf

— Tom Carper (@TomCarperforDE) May 22, 2023

The move opens up a seat likely to remain in Democratic hands. The early favorite, if she chooses to run, will be Lisa Blunt Rochester, the state's at-large U.S. Representative. Answering a question following his prepared remarks, Carper said that he supports Rochester to succeed him.

Carper is the fifth Senator to pass on reelection in 2024, joining Mike Braun (R-IN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Only Braun is seeking another office, running for governor of Indiana. Only the Michigan seat is seen as competitive. 

Overall, 34 Senate seats are up in 2024. The map favors Republicans, as Democrats will be defending 23 seats, including all seven currently seen as the highly competitive. The GOP can regain control with a net gain of two seats or by winning the 2024 presidential election along with a net gain of one seat.

Kentucky and Pennsylvania hold statewide primaries on Tuesday. In this off-year, there's only a few races we're tracking. There are also several mayoral and legislative special elections.

Kentucky Primary

Polls close at 6:00 PM local time. That's 6:00 PM Eastern, except 7:00 PM Eastern for areas observing Central Time.

Governor

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is seeking a second term. While he has the benefit of incumbency, a competitive general election is likely in this deep red state. That has drawn a large field of Republicans seeking to challenge him.

Texas Mayoral Elections

Three of the nation's 15 most populous cities, along with another three in the top 100 - all in Texas - will elect a mayor on Saturday.^{1 1}City rankings are based on July 1, 2021 Census Bureau population estimates. They are for the city itself, not the associated metropolitan area.

All the elections are officially nonpartisan. However, the affiliation of each incumbent, if known, is displayed. All six incumbents are expected to be reelected.

The six cities are ordered by population, starting with the largest - San Antonio. Results will be available after the polls close at 7:00 PM Central Time (8:00 PM Eastern).