Prominent election denier loses primary bid
One of the nation's most prominent election deniers lost her bid for the GOP nomination for Colorado's top elections post on Tuesday.
Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters lost to Pam Anderson, a former suburban Denver clerk who criticized the election lies of former President Donald Trump that Peters repeated. Peters has been indicted on felony charges for her role in a break-in of her county's election system searching for evidence of the conspiracy theory Trump blamed for his 2020 election loss.
Also on Tuesday, Illinois Republicans chose a supporter of an abortion ban with no exceptions as their gubernatorial candidate on Tuesday, as the first primary elections since the Supreme Court revoked the constitutional right for women to obtain an abortion got underway.
State senator and farmer Darren Bailey gained former President Donald Trump's endorsement and more than $16 million in support from Democrats, who pushed conservatives to select him over Richard Irvin, the first Black mayor of Aurora, the state's second largest city. Irvin was seen as a far more formidable challenger to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and was backed heavily by Republican donors. But Republican primary voters had other ideas.
The Democratic push to elevate Bailey is being replicated in another state voting Tuesday, Colorado. There, Democrats spent more than $4 million to boost the U.S. Senate campaign of State Rep. Ron Hanks, who favors an abortion ban without exceptions, in order to deny the GOP nomination to Joe O'Dea, who backs abortion rights in most circumstances. O'Dea, who supports a late term abortion ban but said he'd support federal legislation codifying the right to abortion early in pregnancy, is seen as a far stronger candidate against the incumbent, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet.
Abortion became an even more fraught issue in Tuesday's primaries across seven states after the Supreme Court last week revoked a woman's constitutional right to the procedure. Political operatives predict more electoral bank shots like the one Democrats executed in Illinois as Republicans feel emboldened by the repeal of the 1973 ruling in Roe v Wade.
The strategy carries risks, especially if the magnitude of the GOP's expected gains this fall becomes so significant that Democrats lose in states like Illinois and Colorado, which have become strongholds for the party. But at a moment when Democrats are confronting voter frustration over inflation and rising gas prices, the focus on abortion may be their best hope.
Beyond Colorado and Illinois, elections are being held in Oklahoma, Utah, New York, Nebraska, Mississippi and South Carolina. Tuesday marks the final round of multistate primary nights until August, when closely watched races for governor and U.S. Senate will unfold in Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Missouri and other states
In Oklahoma, one of the nation's most conservative senators, James Lankford, won his primary challenge from evangelical pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, amid conservative anger that Lankford hasn't supported Trump's election claims.
In Utah, two Republican critics of Trump are targeting Sen. Mike Lee, accusing the two-term senator of being too preoccupied with winning the former president's favor and helping him try to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In Mississippi, Rep. Michael Guest, a Republican who bucked Trump to vote for an independent Jan. 6 commission, faces a challenge from Michael Cassidy.
Also in Colorado, firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert easily defeated her primary challenger, moderate State Sen. Don Coram.
Other GOP opportunities in the state come in the newly created congressional swing seat north of Denver, where four Republican candidates are competing to face state Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the only Democrat running in the primary.
Other than the governor's race primary, Illinois also features two, rare incumbent vs. incumbent congressional primaries as a result of House districts being redrawn during last year's redistricting. Democratic Reps. Sean Casten and Marie Newman will compete in a Chicago-area seat. And GOP Rep. Rodney Davis, one of the last moderates in the Republican caucus, faces Trump-backed Rep. Mary Miller, who at a rally with the former president this weekend described the Supreme Court decision as “a victory for white life.”
In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who became the state's chief executive last fall when Andrew Cuomo resigned during a sexual harassment scandal, is fighting off primary challenges from the left and center. New York City's elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams, contends Hochul hasn't been active enough on progressive issues while Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi blasts her for being too liberal on crime.
On the Republican side, Rep. Lee Zeldin is the frontrunner in a crowded gubernatorial primary field that includes Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York mayor and Trump confidant Rudolph Giuliani. Trump has not made an endorsement in the race.