Tuesday primaries will clarify playing field
Sessions hoping to retake his Alabama Senate seat
WASHINGTON – Jeff Sessions spent his tenure as attorney general walking a fine line with President Donald Trump. He eventually tipped the balance, getting fired after recusing himself from the Justice Department’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Sessions has had to find a new balance as he attempts to recapture his old Alabama Senate seat Tuesday in a race that has largely revolved around the president. Trump campaigned against Sessions, drudging up their controversial history, calling him a “disaster” on Twitter and backing Sessions’ rival, political newcomer and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.
The race is one of several high-profile primary contests Tuesday that will help reveal both Trump’s grip on the nation’s politics and what the battlefield will look like in November.
Sessions faces an uphill road to retake the job he held for 20 years.
At the start of his campaign, he and his rivals all painted themselves as the most loyal to Trump. After Trump took to Twitter and brought up their rocky history, Sessions rebranded himself as the candidate Washington doesn’t want, arguing the people of Alabama know him and won’t be swayed by D.C. as they choose their next senator.
The feud between Sessions and Trump goes back to spring 2017 when Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. His recusal led to Robert Mueller being appointed special counsel and a nearly two-year probe that clouded Trump’s first years in office.
Whoever wins Tuesday will face Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in November.
An Auburn University Montgomery poll of 567 registered voters from July 2 to 9 found 47% of Republicans favored Tuberville, and 31% favored Sessions.
Tuberville topped Sessions barely in the primary in March, 33.4% to 31.6%. A candidate would have needed 50% of the primary vote to avoid a runoff.
The pandemic led the state’s governor to push the runoff date from March 31 to July 14. Sessions and Tuberville stayed off the campaign trail for about two months before resuming in-person campaigning in May.
In Texas, another bitter runoff race is set to be settled between two Democrats eager to challenge Republican Sen. John
Cornyn.
Democrats have long sought to pull Texas away from Republicans’ grip and argue the state is increasingly turning purple. Tuesday, voters will decide whether M.J. Hegar, an Air Force veteran who earned a Purple Heart, or Royce West, a longtime state lawmaker and former prosecutor, will take on Cornyn in November.
Hegar is the favorite in Tuesday’s runoff after no one won 50% of the vote in March. She carried 22% of the vote while West earned about 15%.
The campaign got contentious over the past few weeks as Hegar argued some of West’s attacks are linked to sexism. West accused Washington insiders of getting involved in the race – national organizations poured money into supporting Hegar – to oppose what could be the first African American to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.
In Maine, the Senate Democratic primary is less contentious but no less important: Voters will choose who will face Sen. Susan Collins, one of the most endangered senators this cycle.
Maine Speaker of the House Sara Gideon is the front-runner in the race but will have to fend off challenges from two more liberal candidates, lawyer Bre Kidman and activist Betsy Sweet. Gideon outraised her challengers and Collins, and polls have shown her leading Collins in a head-to-head matchup.
The Texas Senate Democratic primary isn’t the only race to watch in the Lone Star State. A number of contests will test the strength of Republicans while assessing Trump’s rule over the party.
Ronny Jackson, a former Navy admiral and Trump’s onetime nominee to head the Department of Veteran Affairs, will go head-to-head with lobbyist Josh Winegarner for the seat belonging to Rep. Mac Thornberry, who is retiring.
Winegarner is Thornberry’s handpicked candidate to succeed him, but Trump backed Jackson, who leads in fundraising.
Former Rep. Pete Sessions is attempting to return to Congress and faces Republican businesswoman Renee Swann over who will appear on the November ballot.
Sessions lost his seat in 2018 to Democrat Colin Allred and moved to the 17th Congressional District where Republican Rep. Bill Flores is retiring.
In Maine, Republicans will decide who will challenge Democratic freshmen Rep. Jared Golden, who flipped a long-held Republican seat in the state in 2018.
The race is a toss-up, and Republicans’ choice will affect their chances of retaking the seat. Three Republicans – Adrienne Bennett, a former press secretary for the former governor; Eric Brakey, a former state senator; and Dale Crafts, a former state representative – will face off.