In the penultimate primary of the midterm election season, voters go to the polls in three northeastern states on Tuesday.
As the political drama plays out this evening in Delaware, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, keep an eye on the following:
Hampshire, New
Republicans believed their best chance of regaining control of the upper house was to unseat Democrat Maggie Hassan, who barely won the New Hampshire Senate seat in 2016.
Don Bolduc, a retired army general who is the front-runner in the GOP primary, has claimed that the coronavirus vaccination has a microchip and supports former President Trump’s allegations of election fraud.
But Granite State Republicans who have been successful have tended to lean nearer the middle. The state Senate president and Bolduc’s closest competitor, Chuck Morse, has underlined that pitting Bolduc against Hassan would waste a chance to flip the seat.
Don Bolduc, a retired army general who promotes former President Trump’s charges of election fraud and has claimed that the coronavirus vaccination includes a microchip, is the front-runner in the GOP contest for New Hampshire’s Senate seat.
Bolduc has also said that the state’s Republican governor, Chris Sununu, is a “sympathiser for the Chinese Communist Party” and questioned if the FBI should be abolished in the United States.
Earlier this month, Bolduc had a meeting with Trump at his golf club in New Jersey, but no endorsement resulted from it.
Republicans are aiming to unseat Democratic Reps. Chris Pappas and Ann McLane Kuster in the House.
The front-runners in the primary for Pappas’ seat are Matt Mowers, who served in the State Department under Trump, and Karoline Leavitt, a 25-year-old who worked in the White House communications office.
GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise support Mowers, while Rep. Elise Stefanik’s former staffer Leavitt has the support of the third-ranking Republican.
For the position of New Hampshire Democrat Rep. Chris Pappas, Karoline Leavitt and Matt Mowers, both of whom served in the Trump administration, are engaged in a heated primary.
In both the primary and general election, Sununu is predicted to easily win.
Providence, RI
The governor’s primary in Rhode Island is the most important contest. Dan McKee, a Democrat who succeeded the previous governor as Lieutenant Governor, is running for a full term. Gina Raimondo resigned to become secretary of commerce.
Nellie Gorbea, the secretary of state for Rhode Island, and Helena Foulkes, a former CVS Health executive, are McKee’s opponents in the three-way primary. According to polls, any of the three contenders may win the contest.
Republicans have little chance of winning the seat back, but two newcomers to politics, Ashley Kalus and Jonathan Riccitelli, who runs a hotel and maintenance business and has a troubled criminal past under a different name, are running in the primary.
In the meanwhile, six candidates are battling in the Democratic primary for Rep. Jim Langevin’s seat. Seth Magaziner, the general treasurer of the state, is in charge. Allan Fung, a former mayor of Cranston, is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.
Delaware
Since there will be no candidates for governor or senator in Delaware, the election won’t be as intriguing. Democratic Lisa Blunt Rochester, who represents Delaware’s only at-large congressional district, is widely anticipated to easily win reelection.
The state auditor election is the only thing going on right now; Democrat Kathleen McGuiness, the incumbent, has been found guilty of official misconduct, conflict of interest, and arranging a contract to circumvent a procurement regulation, all of which are considered misdemeanours.
Although she is currently seeking reelection, competitor Lydia York, an attorney and accountant, is supported by the state Democratic Party.