Primary voters in seven states spanning both coasts headed to the polls on Tuesday night, marking the biggest primary night of 2022 so far.
Voters cast their ballots in California, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota, with some results still outstanding and other races too close to call as the night dragged into the early morning.
FULL COVERAGE OF THE 2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Here are the biggest results from last night’s primaries:
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin ousted
San Francisco’s far-left district attorney, Chesa Boudin, was voted out of office on Tuesday after facing a recall petition over his criminal justice platform that voters viewed as being too soft on crime.
Several networks called the race less than an hour after polls closed, with early returns showing 60% of voters approving the recall.
Boudin was removed from office after only 2 1/2 years, setting the stage for Democrats to confront their messaging on addressing rising crime rates before the midterm elections in November. The liberal district attorney had turned off voters through his experimental methods to reduce crime, including eliminating cash bail, vowing to hold police accountable, and reducing the number of people who are incarcerated.
Rep. Karen Bass faces billionaire Rick Caruso in Los Angeles mayoral runoff
Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) and billionaire businessman Rick Caruso will face off in a November runoff election to become the next mayor of Los Angeles after neither candidate exceeded the 50% threshold needed to secure the party nomination.
The race reflects an increasing intraparty division on handling crime, and a victory for Caruso, who has centered his campaign on being tough on crime, would mark a significant shift in the liberal city. However, the city’s rising rates of homelessness and violent crime have prompted Democratic voters to reconsider how they want their party to respond.
The race has also emerged as a test for Democrats to decide whether they want to reelect a representative who has spent almost 20 years in government or an outsider who has placed the city’s problems on career politicians.
Scandal-plagued Mississippi GOP Rep. Steven Palazzo to enter runoff
Scandal-plagued Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS) has been forced into a runoff election amid a campaign finance investigation.
Palazzo’s campaign found itself in hot water after a report from the Office of Congressional Ethics found the incumbent had used campaign funds for “personal use,” allegedly using the cash to repair a property that he was hoping to sell. The Republican decried the report as politically motivated.
The incumbent only garnered about 32% of the vote, forcing him into a runoff against either state Sen. Brice Wiggins or Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell on June 28.
Iowa gears up for competitive race between Zach Nunn and Rep. Cindy Axne
Iowa state Sen. Zach Nunn on Tuesday won the Republican nomination to face Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne in November, setting up a highly competitive race that could help determine which party takes control of Congress.
Nunn emerged from a three-way race on Tuesday in a high-profile election that Republicans view as a chance to challenge one of the most vulnerable Democratic seats in Congress. Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District has long been a toss-up, but recent redistricting has made Axne’s chance of reelection much more competitive.
Candidates emerge to compete for sprawling new California House seat
Republican Kevin Kiley and Democrat Kermit Jones emerged as the two candidates in California’s all-party primary for its 3rd Congressional District, setting up what is likely to be a competitive midterm election contest for one of the nation’s most sprawling House seats.
Recent redistricting in California left the Sacramento area as an open seat after the district was split in two and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), who held the seat, chose to run in the newly drawn 5th Congressional District instead. The race is likely to lean Republican, but Democrats view the district as more competitive with McClintock out of the running.
Devin Nunes’s former seat filled by former state Rep. Connie Conway
Former Republican state Rep. Connie Conway won a special election to fill former Rep. Devin Nunes’s seat in California’s 22nd Congressional District until January.
Conway’s short tenure will likely mark the last representative of the Republican stronghold in California’s Central Valley because the district will look radically different due to redistricting that will take effect in January 2023. Conway was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
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The former state lawmaker will not run for a full House term after her six-month term is up, noting the newly drawn boundaries didn’t leave a chance for Republicans to stay in power. The new 22nd District will lean Democratic by 13 points.
For the most up-to-date midterm election updates, click here to read more from the Washington Examiner.
