The month of August was a busy one where primary elections were held in 16 states, including Arizona, Tennessee, and Florida.
In Arizona, the GOP primary was one of the more interesting races to watch considering it was like a WWE, triple-threat, no-holds-barred match, where you had three candidates trying to out-Trump one another. In one corner you had the establishment favorite Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., in another corner, you had Dr. Kelli Ward, and then finally, you had former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
McSally ended up winning out, getting more than 50 percent of the vote. And after Arizona not having a female senator in the state’s history, they’re guaranteed to get one after Democratic candidate Rep. Kyrsten Sinema won her primary. Sinema could also be the first bisexual woman to serve in the Senate.
They’re vying for retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake’s seat, and many analysts predict the general election will come down to the wire.
In Tennessee, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., unsurprisingly won her primary race for Sen. Bob Corker’s seat, defeating Aaron Pettigrew by a 6-to-1 margin, 610,883 to 112,231 votes. Her general election opponent is former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who is actually quite successful in the deep-red state, running as a moderate Democrat.
Experts consider the race to be a toss-up, but if there’s any indication from the primary race, Republicans have a 2-to-1 voter advantage.
In the Florida Senate race, there was little doubt that Republican Gov. Rick Scott would face off against Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in the general. Polls have gone back and forth between the two, but as of the last month, Scott has been pulling ahead.
In the gubernatorial race to replace Scott, Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., defeated Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the Republican primary.
But the biggest shock was Andrew Gillum, the 39-year-old mayor of Tallahassee who could become the state’s first African-American governor. He has the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., winning a crowded Democratic primary where he was polling fourth. He ended up winning over 34 percent of the vote through unorthodox campaign strategies like dropping in on community groups no matter the size, making cold calls to prospective donors, and spent money on highway billboards.
