Representative Kurt Schrader Loses Oregon House Primary to Jamie McLeod-Skinner
By Samuel Chamberlain
May 27, 2022
Introduction:
(NY Post)Seven-term Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) was projected to lose the May 17 Democratic primary in his newly redrawn 5th Congressional District Friday — handing the party’s nomination to a left-wing challenger and allowing Republicans to dream of a potential pickup opportunity in November.
The Associated Press call of the victory by attorney and former city planner Jamie McLeod-Skinner was delayed for more than a week after the vote count was held up by ballots with blurry bar codes in Clackamas County, Oregon’s third-most populous, being rejected by vote-counting machines.
With 82.6% of the expected vote tallied Friday, McLeod-Skinner had 57.1% of the tally compared to 42.9% for Schrader.
Schrader, 70, was first elected to Congress in 2008 and was endorsed by President Biden last month, but alienated progressive members of his party over the course of this term.
He was one of two House Democrats to vote against a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, in part because he didn’t want the bill to include an increase in the minimum wage. He also voted in committee against a Biden-supported plan that would have allowed Medicare to negotiate outpatient medication prices with pharmaceutical companies.
McCormick Concedes to Oz in Pennsylvania GOP Senate Primary
Source: US News and World Report/AP
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick conceded the Republican primary in Pennsylvania for U.S. Senate to celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, ending his campaign Friday night as he acknowledged an ongoing statewide recount wouldn't give him enough votes to make up the deficit. McCormick said he had called Oz to concede.
“It’s now clear to me with the recount now largely complete that we have a nominee,” McCormick said at a campaign party at a Pittsburgh hotel. “Tonight is really about all us coming together.” Before the recount, Oz led McCormick by 972 votes, or 0.07 percentage points, out of 1.34 million votes counted in the May 17 primary. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race because an automatic recount is underway. Friday's development sets up a general election between Oz, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and Democrat John Fetterman in what is expected to be one of the nation's premier Senate contests. The race could help determine control of the closely divided chamber.
Fetterman, the state's lieutenant governor, acknowledged earlier Friday in a statement that he nearly died when he suffered a stroke just days before his primary. He said he had ignored warning signs for years and a doctor's advice to take blood thinners. Oz, who is best known as the host of daytime TV’s “The Dr. Oz Show,” had to overcome millions of dollars in attack ads and misgivings among hard-line Trump backers about his conservative credentials on guns, abortion, transgender rights and other core Republican issues.
The 61-year-old Oz leaned on Trump's endorsement as proof of his conservative bona fides, while Trump attacked Oz's rivals and maintained that Oz has the best chance of winning in November in the presidential battleground state. Rivals made Oz’s dual citizenship in Turkey an issue in the race. If elected, Oz would be the nation’s first Muslim senator.
Cisneros to File for Recount in Texas Runoff Against Democratic Representative Cuellar by Zoë Richards
June 6, 2022
Introduction:
(NBC) Progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros said Monday she would file for a recount in her primary runoff against Rep. Henry Cuellar after the Texas Democratic Party said fewer than 300 votes separated the two candidates.
Cisneros is trying for a second time to deny Cuellar another term representing the 28th Congressional District, which stretches from south of San Antonio to the Mexico border. She fell short in her effort two years ago.
“Our community isn’t done fighting, we are filing for a recount,” Cisneros said in a statement. “With just under 0.6 percent of the vote symbolizing such stark differences for the future in South Texas, I owe it to our community to see this through to the end.”
The state Democratic Party certified Monday that Cuellar had 281 more votes than Cisneros, according to both campaigns.
Primary Results 2022: South Dakota and Iowa June 8, 2022
Extract:
(CBS) Meanwhile in South Dakota, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, won the Republican nomination for governor after facing a primary challenge from the right. Noem, one of the Republican party's rising stars and possible presidential contender, focused her victory speech on President Joe Biden. She will face Democrat Jamie Smith in November, who ran unopposed on Tuesday.
Incumbent Sen. John Thune, who is seeking his fourth term, also defeated his primary challengers.
In Iowa, Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is 88, has served in the Senate since 1981, survived his primary challenge from Iowa state Senator Jim Carlin.
Grassley will face Michael Franken, who defeated former U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer. She was elected to Congress in 2018, but lost her bid for reelection in 2020. Finkenauer had to fight to get on the ballot after a judge initially ruled that she did not have enough signatures to qualify for the primary ballot. The Iowa Supreme Court reversed that decision several days later.
Franken helped close the gap with Finkenauer, who entered the race as the perceived frontrunner, by outspending her on advertising. He often pitched his military service as helping him appeal to independents and some more moderate Republicans.
What Went Down At The June 7th Primaries 12:44 a.m. - June 8, 2022
Introduction:
(FiveThirtyEight) There are still a lot of uncalled races tonight — especially in California — but your indefatigable live blog crew is going to call it a night, as we actually have a pretty good sense of where most of these races are headed. Tonight didn’t carry too many big surprises either (although things in the Mississippi 3rd Congressional District were certainly closer than we originally anticipated). However, it did seem like there was a healthy protest vote out there tonight, as Republican incumbents in several districts, like New Jersey’s 4th, South Dakota at-large, California’s 22nd, Mississippi’s 3rd and Mississippi’s 4th, all turned in weak showings, even though none of them have lost reelection (yet).
But for the most part, a lot of our answers about who will ultimately prevail in these races is going to have to wait until November. It does look, though, that in some of the primaries — from former state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. winning in New Jersey’s 7th District to state Sen. Zach Nunn winning in Iowa’s 3rd to Rep. Young Kim in California’s 40th — Republicans backed more mainstream candidates whenever possible. Democrats, for their part, have also backed more moderate candidates in races that look to be competitive come November. But, of course, it might be downballot races like the recall of San Francisco’s progressive district attorney, Chesa Boudin, and the neck-and-neck Los Angeles mayoral race between Rep. Karen Bass and billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso that end up overshadowing things tonight.
Los Angeles Mayoral Race Advances to Runoff by Edvard Pettersson
June 8, 2022
Extract:
(CNN) The race to be Los Angeles' next mayor won't be decided until November, with neither businessman Rick Caruso nor Rep. Karen Bass able to win more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday night.
Caruso and Bass both ran on the need to tackle homelessness and crime, but they approached the issues with markedly different solutions and styles, distinctions that will likely define their campaigns through November.
Caruso, a real estate developer who has worked for years to accrue private power in Los Angeles, argued the city was in "a state of emergency," citing "rampant homelessness" and "people living in fear for their safety." Caruso promised to increase the size of the Los Angeles Police Department, running against the "defund the police" effort.
Bass, a longtime congresswoman and former member of the California State Assembly, ran more as a progressive, highlighting her ties to the city and her years of service representing it.
But Caruso's strong showing on Tuesday will provide a warning to more traditional Democrats running on their records, especially if the bulk of that time was spent in Congress, a body currently held in low regard by Democrats and Republicans alike.
2022 New Mexico Primary Elections Results June 8, 2022
Introduction:
(Washington Post) New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) is uncontested in her primary, but a collection of Republicans are running to be her challenger in November. In the 2nd District, the Democratic party has thrown its support behind Gabe Vasquez, a former aide to Sen. Martin Heinrich (D), to target incumbent Rep. Yvette Herrell (R).
(Mark) Ronchetti is projected to win (the Republican nomination for governor). An estimated 98 percent of votes have been counted.
