Downballot primaries continue tonight with races in four states, plus a special election for Ohio’s reliably red 6th Congressional District. The first polls close at 7 PM ET in South Carolina. We’ll be liveblogging the results here and also covering the returns closely on X.
Key Races: Previews | The Downballot podcast | Live cheat-sheet
Results: Associated Press | New York Times | Politico
UPDATE: Wednesday, Jun 12, 2024 · 12:09:55 AM +00:00
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David Nir
OH-06: Here’s a really good example of why, even if we have more than 10% of the expected vote reporting, you still can’t take early numbers to the bank. In tonight’s special election for Ohio’s dark-red 6th Congressional District, the AP says that 19% of votes have been tallied… and Democrat Michael Kripchak is up 61-39 on Republican Michael Rulli.
Do not get excited about this! Ohio, like many other states, counts mail votes and early votes first. And as we know, thanks to Trump’s war on voting by mail, Republicans these days tend to heavily prefer in-person voting on the day of the election. So as more ballots come in, this result will shift. But it will still be very interesting to see whether Kripchak can outperform the district’s usual lean (Trump won it by 29 points).
UPDATE: Wednesday, Jun 12, 2024 · 12:05:54 AM +00:00
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David Nir
SC-04 (R): Look out! We’ve crossed 16% reporting and far-right state Rep. Adam Morgan, the chair of the state’s version of the Freedom Caucus, is leading Rep. William Timmons 52-48. Most of the vote so far is from Greenville County, which is Timmons’ base… but Morgan’s district is also in Greenville, so without precinct-level results, it’s very hard to say how results in this county might play out.
UPDATE: Wednesday, Jun 12, 2024 · 12:00:38 AM +00:00
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David Nir
Polls have now closed in Maine, where we’re watching the GOP primary in the 2nd Congressional District, and the vast majority of North Dakota, where we have eyes on Republican primaries for governor and the state’s lone House district. There’s also a ballot measure that would bar anyone over 80 from serving in Congress. Under current Supreme Court precedent, such a law would violate the Constitution, and if there’s one thing we know the court’s far-right majority loooves, it’s respecting precedent!
UPDATE: Tuesday, Jun 11, 2024 · 11:53:32 PM +00:00
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David Nir
SC-03 (R): We’re just over 10% reporting for this open seat. Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs is at 33%, state Rep. Stewart Jones is at 24.3%, and ultra-extremist pastor Mark Burns, who had Donald Trump’s endorsement, is just behind at 24.1%. This is a very red district, so whoever wins the GOP nomination is all but assured of a seat in Congress.
However, South Carolina requires runoffs in races where no one gets a majority in the first round. Those runoffs would happen very quickly, on June 25.
UPDATE: Tuesday, Jun 11, 2024 · 11:47:34 PM +00:00
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David Nir
SC State Senate: There are also legislative primaries taking place tonight in South Carolina, with three Republican state senators—all women—who helped block an extreme abortion ban facing serious challenges. One, Penry Gustafson, is losing by a gigantic 82-18 margin in the 27th District, while another, Sandy Senn, is up just 51-49 in the 41st. The third, Katrina Shealy in the 23rd, doesn’t have any votes reported in her race yet.
UPDATE: Tuesday, Jun 11, 2024 · 11:35:34 PM +00:00
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David Nir
SC-01 (R): In what’s probably tonight’s marquee House primary, we’ve just hit 10% reporting. Rep. Nancy Mace holds a 59-27 lead over former state cabinet official Catherine Templeton, while a third candidate, William Young, sits at 14%. But there’s a lot of game left to play.
UPDATE: Tuesday, Jun 11, 2024 · 11:13:39 PM +00:00
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David Nir
Welcome to tonight’s liveblog! Polls have just closed in South Carolina, which is host to a trio of equally wild GOP primaries that are all bonkers for different reasons. And there’s a lot more to come after that as well, with compelling contests in Maine, Nevada, and North Dakota all on the docket as well.
As is our practice at Daily Kos Elections, we’ll hold off on discussing any returns until at least 10% of the estimated vote has been reported, per the Associated Press. But remember that results on primary night are especially prone to shifting, both because of varying preferences for different voting methods between different groups of voters, and because many candidates often exhibit particular geographic strengths.