DeSantis waits to find out who he will face in November as divides within the Democratic Party play out in several New York races
CNN Projection: Rep. Markwayne Mullin will win Oklahoma Senate special primary runoff
From CNN staff
Rep. Markwayne Mullin will win a runoff to be the Oklahoma GOP nominee in the Senate special election to fill Sen. Jim Inhofe’s term, CNN projects, defeating former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon.
Mullins was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and will likely win the general election this fall, then take office when Inhofe resigns in January and serve until 2027.
He will face former Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn, who was unopposed for her party’s nomination.
Demings: “We’re not looking behind us — tonight, we come looking forward”
From CNN’s David Wright
Rep. Val Demings, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Florida, rallied with supporters this evening in Orlando, saying “we’re not looking behind us — tonight, we come looking forward.”
Demings touched on abortion access and voting rights in her remarks, two key issues for Democratic midterms candidates.
“I dream of an America where we protect constitutional rights like a woman’s right to choose. I’ve said it along this campaign trail, let me say it again. We’re not going back. We’re not,” Demings said.
She continued, “There are women and men and people of all races and ages who suffered, bled and died for us to have the constitutional rights that we enjoy. We’re not going back to being treated like second class citizens. We’re not going back to being treated like property. We will continue to fight and fight and fight some more for a woman’s right to choose.”
On voting rights, Demings referenced civil rights icon John Lewis, saying he told her “that the right to vote is precious. That it’s almost sacred. And we have to do everything in our power to protect the right to vote.”
“Nobody ever broke a glass ceiling on the first pitch,” Fried says during concession speech
From CNN’s Steve Contorno
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried told a room of supporters that she had called Rep. Charlie Crist to congratulate him on winning the Democratic nomination for governor shortly after polls closed in the Florida Panhandle at 8 p.m. ET, Tuesday night.
Fried, who was vying to become the state’s first female governor, said: “Nobody ever broke a glass ceiling on the first pitch.” Fried vowed to fight on for the causes she campaigned on, especially abortion access and affordable housing.
“We are not going to back down until we restore democracy here in Florida and reverse 28 years of one party control in this state,” she said.
A Jewish woman from South Florida, Fried unexpectedly won a four year term to become the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services in 2018 when Democrats lost every other statewide race. She spent the last four years as the party’s de facto leader, and became a constant — though often powerless — nemesis of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on the Florida Cabinet.
However, she struggled to turn that momentum into a political movement or make a case to lead the state. Nevertheless, she suggested this isn’t the last of her time in the Florida political arena.
“Movement doesn’t happen overnight,” she said. “Change doesn’t happen overnight.”
CNN Projection: Rep. Matt Gaetz will win Republican primary in Florida 1st Congressional District
From CNN staff
Incumbent Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz will win his party’s nomination in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, CNN projects.
Gaetz is seeking a fourth term. Republicans currently control 16 of the state’s 27 US House seats. The state gained a seat after the 2020 census.
CNN Projection: Crist will win Democratic nomination for Florida governor and face DeSantis in November
From CNN staff
Rep. Charlie Crist will win the Democratic nomination for Florida governor, CNN projects, and face incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in November.
Crist defeated Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the primary. He is a former Republican governor of the Sunshine State who switched parties and now serves in Congress as a Democrat.
Crist was elected governor as a Republican in 2006, and then ran for Senate as an independent in 2010, losing to Republican Marco Rubio. Crist then ran for governor in 2014 as a Democrat and lost to now-Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican. Crist won his House seat as a Democrat in 2016.
Abortion emerged as a major issue in the Democratic primary, with Fried’s campaign attacking Crist’s record on the issue and Crist responding with a TV ad. The two Democrats spent much of the race taking shots at DeSantis.
CNN Projection: Demings will win the Democratic nomination for Senate in Florida and face incumbent Rubio
From CNN staff
Rep. Val Demings will win the Democratic nomination for Senate in Florida, CNN projects, and will face incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in November.
Demings is a former Orlando police chief who served as an impeachment manager in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.
CNN Projection: Aramis Ayala will win the Democratic nomination for Florida attorney general
From CNN staff
Aramis Ayala will win the Democratic primary for Florida attorney general, CNN projects.
Ayala, after defeating two other challengers on Tuesday, will now face Republican incumbent Ashley B. Moody in November. Moody is seeking a second term.
Final polls are closing in Florida and Oklahoma
From CNN’s Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo
It’s 8 p.m. ET and final polls are closing across Florida and Oklahoma.
Here’s what to know about the key races we are tracking in both states:
- Florida: Democrats are choosing a candidate to take on GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis in November. The race has mainly narrowed between former Republican governor and now-Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. Abortion has emerged as a major issue in the race, with Fried’s campaign attacking Crist’s record on the issue and Crist responding with a TV ad. The two Democrats have spent much of the race taking shots at DeSantis, who will be favored in the fall regardless of who wins the Democratic primary.
- Oklahoma: is holding runoff elections for races where no candidate got a majority of the vote in the June primary. In the highest-profile contest, Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon will compete in a runoff to be the GOP nominee for the special election to fill GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe’s seat. The winner of the Republican runoff will likely win the general election this fall. Mullin led the first round with 44% of the vote, and that was before an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. The winner will face former Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn, who was unopposed for her party’s nomination. The state is also holding a Democratic runoff for the regularly scheduled Senate seat and a GOP runoff for the 2nd District seat that Mullin is vacating.
New York Rep. Jerry Nadler talks to voters at subway station ahead of polls closing
From CNN’s Athena Jones in New York
Rep. Jerry Nadler was campaigning and talking with New York voters at the West 72nd street subway station a few hours before polls are set to close as he fights to hang on to his seat in Congress.
The state’s new congressional map pits Nadler against Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the 12th Congressional District. They both have held their respective seats for nearly 30 years and currently represent the west and east sides of Manhattan, respectively. The city will now be separated into north and south.
At the subway station, Nadler said he believes he’ll win. He attributes his expected success to the endorsements he’s received.
“Certainly the (New York) Times endorsement is very important. Certainly Elizabeth Warren’s, Chuck Schumer’s endorsement. I think they’re all, you know, important,” he told CNN on Tuesday.
Nadler also cited his campaign’s strong absentee voter program, saying, “We’ve had a big operation to send absentee ballot operations to people.”
Nadler’s campaign has sent dozens of mailers, many of them making appeals to people to vote absentee if they were going to be out of town on Election Day. They even sent ballots that were entirely filled out with the recipient’s information that just had to signed and dropped in the mail.
With many similar positions, the contest between the former longtime allies has turned personal, with both candidates saying they asked the other to stand down and run in a different district.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/primary-election-results-florida-new-york-2022/index.html
