DCCC chair fends off AOC-backed challenger in New York primary

Incumbent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney will win the Democratic nomination for New York’s 17th Congressional District, CNN projects, defeating progressive state senator Alessandra Biaggi. 

By winning the primary, Maloney is likely to stay in Congress — the seat leans toward Democrats.

Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, drew criticism when he decided to leave his modestly redrawn district to run in the new 17th District, a safer seat that includes his home but had largely been the territory of Rep. Mondaire Jones.

Democrats had accused Maloney of abandoning his more competitive seat to run in a more Democratic-leaning district. Critics pointed out the irony that the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee would imperil a more competitive district – the newly drawn 18th — to help his own congressional career. And his decision forced Jones to run in a new, New York City-based district.

Maloney was endorsed by establishment Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Biaggi attacked Maloney as a “corporate Democrat,” and many progressives, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Working Families Party, backed Biaggi. 

Madison Horn will win the Democratic Senate race in Oklahoma, CNN projects, and will face incumbent Republican Sen. James Lankford in November.

Horn will not be the only Horn on the ballot this fall: Former Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn will face GOP nominee Rep. Markwayne Mullin in a separate Senate race. That one is for the seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe.

Rep. Jerry Nadler will win the Democratic nomination for New York’s 12th Congressional District, CNN projects, defeating fellow longtime Rep. Carolyn Maloney after a New York court-appointed special master redrew the state’s congressional districts and placed the two in the same district.  

Both are major figures in the Democratic Party, with Nadler serving as chair of the Judiciary Committee and Maloney as chair of the Oversight Committee. 

Nadler and Maloney were drawn into the same district by an independent mapmaker after state Democrats’ proposed lines were thrown out in court. For decades, the pair enjoyed parallel dominion over the East and West sides, but the new map – and their mutual refusal to consider another district — prompted what became one of the nastiest primary races of the year.

Attorney Suraj Patel appears to be on track to finish third, his argument that the new district was hungering for new blood having lost out to the loyalties assiduously cultivated by Nadler and Maloney over their decades in office.

Nadler was already viewed as the favorite in the race as primary day neared, but then got perhaps a clinching boost when he was endorsed by the influential New York Times editorial board. From there, Maloney, sensing the contest slipping away, ramped up her offensives on her soon-to-be-former colleague, at one point suggesting he might be “senile.”

But Nadler — who was also backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — only seemed to grow stronger as the campaign entered its final days.

As Florida Democrats picked their candidates for governor and senate, Florida Republicans held their own counter programming in Hialeah, where Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. Ron DeSantis rallied supporters ahead of the looming general election.

Rubio warned GOP voters not to get complacent or buy into midterm narratives that suggest their party is well-positioned in Florida to continue their electoral dominance.

“It doesn’t matter how much support you have if that support doesn’t turn into votes,” Rubio said. 

Speaking about Rep. Val Demings, the Democrat’s newly anointed nominee to challenge him in November, Rubio characterized her as an instrument of the party’s progressive “radical” base with little to show for her five years in office.

“She’s done nothing,” Rubio said. “Not a single law passed.”

DeSantis reminded voters he only narrowly won his race for governor in 2018 by the slimmest of margins over Democrat Andrew Gillum.

DeSantis did not mention his general election opponent, Charlie Crist, by name during his turn at the microphone. With $132 million sitting in the bank, DeSantis vowed his campaign would “generate the biggest Republican turnout this state has ever seen in a governor’s race.”

“We’ve accomplished an awful lot in Florida, more than anyone thought was possible when I got elected less than four years ago,” DeSantis said. “But we’re just getting warmed up.”

Both Rubio and DeSantis ran unopposed for another term in Florida.

Some results are starting to come in New York’s congressional primary elections. While the state held some of its primaries back in June, its protracted redistricting process pushed the congressional primaries to August.

Republican incumbent Nicole Malliotakis will face Democrat Max Rose in the state’s 11th Congressional District, CNN projects.

Here’s who else will win their party’s nominations so far:

Follow New York’s House results live as they roll in here.

The final pieces of the midterm puzzle are coming into focus as Tuesday primaries in New York, Florida and Oklahoma lock in key parts of the November election slate.

Democrats in Florida on Tuesday picked Rep. Charlie Crist to take on Gov. Ron DeSantis in the fall, CNN projected. Crist’s challenge comes as DeSantis seeks both a second term and a boost ahead of a rumored presidential bid in 2024. CNN also projected that Democratic Rep. Val Demings would take on Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in November.

Here are the some of the key takeaways so far:

Crist looks to derail DeSantis in the fall

For the second time in eight years, Democratic voters elected Crist as their nominee for governor, choosing the seasoned veteran over Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who was vying to become the state’s first female governor. Crist now has just 11 weeks to unite his party, energize the Democratic base and convince independent voters that the state needs a new direction.

The stakes for Democrats are high, and not just in Florida, where DeSantis has already pushed through an aggressively conservative agenda, vowing that a second term will bring new action to further restrict abortion and to make it easier to carry a gun in public. But national Democrats are also now looking for Crist to slow DeSantis’ rise before an anticipated campaign for the White House in 2024. 

Florida’s latest contentious Senate race formally takes shape

The Senate race between Rubio and Demings is on.

Demings won her primary on Tuesday and Rubio was unopposed, setting up a race that Republicans believe they should easily win but one that offers Democrats yet another chance to show they can win statewide in a place that has crept right for years.

The two have been focused on each other for months �� their primaries were not competitive — but on Tuesday night, the contours of the race were clear: Rubio plans to brand Demings a “Pelosi Puppet” who is inextricably linked to President Joe Biden, while Demings plans to attack Rubio as ineffective, selfish and wedded to a Republican Party dominated by Trump.

Read more takeaways.

It is 9 p.m. ET and polls are closing across New York.

The Empire State is holding its second primary Election Day of the summer, with voters casting ballots in their congressional and state Senate primaries. The state was supposed to hold all its primaries in June, but the congressional redistricting process pushed some elections to August.

Here are the key races to watch for:

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. 

Mullin, who represents Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District, led the first round with 44% of the vote, and that was before an endorsement from former President Trump. 

Mullin’s campaign website highlights his support for the former President, saying, “In Congress, he fought the liberals trying to stop President Trump.” Shannon promises to “fight for the America First agenda,” on his campaign website, which describes him as a “conservative Oklahoman that believes in the power of capitalism and going all in for America.” 

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.  

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.”