Tuesday is primary night in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Utah, which are all holding nominating contests for federal and statewide offices. Below you'll find our guide to the most important races in each state. When it’s available, we'll tell you about any polling that exists for each race, but if we don't mention any numbers, it means no recent surveys have been made public.
Importantly, we may not know all the winners for many days or even longer. Because of the pandemic, more voters are casting ballots by mail than ever before, so a sizable number of votes may not be tallied until after election night.
We may also need to wait for a while after official poll closing times to even get any votes: In Utah, for instance, a new law passed during the pandemic prevents any results from being released until at least two hours after the polls have closed.
Our live coverage will begin at 8 PM ET at Daily Kos Elections when polls close in Oklahoma. You can also follow us on Twitter for blow-by-blow updates. And you’ll want to bookmark our primary calendar, which includes the dates of the presidential and down-ballot primaries in all 50 states—many of which have been changed—as well as our separate calendar tracking key contests further down the ballot taking place nationwide this year.
Colorado
Polls close at 9 PM ET/7 PM local time.
CO-Sen (D) (48-43 Clinton, 51-46 Obama): Two Democrats are competing to take on Sen. Cory Gardner, who is the most vulnerable Republican in the Senate this year. The state and local party establishment has consolidated behind former Gov. John Hickenlooper, while ex-state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff is pitching himself as a progressive alternative.
While Hickenlooper, who has decisively outspent Romanoff, looked like the heavy favorite for most of the race, he’s earned some bad headlines in the weeks leading up to the primary. Most notably, he was fined by the state's ethics commission after it determined he’d improperly allowed corporations to pay for out-of-state trips as governor. Hickenlooper also recently apologized after a 2014 video surfaced in which he compared political campaigns to life on an “ancient slave ship.”
Both Republicans and Romanoff have been running commercials attacking Hickenlooper, especially on ethics. Hickenlooper’s allies at Senate Majority PAC have in turn spent heavily on ads defending him, while a newly formed outside group called Let's Turn Colorado Blue has been airing spots hitting Romanoff’s record on immigration.
We’ve seen just two polls here in all of 2020, and they were both released this month. A mid-June Myers Research & Strategic Services for Romanoff that found Hickenlooper ahead 51-39, while a SurveyUSA poll from the final week of the campaign for Colorado Politics and KUSA-TV Denver had the former governor up by a wider 58-28 margin.
CO-03 (D) (52-40 Trump, 52-46 Romney): Two Democrats are running to face Republican Rep. Scott Tipton in this conservative western Colorado seat: 2018 nominee Diane Mitsch Bush, a former state representative who lost to Tipton 52-44, and businessman James Iacino, who recently relocated here from Denver. Iacino outspent Mitsch Bush about $415,000 to $305,000 from April 1 to June 10, which is the time the FEC defines as the pre-primary period.
Oklahoma
Polls close at 8 PM ET/7 PM local time. A runoff will take place on Aug. 25 in any races where no candidates takes a majority of the vote.
OK-05 (R) (53-40 Trump, 59-41 Romney): Democrat Kendra Horn unseated GOP Rep. Steve Russell in one of the most shocking upsets of 2018, and she’ll be a top target this fall. Nine Republicans are on the primary ballot, though only four of them have spent enough money to mount a credible campaign.
State Sen. Stephanie Bice and self-funding businesswoman Terry Neese each spent about $385,000 during the pre-primary period, which was considerably more than the rest of the field. Bice, though, has been on the receiving end of $215,000 worth of negative ads from the anti-tax Club for Growth, which has not endorsed anyone in this contest. Businessman David Hill deployed about $230,000 during this time, while former state School Superintendent Janet Barresi spent $215,000.
D.C. Republicans haven't signaled a clear preference for a specific candidate: Bice, Neese, and Hill have all been added to the NRCC's three-tier "Young Guns" program, with Bice placed on the middle rung and Neese and Hill on the lowest.
OK Ballot (65-28 Trump, 67-33 Trump): Oklahoma voters will vote on State Question 802, which would expand Medicaid to at least 200,000 residents. The measure’s supporters have spent nearly $2 million to promote it, while Politico writes that Americans for Prosperity has responded with six figures to defeat it. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt also opposes 802, arguing that Medicaid expansion would be unaffordable during the current economic downturn. Proponents point to the success of similar ballot measures that have passed in red states, including Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah.
Utah
Polls close at 10 PM ET/8 PM local time.
UT-Gov (R) (46-27 Trump, 73-25 Romney): Four Republicans are competing to succeed retiring Gov. Gary Herbert, and the winner should have no trouble extending Team Red’s decades-long winning streak in November.
Polls consistently show a tight race between the two leading contenders. The best-known is former Gov. John Huntsman, who ran the state from 2005 to 2009 and went on to serve as ambassador to both China (under Barack Obama) and Russia (under Donald Trump), with a failed 2012 presidential bid sandwiched between. His chief rival is Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox. Surveys have generally shown former state House Speaker Greg Hughes further back, while former state party chair Thomas Wright has been a distant fourth. Herbert is supporting Cox, while Huntsman has Sen. Mike Lee in his corner.
UT-01 (R) (50-22 Trump, 77-20 Romney): Four Republicans are running to succeed retiring Rep. Rob Bishop, who is gubernatorial candidate’s Thomas Wright running mate, in this safely red northern Utah seat.
Businessman Blake Moore spent about $275,000 during the pre-primary period, while Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson deployed $130,000. Former Utah Commissioner of Agriculture Kerry Gibson was close behind with $125,000, while Kaysville Mayor Katie Witt dropped only $34,000. The only poll we’ve seen here was an early June internal for Moore from Dan Jones & Associates that showed him tied with Stevenson 16-16, while Gibson and Witt were at 13 and 7, respectively.
Two of the candidates attracted some negative attention in the lead up to the campaign. Witt was censured by her city council early this month after she supported a local concert protesting the state's social distancing restrictions. Meanwhile, the state auditor’s office announced in mid-June that it was opening an investigation into the internal problems that occurred during Gibson’s brief nine-month tenure leading the agriculture department.
UT-04 (R) (39-32 Trump, 67-30 Romney): Democrat Ben McAdams unseated Republican Rep. Mia Love two years ago in a tight race for this seat in the Salt Lake City area, and four Republicans are running to take it back.
Former NFL safety Burgess Owens outspent state Rep. Kim Coleman, who has Love’s endorsement, $277,000 to $209,000 during the pre-primary period. Former radio host Jay Mcfarland spent only $51,000, though he may benefit from preexisting name recognition from his time on the air. The fourth contender, venture capitalist Trent Christensen, dropped just $13,000.
The NRCC placed Coleman and Owens on the lowest level of its "Young Guns" program in January, along with a third candidate, Kathleen Anderson, who failed to make the primary ballot.
Other Utah Races to Watch: State Attorney General (R)
Tuesday will be an exciting night, so we hope you’ll join us for our liveblog at Daily Kos Elections!