Mississippi's Chris McDaniel appears headed to a runoff
Tuesday night's primaries were incredibly tense, and several races are still undecided, including the marquee Senate matchup in Mississippi. We've summarized all the action below (in alphabetical order by state), with Daily Kos Elections' race ratings appended. Note that in California, where many voters cast ballots by mail, lots of votes may still be outstanding. And also bear in mind that results of the top-two primary, which features a less Democratic-friendly electorate than is typical in the general election,
aren't very predictive of what will happen in November.
• AL-06 (R): State Rep. Paul DeMarco and former conservative think tank chief Gary Palmer will advance to the July 15 runoff, after winning 33 and 20 percent of the vote respectively. (Safe R)
• CA-Gov (2): Democrats had hoped that ultra-conservative Assemblyman Tim Donnelly would emerge from the top-two, not because they're worried about Gov. Jerry Brown's chances (he took 54 percent), but because Donnelly would have acted like a major anvil to down-ticket Republicans. But former Treasury official Neel Kashkari managed to up his name recognition just enough to secure the second slot, beating out Donnelly 19 to 15. (Safe D)
• CA-07 (2): Establishment Republicans are happy that their pick, ex-Rep. Doug Ose, handily beat out former congressional aide Igor Birman 27-17. But freshman Democratic Rep. Ami Bera took a healthy 47 percent. (Lean D)
• CA-15 (2): First-term Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell easily advanced to the second round with 49 percent, but it's not yet clear who will join him there. Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, a fellow Democrat who's been trying to run to Swalwell's left, is in third place at the moment with 25, just behind Republican Hugh Bussell, who has 26. Swalwell would very much like Corbett to get shut out, as this district is safely blue. (Safe D / Likely Swalwell)
• CA-17 (2): As expected, it'll be a pair of Democrats in the fall: Rep. Mike Honda and former Commerce Department official Ro Khanna. But Honda looked strong, finishing far ahead of Khanna, 49-27. Khanna will spend vast sums trying to improve on that mark in November, but he has a tough climb ahead of him. (Safe D / Likely Honda)
Head below the fold for the rest of our recaps.
• CA-21 (2): Democrats were fortunate that former congressional aide Amanda Renteria's superior campaign held off bumbling 2012 nominee John Hernandez 25-11. But GOP Rep. David Valadao took 64 percent, and while primaries are not necessarily prologue in California, that's a pretty high mark and illustrates the problems with Democratic turnout in this heavily Hispanic district. (Likely R)
• CA-24 (2): Democratic Rep. Lois Capps is moving on to November with her 45 percent vote share, but Chris Mitchum has just a 16-15 edge on fellow Republican Justin Fareed. As is always the case in California, plenty of votes have yet to be counted. (Likely D)
• CA-25 (2): Oof. In an embarrassing development, Democrat Lee Rogers was shut out of the general election in this blue-trending district, a development we feared might happen. November will instead see a fight between two Republicans, ex-state Sen. Tony Strickland and state Sen. Steve Knight, who finished with 29 and 28 percent respectively. (Rogers took 22.) (Safe R)
• CA-31 (2): Last cycle, no Democrats managed to advance past the top-two in this 57-percent Obama district, a huge black eye for the party. This year, the race has once again given Democrats fits, and they're holding on to the second slot by a thread. Republican Paul Chabot easily captured first place with 27 percent, but Democrat Pete Aguilar, the DCCC choice, is ahead of Republican Lesli Gooch by a 17.4 to 16.5 margin at this point, or 390 votes. Another Democrat, Eloise Gomez Reyes, was just a bit further back at 16.0 percent, 232 votes behind Gooch. There were no obvious trends as votes came in on Tuesday night, but if Aguilar can't hang on, it would be a true disaster for Democrats, who should be heavily favored to pick up this seat. (Likely D)
• CA-33 (2): There are no answers at all in the insanely crowded race to replace Rep. Henry Waxman, where vast sums were spent, most to little effect. Thanks to a sort of reverse clown car effect, Republican Elan Carr sits in first place with 21 in this very blue district, because so many Democrats split the vote. Two of them occupy the next two slots: state Sen. Ted Lieu, with 19 percent, and former Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, with 17. Either would be the overwhelming favorite in November. UPDATE: Greuel has conceded, so it'll be Carr and Lieu in the runoff. (Safe D)
• IA-Sen (R): State Sen. Joni Ernst utterly crushed the competition, taking an outright majority of 56 percent. Radio host Sam Clovis finished a distant second with 18, and self-funding businessman Mark Jacobs, who was Ernst's co-frontrunner at one point, ended up a pitiful third with just 17. Ernst will now have to deal with Rep. Bruce Braley in the fight for retiring Sen. Tom Harkin's seat. (Lean D)
• IA-01 (D & R): State Rep. Pat Murphy handily won the Democratic nomination, beating Cedar Rapids City Council member Monica Vernon 37-24, while three other candidates were in the teens or single digits. He'll face businessman (and 2012 candidate) Rod Blum, who dispatched businessman Steve Rathje 55-37, for Braley's open seat. (Lean D)
• IA-02 (R): Ophthalmologist Marianette Miller-Meeks will try to unseat Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack for the third time, after beating state Rep. Mark Lofgren 49-38 for the GOP nod. (Likely D)
• IA-03 (R): State Sen. Brad Zaun finished first in this six-way race with just 25 percent of the vote, falling far short of the 35-percent mark necessary to secure the nomination outright. Now, instead, it'll get thrown to a convention, which will take place on June 21, and anybody—not just the candidates who ran in the primary—can get nominated. It's anyone's guess as to who has the inside track with convention delegates, though Paulists have made serious inroads in the Iowa GOP. (Tossup)
• MS-Sen (R): In an unbelievable photo finish after an insane number of lead changes on primary night, Mississippi's hotly contested Senate primary looks like it's going to a runoff. State Sen. Chris McDaniel currently leads Sen. Thad Cochran 49.53 percent to 48.92 percent, achingly close to the 50 percent mark that would have given him an outright win. (Some Dude Thomas Carey managed to pull in just enough of the vote—1.5 percent—to allow this to happen.) It doesn't appear that late-counted ballots can change the outcome, which means a runoff will take place very quickly, on June 24. It'll be intense. (Safe R)
• MS-04 (R): After seesawing back and forth all night, Rep. Steven Palazzo pulled out a late 51-43 lead on ex-Rep. Gene Taylor, a former conservative Democrat trying to make a comeback as a Republican. That Taylor made the race as close as he did was quite a shock, but in the end, it looks like Palazzo held him off and managed to avoid a runoff. UPDATE: The AP has called the race for Palazzo. (Safe R)
• MT-AL (R): In a race that was close all night, Ryan Zinke beat out Corey Stapleton 33-29 in the race for Rep. Steve Daines' open seat. Matt Rosendale finished just behind Stapleton, also with 29. Zinke will take on Democrat John Lewis in the fall. (Likely R)
• NJ-03 (R): Sadly, Democratic efforts to meddle in the GOP primary were for naught, as former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur smashed former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan 60-40 in the battle of the North Jersey carpetbaggers. MacArthur will try to hold Rep. John Runyan's seat for the GOP against Burlington County Freeholder Aimee Belgard in November. (Lean R)
• NJ-07 (R): Rep. Leonard Lance barely fended off penniless Some Dude David Larsen, prevailing by a rather weak 54-46 margin. Lance is relatively moderate for today's GOP, and this is actually the third occasion Larsen's challenged him, getting closer and closer each time. One day, someone with a little money will give Lance a run for his. (Safe R)
• NJ-12 (D): Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman decisively won the primary for Rep. Rush Holt's open seat, defeating state Sen. Linda Greenstein 43-28. Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula finished third with 22. (Safe D)
• NM-Gov (D): Even though he finished last at the state party convention, Attorney General Gary King rode his greater name recognition to a primary win, finishing with 34 percent to 23 for businessman Alan Webber, 20 for businessman Lawrence Rael, and 15 for state Sen. Howie Morales. King now has an uphill battle against GOP Gov. Susana Martinez in the general election. (Likely R)