Sure, there's a presidential primary underway, but Super Tuesday also brings us our first downballot primary night of 2020, and it’s mammoth. Voters in five states—including the two largest—are headed to the polls to nominate candidates for state and federal offices in contests that will help shape the state of play in key Senate and House races.
Below you'll find our guide to the key races to watch in Alabama, Arkansas, California, North Carolina, and Texas—the heftiest primary day any of us can remember. 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.
Our live coverage will begin at 7 PM ET Tuesday night at Daily Kos Elections. 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 downballot primaries in all 50 states, as well as our separate calendar tracking key contests further down the ballot taking place nationwide this year.
Alabama
Polls close at 8 PM ET / 7 PM local time. A runoff will take place on March 31 in any primaries where no one takes a majority of the vote on Tuesday.
● AL-Sen (R) (62-34 Trump, 61-38 Romney): Incumbent Doug Jones is the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate, and several Republicans are competing to take him on in this dark-red state.
The best-known contender is former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who held this seat for 20 years until he joined Trump's cabinet in 2017. Also in the running are Rep. Bradley Byrne, former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, state Rep. Arnold Mooney, and Roy Moore, the former chief justice of the state Supreme Court who lost this seat to Jones in 2017's infamous special election.
Most recent polls show Sessions and Tuberville advancing to the runoff with Byrne in third, though Byrne has released numbers showing him in a tight race with Tuberville for the second slot. All the polls agree, though, that Moore and Mooney are doomed.
The three top Republicans and their allies have spent the last few weeks viciously attacking one another while ignoring the also-rans. Sessions’ opponents have focused on his unhappy tenure as Trump’s attorney general, which ended with his humiliating dismissal. Tuberville’s foes have gone after him for his recent return to Alabama after over a decade away, and they’ve also argued that he’s too weak on immigration enforcement. Byrne’s detractors, meanwhile, have hit the congressman for calling on Trump to drop out of the 2016 presidential race after the release of the Access Hollywood tape.
● AL-01 (R) (63-34 Trump, 62-37 Romney): Rep. Bradley Byrne is leaving this safely red Gulf Coast seat to run for the Senate, and there are three notable candidates running to succeed him. The far-right Club for Growth is backing former state Sen. Bill Hightower, while Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl and state Rep. Chris Pringle are also in. A recent poll for a local news station gave Carl the lead with 29%, while Hightower led Pringle 21-13 for the second runoff spot.
● AL-02 (R) (65-33 Trump, 63-36 Romney): GOP Rep. Martha Roby is retiring from this heavily Republican seat, which includes part of Montgomery and the nearby Wiregrass region, and there’s a crowded contest to replace her. The best-funded candidate by far is businessman Jeff Coleman, who has been running ads for months. Also in the running are former state Rep. Barry Moore, businesswoman Jessica Taylor, and former state Attorney General Troy King. A late poll for Moore showed Coleman at 42%, with Moore edging King 19%-17% for second and Taylor not far behind with 15%.
California
Polls close at 11 PM ET / 8 PM local time. However, voting by mail is particularly popular in California, so it could take a while for us to know the results of some close races. Ballots must be postmarked by March 3, but they will still be counted as long as election officials receive them no later than three days after Election Day.
The rules for California's top-two primary require all the candidates running for Congress and for state office to compete on one ballot rather than in separate party primaries. The two contenders with the most votes, regardless of party, will then advance to the Nov. 3 general election. Candidates cannot win outright in March by taking a majority of the vote, except in some nonpartisan elections for local office. (Note that these rules are not applicable to the presidential primary.)
● CA-08 (55-40 Trump, 56-42 Romney): Republican Assemblyman Jay Obernolte very much looks like the frontrunner to succeed GOP Rep. Paul Cook, who is leaving this northern San Bernardino County seat behind to run for a spot on the county Board of Supervisors. Obernolte has the support of Donald Trump, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Cook, and also has considerably more money than any of his intraparty rivals.
The other notable GOP candidates competing here are former Assemblyman Tim Donnelly and Marine veteran and former NFL player Jeremy Staat. A divided Democratic field was locked out of the general election in 2018, but engineer Chris Bubser is the only Democrat who has brought in a credible amount of cash this time and is therefore likely to make it to the November ballot.
● CA-10 (49-46 Clinton, 51-47 Obama): Democrat Josh Harder flipped this Modesto-area seat last cycle in a very expensive contest, and a trio of Republicans is running to reverse that outcome. The Republican who has spent by far the most is self-funder Ted Howze, who ran in the 2018 top-two primary and came unexpectedly close to denying Harder a spot in the general election. The only current elected official on the GOP side is San Joaquin County Supervisor Bob Elliott, though he’s struggled with fundraising. The third Republican in the race is Marla Livengood, who challenged Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney two years ago in the neighboring 9th District and lost 56-44.
● CA-16 (58-36 Clinton, 59-39 Clinton): Rep. Jim Costa has long been one of the more conservative members of the Democratic caucus, but for the first time, he faces a credible challenge from the left, in the form of Fresno City Councilor Esmeralda Soria. There’s little question that the well-funded incumbent will advance to the general, but the second-place spot is up in the air. Only one Republican, real estate agent Kevin Cookingham, ended up filing, while Soria will have to compete for left-leaning voters who don’t like Costa with a third Democrat, former diplomat Kim Williams.
● CA-25 (50-44 Clinton, 50-48 Romney): Democrat Katie Hill resigned from the House last year after she was victimized by revenge porn, and both the first round of the special election to serve the final months of her term and the top-two primary for a full two-year term are on the ballot. The special election will operate under slightly different rules: Candidates can win the first round on Tuesday by taking a majority of the vote, though that's unlikely to happen given the crowded field. The second round of the special would take place May 21.
Two well-funded Democrats are competing here. Assemblywoman Christy Smith has the support of state and national Democrats, while political commentator Cenk Uygur has been emphasizing his opposition to party leaders. On the GOP side, the best-known contender is former Rep. Steve Knight, who lost this seat to Hill 54-46 last cycle, but he faces a well-funded challenge from Navy veteran Mike Garcia. The other notable Republican is former Trump aide George Papadopoulos, who was sentenced to two weeks in prison last year on charges stemming from Robert Mueller's probe, but he’s raised very little cash.
While there’s always a chance that both Smith and Uygur could take the top spots and lock the GOP out of both contests, it’s more likely that one candidate from each party will advance. National Democrats would like to face Knight, who has already lost here and has struggled to raise money, prompting them to run ads in recent weeks against Garcia.
● CA-45 (50-44 Clinton, 55-43 Romney): Democrat Katie Porter flipped an ancestrally red Orange County seat last cycle, and several Republicans are competing to take it back. Whoever advances will be in for a very expensive contest against Porter, who is one of the top fundraisers in the House freshman class.
Laguna Hills Mayor Don Sedgwick has taken in considerably more money than any of his fellow Republicans, though he’s still well behind the incumbent. Also in the race are Orange County Board of Education member Lisa Sparks; Mission Viejo Mayor Greg Raths, who unsuccessfully ran here in 2014 and 2016; and Yorba Linda City Councilor Peggy Huang, whose constituency is located outside of this district.
● CA-50 (55-40 Trump, 60-38 Romney): Republican Duncan Hunter resigned in January, a month after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to convert campaign funds to personal use, and there’s a very nasty race to succeed him in this conservative seat in inland San Diego County.
The only notable Democrat is 2018 nominee Ammar Campa-Najjar, who held Hunter to a 52-48 win last cycle, so there’s a good chance he’ll advance to the general election. The Republican side is a fight between former Rep. Darrell Issa, who represented the neighboring 49th District until he retired ahead of the 2018 blue wave; former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, who became a prominent conservative radio host following his narrow 2014 loss in the nearby 52nd District; and state Sen. Brian Jones.
DeMaio and Issa have each brought in a massive amount of money, and they’ve each used it to run ads arguing that the other has been disloyal to Trump. Issa made headlines in January with a homophobic commercial that reminded viewers that DeMaio is gay, and he’s continued running spots using racist images to portray his opponent as a supporter of amnesty for undocumented immigrants. A late-February SurveyUSA poll found Campa-Najjar in first with 35%, with Issa leading DeMaio 21-15 for the second general election spot, and Jones at just 7%.
● CA-53 (65-29 Clinton, 61-36 Obama): Longtime Democratic Rep. Susan Davis is retiring, and there’s an expensive race to succeed her underway in this safely blue San Diego seat. The candidate who has spent by far the most money is former State Department official Sara Jacobs, who has put in $2 million of her own money for this contest and whose wealthy grandparents have funded a super PAC supporting her. San Diego City Council president Georgette Gómez, who has the support of the state party and several unions, has also spent a credible sum, while Marine veteran Janessa Goldbeck has trailed financially. Two Republicans are also on the ballot, and there’s a chance one of them could secure a spot in the general election.
Other California races to watch:
North Carolina
Polls close at 7:30 ET. A runoff will be held May 12 in races in which no one takes at least 30% of the vote, but a second round of voting only takes place if the runner-up officially requests it.
This will be the first election to take place after Republicans redrew North Carolina's congressional districts due to litigation challenging the prior GOP-drawn map. To help make sense of the new state of play, Daily Kos Elections has put together a cheat sheet that includes each new seat's 2016 and 2012 presidential results as well as the 2016 gubernatorial results; a geographic description of each district; a list of the notable candidates running; and the proportion of each old seat that makes up each new district.
● NC-Sen (D) (50-46 Trump, 50-48 Romney): The primary between former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, who has the support of national Democrats, and state Sen. Erica Smith was a fairly quiet affair until Republicans began meddling in the race weeks ahead of Election Day.
Both parties believe that it would be considerably easier for GOP Sen. Thom Tillis to beat Smith, who has raised very little money, prompting Republicans to spend at least $3 million on ads promoting Smith and attacking Cunningham from the left. Cunningham’s allies in turn have devoted millions of their own money to commercials supporting him. The GOP's effort has not paid off, as multiple recent polls have shown Cunningham well ahead of Smith and three other lesser-known candidates.
● NC-Gov (R) (50-46 Trump, 50-48 Romney): Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and state Rep. Holly Grange are competing in the GOP primary to face Democratic incumbent Roy Cooper, but this looks like a very one-sided affair. Forest has raised vastly more money than Grange, and recent polls show him far ahead.
● NC-02 (D) (60-36 Clinton, 57-42 Obama): GOP Rep. George Holding decided to retire after redistricting transformed his gerrymandered conservative district into a compact Raleigh-based seat that Democrats are all but assured to flip, and four Democrats are running here.
The candidate with the most money and name recognition by far is former state Rep. Deborah Ross, who lost an expensive contest to GOP Sen. Richard Burr in 2016 by a 51-45 margin but easily carried this seat. Ross released a poll in January that showed her leading Wake County School Board member Monika Johnson-Hostler 40-6 while both former Obama administration official Andrew Terrell and Marine veteran Ollie Nelson were even farther behind.
● NC-06 (D) (59-38 Clinton, 58-41 Obama): Like Holding, Republican Rep. Mark Walker also decided to retire after the new map gave him a seat in the Greensboro and Winston-Salem area that Democrats should have no trouble winning.
The best-known and best-funded candidate is Kathy Manning, a prominent Greensboro philanthropist and former lawyer who lost an expensive 2018 contest under the old lines in the 13th District. Also in the running are state Rep. Derwin Montgomery; former state Rep. Ed Hanes; Rhonda Foxx, a former chief of staff to Rep. Alma Adams; and former Guilford County Commissioner Bruce Davis, who has lost a number of elections in recent years.
● NC-11 (R) (57-40 Trump, 55-44 Romney): GOP Rep. Mark Meadows announced his retirement in December, one day before filing closed, prompting 12 Republicans to quickly enter the race to succeed him in this Appalachia-based seat. Meadows endorsed businesswoman Lynda Bennett in February, though some rivals have accused the congressman of tipping Bennett off about his retirement to give her an advantage. Meadows' allies in the nihilist Freedom Caucus are also running ads on Bennett's behalf.
Also in the race are state Sen. Jim Davis, who is the only elected official running; Iraq veteran Dan Driscoll; former Meadows aide Wayne King; 2012 candidate Vance Patterson; and self-funders Chuck Archerd and Madison Cawthorn. In a race this crowded, there’s a chance that even a lower-tier candidate we haven't mentioned here could end up securing a runoff spot.
Texas
First polls close at 8 PM ET / 7 PM local time in the portion of the state located in the Central Time Zone, which includes most of it. Polls close in the rest of the state (a smaller portion in the El Paso area that's in the Mountain Time Zone) one hour later. A runoff will take place on May 26 in contests in which no one takes a majority of the vote. Daily Kos Elections has put together a cheat sheet of Texas’ vast House battlefield.
● TX-Sen (D) (52-43 Trump, 57-41 Romney): Several Democrats are competing to take on GOP Sen. John Cornyn in a state where the party has gained strength in recent years. The DSCC is supporting Air Force veteran MJ Hegar, who ran a strong campaign last cycle against GOP Rep. John Carter in the 31st District, and she’s raised considerably more than the rest of the field. Recent polls show Hegar well ahead of her rivals but still well short of winning outright.
The other notable candidates competing for a spot in the runoff are former Rep. Chris Bell; former Houston City Councilor Amanda Edwards; 2018 Senate candidate Sema Hernandez; nonprofit director Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez; and state Sen. Royce West. Most recent polls have shown all these candidates with support in the single digits, but also a large chunk of voters undecided.
● TX-07 (R) (48-47 Clinton, 60-39 Romney): Democrat Lizzie Fletcher flipped this ancestrally red West Houston seat last year in an expensive race, and national Republicans looking to take it back have consolidated behind Army veteran Wesley Hunt. Hunt has the support of Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and he’s raised considerably more than his chief rival, former Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel, or any of the other GOP contenders.
● TX-10 (D) (52-43 Trump, 59-39 Romney): Veteran GOP Rep. Michael McCaul only defeated Democrat Mike Siegel 51-47 in a 2018 contest that attracted almost no attention, and Siegel is running again. However, Siegel has raised considerably less money than either of his two primary foes, physician Pritesh Gandhi and attorney Shannon Hutcheson. This gerrymandered district stretches from Houston west to Austin.
● TX-11 (R) (78-19 Trump, 79-20 Romney): There’s a crowded field to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Mike Conaway in this extremely red West Texas seat, but one of the candidates seems to have all the advantages. Air Force veteran August Pfluger, who previously served as a National Security Council adviser to Donald Trump, has dwarfed his opponents in fundraising, and he picked up a Trump endorsement tweet in February. Also in the running are former Conaway staffer Brandon Batch; former Midland Mayor J.D. Faircloth; and Midland City Councilman J.Ross Lacy.
● TX-12 (R) (63-33 Trump, 67-32 Romney): Longtime GOP Rep. Kay Granger is facing the first serious primary challenge of her career from wealthy businessman Chris Putnam, and the race for this safely red Fort Worth seat has attracted lots of outside spending. On Granger’s side are Donald Trump and the Congressional Leadership Fund, which has deployed $1.2 million here. The anti-tax Club for Growth and the Protect Freedom PAC, meanwhile, together have spent over $2 million to support Putnam.
Putnam and his allies are portraying Granger as insufficiently pro-Trump, and they’ve also tried to tie the incumbent to long-running problems at an expensive development project that used to be led by her son. Granger’s forces, though, are making sure voters know that Trump is backing her and not Putnam. No other candidates are on the ballot, so this race will be settled without a runoff.
● TX-13 (R) (79-20 Trump, 80-19 Romney): GOP Rep. Mac Thornberry is retiring from this very red seat in the Texas Panhandle, and he’s endorsing lobbyist Josh Winegarner in the very crowded primary to succeed him. Winegarner has raised more than anyone else, but self-funding businessman Chris Ekstrom has poured plenty of his own money into his campaign. Winegarner is portraying himself as the local in the race, noting that Ekstrom only recently located here from faraway Dallas, while Ekstrom is framing himself as a political outsider.
Another candidate to watch is former White House chief physician Ronny Jackson, whose 2018 nomination to be the secretary of veterans affairs failed after whistleblowers accused him of drinking to excess while on the job and overprescribing medications. Two local elected officials, Amarillo City Councilwoman Elaine Hays and Wichita County Commissioner Lee Harvey, are also competing here.
● TX-17 (R) (56-39 Trump, 60-38 Romney): GOP Rep. Bill Flores is retiring from a conservative seat that includes College Station and Waco, and a dozen Republicans are on the ballot to succeed him. The most familiar name to national observers is former 32nd District Rep. Pete Sessions, who lost his bid for a 12th term in his Dallas-based seat in 2018 less than a year before relocating 100 miles away to his childhood home of Waco to stage a comeback.
Flores, who has loudly made his displeasure at Sessions' carpetbagging known, endorsed businesswoman Renee Swann in February, but plenty of other candidates are also in the mix. Rocket scientist George Hindman, who tried to unseat Flores in 2012, has been self-funding and recently began attacking Swann on TV. Also in the running are former College Station City Council member Elianor Vessali and construction company owner Scott Bland. Given the size of the field, it's possible an unknown contender could advance to the runoff.
● TX-22 (R & D) (52-44 Trump, 62-37 Romney): GOP Rep. Pete Olson is leaving behind a once-red seat in the southern Houston suburbs that's become competitive in recent years, and there’s an expensive GOP primary underway to take his place. The candidate with the most extensive national connections is nonprofit CEO Pierce Bush, a grandson of former President George H.W. Bush who has brought in a vast amount of money in a short time. Bush, though, only recently moved to this district after eyeing a bid for the nearby 7th District.
Another well-funded candidate is GOP fundraiser Kathaleen Wall, who has spent millions of her own money on TV ads. Wall also deployed millions of her own money in the 2018 primary for the nearby 2nd District, but, surprisingly, finished third. The most prominent local elected official in the race is Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls, while former Brazoria County Judge Greg Hill is also running. A few other Republicans are also on the ballot, but none of them has spent much.
The Democratic frontrunner is 2018 nominee Sri Preston Kulkarni, who held Olson to a surprisingly close 51-46 win. The field also includes TV political commentator Nyanza Moore and Pearland City Councilman Derrick Reed, but neither of them has raised much.
● TX-23 (R) (50-46 Clinton, 51-48 Romney): GOP Rep. Will Hurd decided to retire months after defeating Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones by a slim 49.2-48.7 margin in a very expensive race for this swingy West Texas seat, and Ortiz Jones should have no trouble once again claiming her party's nomination on Tuesday. Things are more uncertain on the GOP side, where Hurd is supporting Navy veteran Tony Gonzales. None of the other eight Republicans has spent much money, but Gonzales may still struggle to win a majority of the vote in this busy race.
● TX-24 (R & D) (51-44 Trump, 60-38 Romney): GOP Rep. Kenny Marchant is retiring from a seat in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that used to be safely red turf but has become much more competitive. The GOP frontrunner is Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne, who picked up Donald Trump’s endorsement in February, though self-funder Sunny Chaparala is also spending a notable amount here.
The best-funded Democrat is 2018 state agriculture secretary nominee Kim Olson, while local school board member Candace Valenzuela has EMILY’s List’s backing. 2018 nominee Jan McDowell, who held Marchant to a surprisingly close 51-48 win, is also running again, but she’s once again struggled to raise money.
● TX-28 (D) (58-38 Clinton, 60-39 Obama): Rep. Henry Cuellar, who is one of the worst Democrats in the House, faces a primary challenge from the left from immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros. Cisneros has gone after Cuellar for his conservative voting record, while the incumbent is arguing that Cisneros’ support for environmental protection policies will destroy oil industry jobs in this Laredo-based seat.
Cisneros has the endorsement of a number of unions and progressive groups, and she’s raised a serious amount of money for this contest. Cuellar, though, began the race with $3 million in the bank, and he’s decisively outspent her. Cisneros has also gotten over $1 million in outside support from EMILY’s List, while Cuellar has benefited from spending from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and, remarkably, the Koch network, the first Democrat ever to do so. No other candidates are on the ballot, so this race will be settled without a runoff.
● TX-32 (R) (49-47 Clinton, 57-41 Romney): Democrat Colin Allred flipped this Dallas-area seat last year in an expensive contest, and five Republicans are running to try to retake it. The best-funded Republican is businesswoman Genevieve Collins, while former Navy SEAL Floyd McLendon has also brought in a notable amount of money.
Other Texas races to watch:
Tuesday will be an exciting night, so we hope you’ll join us for our liveblog at Daily Kos Elections!