Millions of voters are heading to the polls today in primaries across six states, with California, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota each putting consequential races in play. The contests reach from governor’s offices to Senate and House seats, and in California they include the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and a closely watched Los Angeles mayoral contest.
The reason the search interest is spiking now is simple: these are not isolated state fights. They are part of a single national day that could help decide which party enters November’s midterm elections with momentum, and California’s newly redrawn congressional districts may end up playing an outsized role in the battle for power in Washington.
In California, the ballot also includes a series of high-stakes U.S. House contests that could matter far beyond the state line. In New Jersey, Democrats are choosing who will face Republican Tom Kean Jr. in November, with Adam Hamawy emerging as the frontrunner after winning endorsements from Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. Kean has missed more than 100 House votes because of an undisclosed illness, giving the race an added edge.
Iowa is where Democrats are hoping for a comeback, even as the state remains a tough climb for them. They are trying to win back both the U.S. House and the Senate, and Rob Sand is running for governor in a state where Republicans still dominate and Donald Trump’s approval ratings remain deep underwater. That makes the Democratic case stronger than it has been in some recent cycles, but not strong enough to erase the structural problem they face in a state that has leaned right for years.
New Mexico’s main event is the governor’s race, where Deb Haaland is seeking the Democratic nomination. In Montana, the fight is a five-way Democratic contest for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Steve Daines, and independent Seth Bodnar is outraising the Democrats, a reminder that money is not lining up neatly with party labels. South Dakota, meanwhile, is voting on a governor’s race, a Sioux Falls mayoral contest, a U.S. Senate seat and a U.S. House seat, while Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden faces three primary challengers in his first bid for a full term after stepping up when Kristi Noem left for the Department of Homeland Security.
Polls have already closed in Iowa, New Mexico and all of South Dakota, putting those states first in line for results and leaving the others still unfolding through the day. The candidates leading each contest are still the central unanswered question, but the larger picture is already clear: the next major test comes with final primary results, and after that, November will decide whether any of these state-by-state fights change the balance in Washington.
