Election News

Today (June 24) marks 500 days until the presidential election, scheduled for November 5, 2024.

For the second consecutive Thursday, Tennessee is holding a special primary election. 

Polls close at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. 

Tennessee State House District 3

Former Rep. Will Hurd announced Thursday that he is running for president. He joins a Republican field of candidates now numbering into the double-digits. 

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware launched her candidacy for U.S. Senate on Wednesday. She is looking to follow fellow Democrat, Sen. Tom Carper, who announced his retirement about a month ago.

I’m running to represent Delaware in the United States Senate.

I’m filled with Bright Hope for our future. But a more perfect union isn’t a destination. It’s a journey. Let’s go on it together.

Join me ?? https://t.co/tymKWayXko pic.twitter.com/VeXvchGV0v

— Lisa Blunt Rochester (@LisaBRochester) June 21, 2023

The move is not unexpected, as Carper endorsed Blunt Rochester in his retirement speech. She has also received encouragement from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. As a result, no serious competition for the Democratic nomination is expected,  and she will be strongly favored to succeed Carper in this deep blue state. 

Per the AP, "there are no Black women currently serving in the Senate, and, if elected, Blunt Rochester would be only the third Black woman to have served in the chamber, after Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and Kamala Harris of California." 

Blunt Rochester is in her 4th term as Delaware's sole U.S. House representative. She won reelection by about 13% in 2022. While the field has yet to develop to succeed her, the eventual Democratic nominee is likely to be favored. Republicans last carried the seat in 2008.

Tuesday is primary day in Virginia. Both chambers of the General Assembly are competitive in terms of partisan control, making it it unique among the four states holding legislative elections this year. 

Separately, residents of Kansas City will elect a mayor in Tuesday's election.

Virginia Primary

As the Washington Post reports, Tuesday's primary elections "will be the first time voters have encountered the state’s new electoral maps, which were drawn under supervision of the Supreme Court of Virginia after a bipartisan panel appointed by the legislature failed to reach agreement."

The Post goes on to say that "the new boundaries for the House of Delegates and Senate put incumbent lawmakers in new districts, pitted some veterans against one another and created wide-open new districts, triggering a wave of retirements and guaranteeing at least a third of both chambers will be rookies."

Polls close at 7:00 PM. Winners will advance to the November 7 general election.

Earlier this year, two Democratic legislators in the Tennessee House of Representatives were expelled after - according to the resolution - circumventing House rules. State Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were attempting to advocate for gun control in the wake of a deadly shooting the prior week at a Nashville elementary school.

Both were subsequently reinstated by local officials. However, those were interim appointments until special elections could be held.

That process - which will almost certainly end with both Representatives being reelected - begins Thursday with primaries in these two Districts.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez filed with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday to join the 2024 presidential race. He will be the third candidate from Florida to seek the Republican nomination, although he starts with much less name recognition than former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Suarez, easily reelected to a second term as Miami's mayor in 2021, will also be the first Hispanic in the race. He is scheduled to give a speech at the Reagan Library on Thursday.

A super PAC supporting Suarez was also announced Wednesday, and it released this ad.

The Georgia and Maine State Houses each have one vacancy to be filled by special election on Tuesday.

State House Special Elections

Georgia District 68 (Runoff)

Republicans hold a 101-78 partisan edge in the Georgia House of Representatives. There is a single vacancy. Members serve two-year terms; the next regular elections are in 2024.

District 68 is located in the southern part of the Atlanta area. Democrat Tish Naghise died in March. Five Democrats ran in the May 16 special election. None received a majority, necessitating Tuesday's runoff. The top two finishers, Mark Baker and Derrick Jackson, each received about 1/3 of the vote.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's redistricted congressional district map is in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling upheld an earlier District Court decision that essentially said the state needs to create a second majority minority district to better match the state's Black population of about 26%.

The Supreme Court had previously stayed the lower court ruling, allowing the existing map to be used for the 2022 midterm elections. Little changed from the map of the prior decade, the election again yielded a 6-1 delegation favoring Republicans.

There are similar court challenges to congressional maps in other Southern states, including Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina. That could yield several seats likely to favor Democrats.  

The Associated Press reports that "after a trio of new announcements this week, the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set." The question now is whether any of the nine notable candidates not named Donald Trump can keep him from his third consecutive GOP nomination.

The AP article goes on to say that "as of now, the former president is running in a field that features no fewer than nine high-profile challengers. They include Mike Pence, a former vice president; four current or former governors: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations and also a former South Carolina governor; U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina; biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; and conservative talk show host Larry Elder, an unsuccessful candidate for California governor.

Polling