Election News

Democratic Rep. Ron Kind, the senior member of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, won't seek reelection next year. Kind narrowly won a 13th term in 2020, beating Republican Derrick Van Orden by less than 3%.  This represented quite a shift:  Kind had won by 20% in 2018, and actually ran unopposed in 2016.

The Wisconsin 3rd district was one of just seven nationally that voted for Donald Trump in 2020, while electing a Democratic representative.  Trump won here by about 5%. 

Absent the incumbent and with Van Orden running again, the district becomes an even stronger pick-up opportunity for the GOP next year.

Days after a report detailing his sexual harassment of eleven women was released, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation as governor of New York Wednesday. The resignation will be effective in 14 days. 

Cuomo's discussion about his pending departure begins at about 12:00 in the video from an address he made late Wednesday morning.

As expected, Rep. Conor Lamb (PA-17) is launching his 2022 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate campaign Friday. 

Lamb rose to prominence by narrowing winning a special election to flip a long-held Republican congressional seat in 2018. He joins a field of prominent Democrats hoping to win the nomination. This includes the state's Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and County Commissioner Val Arkoosh. 

A new survey from Public Policy Polling gives Sen. Raphael Warnock a very small lead over his two most well-known prospective opponents.  Warnock leads by 47% to 44% over former Sen. Kelly Loeffler. His lead is two over former professional football player Herschel Walker. Warnock's lead expands to eight - outside the 3.9% margin of error - over the only notable Republican to have actually joined the race, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black.

The poll gave Walker, who is well-known in the state from his days as a star running back at the University of Georgia, a +13 favorability rating, while Loeffler was -19. Perhaps highlighting the ongoing political polarization, that 32-point gap in favorability made little difference in the 'who would you vote for' questions. Black's favorability was even, but 70% said they were unsure, indicating he remains largely unknown.

Rep. Billy Long (MO-7) entered the 2022 Missouri U.S. Senate race earlier this week. He joins a crowded primary field, including his colleague Vicky Hartzler (MO-4), seeking the GOP nomination. The current incumbent, Republican Sen. Roy Blunt is not seeking a third term.

14 current U.S. House members have announced they are not seeking reelection in 2022.  

Headlining Tuesday's election calendar are special party primaries in two Ohio congressional districts. Details below. There are also party primaries for two vacant State Senate seats in Michigan and nonpartisan mayoral primaries in both Detroit and Seattle.

Ohio Congressional District Special Primaries

Both these vacant seats are expected to remain with the incumbent party in the November 2 special general election. As a result, most of the drama in these races is is around picking a Democratic nominee in District 11 and a Republican nominee in District 15.   

Polls close at 7:30 PM Eastern Time. 

District 11

Headlining Tuesday's election calendar are special party primaries in two Ohio congressional districts. There are also party primaries for two vacant State Senate seats in Michigan and nonpartisan mayoral primaries in both Detroit and Seattle.

Mayoral Primary Elections

On Tuesday, Seattle and Detroit will hold nonpartisan primaries for mayor. The top two finishers in each will advance to the November 2 general election.

City rankings are based on July 1, 2020 Census Bureau population estimates. They are for the city itself, not the associated metropolitan area.

Seattle, Washington

Headlining Tuesday's election calendar are special party primaries in two Ohio congressional districts. There are also party primaries for two vacant State Senate seats in Michigan and nonpartisan mayoral primaries in both Detroit and Seattle.

Michigan State Senate Special Primary Elections

There are 38 State Senate districts in Michigan. Currently, there are 20 Republicans and 16 Democrats. Tuesday's primaries are to select nominees who will meet in the November 2 general election to fill the two open seats.

Polls close at 8:00 Eastern Time. 

District 8

Republican Jake Ellzey was sworn into office Friday as the representative for Texas' 6th congressional district.  Ellzey won the seat in a special election held earlier in the week.

Democrats now hold a 220-212 margin the House. Three vacancies remain. 

Despite being more competitive than the three other vacant House districts, we know for sure that a Republican will win Tuesday's special election in Texas' 6th congressional district. The seat has been open since Republican Rep. Ron Wright died in February.

No candidate received a majority of the vote in the May 1 all-party primary, necessitating Tuesday's runoff.  This wasn't a surprise in a huge field of 23 candidates. What was a bit unexpected was that Republicans secured both slots on the ballot. 

Susan Wright, widow of Ron Wright, led the primary field with about 19% of the vote. State Rep. Jake Ellzey took the second spot, with just under 14%. Ellzey narrowly edged out Democrat Jana Sanchez, setting up Tuesday's intraparty election.