Tuesday's primaries across 5 states: 5 things to watch
The drama of another primary day arrives on Tuesday, and in many ways, the contests across five states that stretch from the Midwest to the West Coast encompass the themes of the election cycle. From key tests for the progressive wing to tightropes being walked by Senate Republicans and challengers in the era of President Donald Trump, the races across Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington will showcase the dynamics at the fore of the 2020 season.
On Tuesday, voters in Arizona and Michigan, both battlegrounds, are set to finalize two key matchups in November that could determine the balance of power in the Senate. In the special election for Arizona's Senate seat -- long held by the late-Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee -- the contest is shaping up to be one of Democrats' best chances to cut their deficit in the fall and potentially tilt the majority in their favor.
Sen. Martha McSally, a first-term Republican who was appointed to the seat in 2018 by Gov. Doug Ducey, is expected to cruise to a victory in her primary on Tuesday, but she is not running uncontested. Daniel McCarthy, a wealthy real estate investor, is challenging the incumbent, a sign of potential cracks in McSally's efforts to coalesce the Republican base behind her bid. And the hurdles for McSally are likely to only get steeper from there.
Another race likely to be among the central fights on the battlefield is in Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters -- a first-term senator who won the seat in 2014 -- is one of only two Democrats this cycle running for re-election in a state Trump won in 2016. Peters, who formerly served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, is part of the Democrats' hope of restoring the blue wall after Trump carried the state by the thinnest of margins -- about 10,000 votes -- four years ago.
But potentially standing in Peters’ way could be John James, a former Apache combat helicopter pilot in Iraq, who is running for the Republican nomination. James is attempting a second run for the Senate after a failed bid in 2018 against Sen. Debbie Stabenow, when he lost by about seven points.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tuesdays-primaries-states-things-watch/story?id=72145459&cid=clicksource_4380645_7_heads_posts_card_hed
