House battlegrounds, a primary to Trump’s prosecutor and more: What we’re watching in Tuesday’s elections

A fight between the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Party in a battleground House seat is the headliner for Tuesday’s primaries.

Voters in five states are heading to the polls, with some presidential primaries still on the ballot. But the real action is down-ballot. In Oregon, both parties will be choosing their nominees for battleground contests that will help determine control of the House this fall. In Georgia, the district attorney prosecuting former President Donald Trump and the judge presiding over that case face challengers — as does a state Supreme Court judge in a race that has been shaped by abortion messaging. In Idaho, a longtime House Republican is fighting to survive a primary, and in California, a successor to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy will finally be chosen.

And even though both presidential primaries have long been locked up, voters in Kentucky and Oregon will have an opportunity to weigh in as well — and could provide more warning signs for both presumptive nominees. “Uncommitted” appears as an option on the Kentucky ballot, where both presidential and congressional primaries are being held. Oregonians will also vote for president, though their options are just Trump on the Republican side and President Joe Biden and Marianne Williamson on the Democratic side.

Here are the races to watch:

— Oregon: Two hotly contested Democratic primaries are attracting heavy outside spending.

Democrats are hoping to flip the 5th District — a Biden-won seat — from Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. National Democrats are banking on state Rep. Janelle Bynum, who’s up against Jamie McLeod-Skinner in the primary. McLeod-Skinner unseated then-Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader in the 2022 primary by running to his left, and then ultimately lost the race in the general election.

Big money has been pouring into the race in support of Bynum. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in coordination with Bynum, has dropped more than $1 million on ads in the primary, according to ad tracker AdImpact. Mainstream Democrats PAC, a super PAC that played in a handful of House races last cycle thanks to LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman’s backing, has spent around $800,000 in support of Bynum. McLeod-Skinner’s biggest backer has been a pop-up super PAC — which doesn’t have to disclose its donors until after the primary — called Health Equity Now, which Bynum’s campaign has accused Republicans of running.

And in the safely blue 3rd District, there are three main contenders to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer: state Rep. Maxine Dexter; former county commissioner Susheela Jayapal, the sister of Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.); and Eddy Morales, a city councilor. Dexter, a physician, has benefited from more than $2 million in spending from 314 Action Fund, a super PAC that supports STEM candidates, and Jayapal has been the target of around $3 million in negative spending from a separate pop-up PAC, Voters for Responsive Government.

The GOP primaries are a bit sleepier. Republicans are choosing between Monique DeSpain, a veteran, and former city council member Amy Ryan Courser to challenge Democratic Rep. Val Hoyle in the Democratic-leaning 4th District. DeSpain has a significant fundraising advantage over Ryan Courser. And in the 6th District, which would have voted for Biden by around 14 points in 2020, Republican Mike Erickson is looking for a rematch against Democratic Rep. Andrea Salinas. He lost to her by about three points in the midterms.

Oregon’s primary is conducted primarily via mail-in ballots. Polls close at 11 p.m. EST.

— Georgia: Incumbents up and down the ballot are facing challenges today, though they are in strong positions to fend them off.

Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath is running in an entirely new district — the blue 6th District, which does not overlap with her current constituency — after a court-ordered redistricting at the end of last year. Two local elected officials are also competing for the seat, though McBath has a strong financial advantage.

In the 13th District, another deep-blue seat, a crowded field of Democrats are looking to unseat Rep. David Scott, the longtime Democratic member whose health had some concerned about his reelection bid. One of those contenders includes Marcus Flowers, who proved to be a strong fundraiser when he ran against Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in the midterms but lost by more than 30 points. There’s some overlap between Scott’s old district and the new one, and his high name ID and hefty campaign coffers make him the favorite.

Republicans are also jockeying for an open seat in the 3rd District, a safe GOP seat that Rep. Drew Ferguson is retiring from. Brian Jack, a former Trump staffer who has the backing of the former president, is the favorite here.

Elsewhere on the ballot, former Democratic Rep. John Barrow is hoping that a campaign rooted in abortion-rights messaging can propel him to victory over incumbent state Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson, an appointee of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, in the technically nonpartisan role. But Barrow has gotten into trouble for centering his campaign on promising to protect access to the procedure, with the state’s judicial watchdog urging him to change his message. Barrow filed a federal suit, claiming the organization is violating his right to free speech, which was denied last week — meaning that he could face sanctions.

Abortion rights was a winning message in the race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court last year, when a liberal candidate flipped ideological control of the court, as well as in last fall’s race for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The Georgia race has not attracted as much national attention as these other two contests, and incumbent justices in the Peach State are rarely unseated. Pinson is getting a boost from Kemp, who has cut an ad supporting him.

And in Fulton County, District Attorney Fani Willis — the lead prosecutor in the criminal case accusing Trump and more than a dozen Republican allies of a conspiracy to subvert Biden’s 2020 victory in the state — is facing a primary challenge from attorney Christian Wise Smith. Willis has been in the national spotlight when proceedings were delayed following allegations that she had committed ethical lapses stemming from a romantic relationship with a special prosecutor she hired. (The Georgia case is currently delayed and might not take place this year.) The winner will face off against Republican Courtney Kramer, a former Trump campaign lawyer, in the heavily Democratic county.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, the Kemp-appointed judge presiding over that criminal case, also faces a challenge, with two opponents on the ballot for the nonpartisan position.

Polls close at 7 p.m. EST.

— Idaho: Thirteen-term Republican Rep. Mike Simpson — a member of the pragmatic Republican Main Street Caucus — is no stranger to a primary challenge. In 2022, he bested his closest competitor, who ran to his right, by more than 20 points.

This time around, he’s facing Scott Cleveland, a vice chair of a county GOP organization, and first-time candidate Sean Higgins. Simpson has a strong fundraising advantage over his competitors, but isn’t taking the challenge lightly: The incumbent has put in more than $300,000 on the airwaves boosting his conservative credentials. Neither Cleveland nor Higgins has made such investments.

Polls close at 10 p.m. EST in most of the state, with some closing at 11 p.m. EST.

— California: The monthslong process to pick McCarthy’s successor in the deep red 20th District is coming to an end.

Republican state Assemblymember Vince Fong, who has the backing of McCarthy and Trump, is facing off in a special runoff against county sheriff Mike Boudreaux, a fellow Republican. Fong earned close to 20 points more than Boudreaux in the March special election.

The winner of the special election will complete the rest of the term. Both men are also facing off in the November general election for a full term.

Polls close at 11 p.m. EST.

— Kentucky: A handful of members of the delegation are facing primary challenges — Republican Reps. Thomas Massie and Hal Rogers, along with Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey — although most expect the incumbents to skate through.

Polls close at 6 p.m. EST in most of the state, and the rest close at 7 p.m. EST.