What states are holding midterm primary elections on June 14, 2022?
The midterm election cycle continues this month with primaries in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina.
The United States midterm election year will reach a climax on 8 November, when Americans will go to the ballot boxes in the first nationwide vote since Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. At stake in the 2022 midterms is control of the House of Representatives, with all 435 seats in the lower chamber on the line, and the opportunity to wrest power in the Senate, where there is currently an even split between Republicans (50) on one side and Democrats (48) and independents (2) on the other, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding a tie-breaking vote. Thirty-four of the 100 seats in the upper house will be contested in November.
The 2022 midterm cycle began in March when Texas held primary elections, which were followed by primary runoffs in May as Republican Governor Greg Abbott seeks a third term.
On 14 June, four states will go to the ballots in primary elections to begin the process of electing Governors, Senators, House representatives, Attorney Generals and Secretaries of State. These are: Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina.
June primaries / November elections: key votes
In Nevada, Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is running for a second term but faces a serious challenge from Adam Laxalt, who has received the backing of former President Donald Trump and who has quite the family curriculum: his father, Pete Domenici, was a Senator for New Mexico and his grandfather was a Senator and Governor in Nevada. Laxalt himself previously served as State Attorney General.
Maine will provide a gubernatorial battleground between incumbent Democratic Governor Janet Mills and firebrand Republican Paul LePage, her predecessor who served in the post between 2011 and 2019 and regularly made headlines for his views on issues such as the death penalty, abortion, LGBTQ rights, racial equality and the environment, while also wielding his veto power more frequently than the combined governors of Maine over the previous 100 years.
Trump influence shades South Carolina district races
The South Carolina House primaries are focused on an internal Republican battle with Representative Tom Rice of the 7th congressional district - who was one of only 10 Republicans to vote in favour of impeaching Trump over the 6 January, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol - and Trump-endorsed candidate Russell Fry going up against each other, with a runoff between the two widely predicted.
“I took one vote he didn’t like and now he’s chosen to support a yes man candidate who has and will bow to anything he says,” Rice said of his primary opponent in March.
Another race that is being seen as a proxy for pro- and anti-Trump camps in the Republican party is the 1st district contest between incumbent Nancy Mace and former state representative Katie Arrington. Mace worked on Trump’s 2016 election and voted against impeachment in 2021, but spoke against Trump’s role in the Capitol riot and voted to hold former Vice President Mike Pence in contempt of Congress. Trump has thrown his weight behind Arrington while Mace has the backing of former US Ambassador the UN Nikki Haley and Senator Rand Paul among others.
Hoeven to walk third Senate term in North Dakota
Republican Senator John Hoeven is expected to stroll to a third term in North Dakota, where he been in office since 2011 and has held senior senator status since 2013, with no serious challengers emerging against an incumbent who secured 78.5% of the vote in 2016 following the withdrawal of state representative Rick Becker. An oil worker, Riley Kuntz, is the only candidate standing against Hoeven, who is a staunch pro-lifer and supporter of the gun lobbies.