From the Associated Press:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Several Iowa Democrats are competing for the chance to challenge Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in what will likely be an uphill effort to defeat one of the Senate’s longest-serving members. Tuesday’s Democratic primary largely centers on a former congresswoman from northeast Iowa, Abby Finkenauer, and a retired Navy vice admiral, Mike Franken. Also running is a physician, Glenn Hurst, who is a city councilman and an official in the Iowa Democratic Party. Regardless of who emerges on top, the Democrat will face strong headwinds going against Grassley. He is seeking an eighth term in an increasingly Republican state.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A slate of Republican U.S. House members in heavily Democratic California are facing primary challengers on Tuesday in races that will help determine control of Congress. Two of the incumbents are trying to surmount challenges tied to former President Donald Trump. One voted to support the former president’s impeachment after the U.S. Capitol insurrection, while the other fought against it. Elsewhere on Tuesday, former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is competing against several other Republicans for a chance to capture a new U.S. House district in western Montana. A trio of Republicans in Iowa are jockeying to take on the state’s lone Democratic U.S. House member.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After running unopposed in Iowa’s primary election, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds holds a huge fundraising edge over Democrat Deidre DeJear in a state that has become increasingly friendly to conservative candidates. DeJear, a 36-year-old businesswoman who also faced no primary opposition, is seeking to become the first Democrat elected governor of Iowa in 16 years. She will face a tough challenger in Reynolds, whose campaign has raised eight-times more money than the Democrat as she seeks a second full term. Since becoming governor, Reynolds has ticked through a long list of conservative accomplishments.
FAIRFIELD, Iowa (AP) — A state judge has ordered that the trial for a 16-year-old teen accused of killing his high school Spanish teacher will be held in Council Bluffs in western Iowa. Judge Shawn Showers on Monday ordered the trial for Willard Miller of Fairfield to be moved about 200 miles from Fairfield in southeast Iowa to Council Bluffs. The trial is set to begin Nov. 1. Miller and his 17-year-old classmate Jeremy Goodale will be tried as adults. They face first-degree murder charges in the beating death of 66-year old Nohema Graber, who taught at the Fairfield High School. The location of Goodale’s trial, set for Aug. 23, has not been set.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican House primaries on Tuesday will set the table for the most competitive U.S. House races this fall. A handful of districts will decide whether Democrats can hold their paper-thin margin amid bracing economic headwinds. GOP House primaries in New Jersey, Iowa and California will determine who will face the most prominent and most vulnerable Democrats. Among them are New Jersey’s Tom Malinowski and Iowa’s Cindy Axne. They won by fewer than 2 percentage points in 2020, and their districts have become slightly more Republican since new congressional district lines were set last year.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Primary elections in seven states Tuesday will set the stage for U.S. House and Senate battles this fall that will play into control of Congress. Many contests are being shaped by political divisions in both major parties — and the lingering shadow of former President Donald Trump. A string of Republican House incumbents are contending with challenges from the political right. Some challengers are embracing Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud in his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. No incumbent governors or senators appear to be in imminent danger. The primaries are in California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.
