Temperatures have cooled, a new school year has started and the national political spotlight is trained Tuesday on the first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump — but there are still states holding primaries. Voters in Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island will cast their ballots in a slate of primary races Tuesday, the last ones of the 2024 election cycle.
Delaware at-large congressional primary
Three candidates are running in the Democratic primary for the state’s single at-large congressional seat: businessman Earl Cooper, state Sen. Sarah McBride and Elias Weir. Of those, McBride is the heavy favorite to win the primary and would become the first openly transgender member of Congress in U.S. history if she is elected in November.
President Joe Biden won his home state of Delaware in 2020 by nearly 19 percentage points, and the winner of the Democratic primary is favored to win the general election to fill the seat of Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D). Rochester announced last year she would run for Senate after Sen. Tom Carper (D) announced he would not seek reelection to a fifth term.
Two candidates are running in the Republican primary: Air Force veteran Donyale Hall and former police officer John Whalen III. The winner of the GOP primary will advance to November’s general election.
Delaware gubernatorial primary
Three candidates are on the Democratic gubernatorial primary ballot, hoping for a chance to succeed Delaware Gov. John Carney (D), who is term-limited. Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who has served alongside Carney since 2017, has the support of the governor as well as the state’s Democratic Party. However, she has also been dogged by a recent investigation into inconsistencies in her past campaign finance reports; Hall-Long has denied any wrongdoing by her campaign.
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and Collin O’Mara, a former state environmental secretary, are also running. The winner of the Democratic primary will be heavily favored to win the general election in November.
Three Republicans are running: state House Rep. Mike Ramone, ex-New York City police officer Jerrold Price and Bobby Williamson.
New Hampshire gubernatorial primaries
A half-dozen candidates have jumped into the Republican gubernatorial primary after New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) announced last year he would not seek reelection. They include former U.S. senator Kelly Ayotte, Shaun Fife, Robert McClory, Richard McMenamon II, Chuck Morse and Frank Staples.
Three candidates are running in the Democratic gubernatorial primary: former Manchester mayor Joyce Craig, small business owner Jonathan Kiper and lawyer and New Hampshire Executive Council member Cinde Warmington.
Though Biden won the state by more than seven percentage points in 2020, the governor’s race is seen as a toss-up. Sununu, a Republican, has served in office since 2017.
New Hampshire 1st Congressional District primary
Incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas (D) will face little-known challenger Kevin Rondeau in the Democratic primary for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, which covers the southeastern portion of the state, including its largest city, Manchester. Pappas was first elected in 2018 and is seeking his fourth term in Congress. Rondeau ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2020 and 2022.
In the Republican primary, seven candidates are vying for a chance to advance to the general election: Christian Bright, Joseph Kelly Levasseur, Andy Martin, Walter McFarlane III, Hollie Noveletsky and Russell Prescott. The winner of the GOP primary will probably face Pappas in November.
New Hampshire 2nd Congressional District primary
Two candidates are running in the Democratic primary for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District: Maggie Goodlander, a lawyer who previously served in the Justice Department as an assistant attorney general, and Colin Van Ostern, a former member of the New Hampshire Executive Council. Both are hoping to succeed Rep. Annie Kuster (D), who announced earlier this year she would retire after six terms in Congress.
Goodlander is married to Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser. The race between her and Van Ostern has focused heavily on the fight for reproductive rights and the sources of the millions of dollars that have been poured into the unusually expensive primary.
The district covers much of the northern and western parts of the state, including the capital, Concord. The winner of the Democratic primary is favored to win the general election; Biden won the district by more than eight percentage points in 2020.
More than a dozen candidates are running in the GOP primary for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District. The winner of the Republican primary will go on to face the winner of a contentious Democratic primary in the general election, which the Democrat is favored to win.
Rhode Island Senate primary
Incumbent Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D) is facing challenger Michael Costa in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Rhode Island.
U.S. Army veteran Raymond McKay and state lawmaker Patricia Morgan are running in the Republican primary to challenge him.
Democrats are favored to hang on to the seat in the general election in November. Biden won the state handily in 2020, defeating Donald Trump by more than 20 percentage points.
