NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s name will appear on the ballot Tuesday for the first time since his historic conviction on felony crimes as a handful of states hold the last Republican presidential primary contests of 2024.
The former president will be on the ballot in Republican contests in Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico. President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will compete in primaries in the same states, plus the primary in Washington, D.C., and one in South Dakota.
Republicans in D.C. held a party-run primary in March. South Dakota canceled its GOP presidential primary because Trump was uncontested.
Voters will also cast ballots in primary races for federal, state and local offices in those states.
Trump and Biden are both expected to easily prevail in the contests, where they’re the last major candidates still running.
But the results could signal voter concerns about their choices as November’s election barrels closer.
If Trump's margins of victory are closer than expected, it could be a sign that voters have hesitations about nominating a presidential candidate with a felony criminal record.
Trump’s domination in the primary has also been shadowed by ongoing support from a minority of GOP voters for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who dropped out in March. Tuesday’s contests will be the first since Haley said two weeks ago that she would vote for Trump in November. They may be an indicator of whether her supporters will follow her.
Biden has faced his own ongoing protest vote in recent contests as Democratic voters unhappy with his handling of Israel’s war with Hamas seek to register their disapproval. There are organized campaigns in several states Tuesday to vote for “uncommitted” in the Democratic contests. In New Jersey’s primary, “uncommitted” will be on the ballot in many counties above the phrase, “Justice For Palestine, Permanent Ceasefire Now!”
After Tuesday, Democrats have two additional caucuses on June 8, for Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to close out their 2024 primary calendar.
Beyond the presidential contests, the states are holding primary elections for federal and local races Tuesday, with one of the most watched being the Republican Senate race in Montana.
Retired Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy has the backing of Trump and national Republican leaders as he faces two other candidates in the race. The winner will challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in what's expected to be one of the most competitive races that could decide control of the chamber.
Republicans will also pick a nominee to replace Rep. Matt Rosendale, who is retiring after he originally sought to run in the Senate contest but dropped out when Trump endorsed Sheehy.
In New Jersey, Democrats will pick a candidate to replace scandal-plagued Sen. Bob Menendez, who is on trial in New York on federal corruption charges. Menendez decided not to run in the primary. He filed paperwork Monday to run in the general election as an independent candidate.
Rep. Andy Kim is seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.
Vying for the Republican nomination are businessman Curtis Bashaw, Navy veteran Albert Harshaw, former Tabernacle Deputy Mayor Justin Murphy and Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, who has Trump’s backing.
Five Democrats will compete in a primary for the state’s 3rd District, which Kim holds and is expected to stay in Democratic hands in November.
Menendez’s son, first-term Rep. Rob Menendez, is facing a tough primary challenge in New Jersey’s 8th District from Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
In New Mexico, where Democrats hold all three of the state’s U.S. House seats, only one primary will be held in the 1st District. Republicans Louie Sanchez and Steve Jones will compete to take on incumbent Melanie Stansbury in a Democratic-leaning district based in Albuquerque.
In D.C., voters will decide a primary for the city’s nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House, and in Iowa, which kicked off the presidential contests in January with its first-in-the-nation caucuses, voters will pick nominees in primary elections for local races and U.S. House seats, including one that could play a key role in determining control of the House.
Democrats in the Des Moines-area 3rd Congressional District will choose a nominee to take on a first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, who edged out an incumbent Democrat in 2022.
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This story has been corrected to show Bashaw is a businessman, not a GOP fundraiser.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/6/1246564