Eight states are holding primary or runoff elections on Tuesday, the first elections since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark case Roe v. Wade.
In Colorado’s 3rd House District, CBS News projected Rep. Lauren Boebert will win the Republican primary. Boebert, a controversial conservative freshman member of Congress, had former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Trump loomed large over the race to be Colorado’s top elections official. The current Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, a Democrat, is unopposed in her primary. CBS News projected Pam Anderson wins the Republican nomination for secretary of state in Colorado.
Anderson had faced two Republican challengers: Mike O’Donnell and Tina Peters. When asked by the Colorado Sun if the 2020 election was “stolen,” one of the candidates, Peters answered yes.
“This is a personal opinion based on the evidence that I have seen and gone through and based on what I know from our reports. I do believe there may have been enough fraud that it turned the election,” she told the newspaper.
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Peters was indicted earlier this year in a security breach of her county’s election system. She has also been barred by a judge from overseeing the 2022 elections in Mesa County partly because of the breach,
One of her opponents, Mike O’Donnell, told the Colorado Sun he couldn’t “say yes or no” to the question of whether the 2020 election was stolen. Anderson, a former Jefferson County clerk and recorder and the former executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, was the only GOP candidate to answer no.
In Illinois, redistricting has spawned some incumbent vs. incumbent races. CBS News projects Rep. Sean Casten will win the Democratic nomination, defeating a primary challenge from Rep. Marie Newman. Both have represented only portions of the newly-drawn 6th District, which is considered solidly blue.
Casten’s 17-year-old daughter died earlier this month. In a concession speech, Newman urged the party to come together.
In Illinois’ 15th District, CBS News projected Rep. Mary Miller won the Republican nomination for the House seat. She had Trump’s backing race against another incumbent, Rep. Rodney Davis. Davis, who was one of the Republicans to vote to create a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack.
Over the weekend, Miller said at a rally – flanked by Trump – that the decision to overturn Roe was a “victory for White life by the Supreme Court.” Her campaign said she misread the prepared remarks.
Davis conceded Tuesday night to Miller, saying he looks forward to “campaigning with every Republican up and down the ticket across Illinois between now and November to ensure we take back our state and take back Congress.”
A co-chair of Trump’s 2020 campaign, Davis congratulated Trump and Miller on the win. He was also one of the Republicans who worked to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, although that commission was later abandoned, and Democrats created a select committee instead.
In the governor’s race, CBS projected incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker won the Democratic primary.
In the Republican primary, CBS News projected Illinois Darren Bailey defeated Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who was funded by $50 million from GOP megadonor Ken Griffin. Griffin has said he would not back the Republican nominee if it is not Irvin and criticized Democratic groups for their outside spending to boost Bailey. “The unprecedented tens of millions of dollars spent by Pritzker and national Democrats in the Republican Primary to avoid facing Richard in the General Election demonstrated he was the right candidate,” Griffin said in a statement.In his concession speech, Irvin said he hoped Pritzker “is wrong in his assessment that he can easily defeat the opponent he paid tens of millions of dollars to face.”
In New York, CBS News projects New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will win the Democratic nomination for governor. She had two primary challengers: Rep. Tom Suozzi from Long Island and New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams.
CBS News projected Rep. Lee Zeldin will win the Republican nomination for governor. Zeldin, from eastern Long Island, faced three challengers, Rob Astrorino, Harry WIlson and Andrew Giuliani, the son of Trump ally Rudy Giuliani.
In Utah, two-term Republican Sen. Mike Lee, one of Trump’s closest allies, beat two primary challengers, former state lawmaker Becky Edwards and businesswoman Ally Isom. Neither voted for Trump, according to The Associated Press. Lee will face independent conservative Evan McMullin in November. Utah’s Democratic Party has thrown its support behind McMullin, a longtime Trump critic, rather than putting up candidate of its own.
Republican Mike Flood wins special election for House in Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District. Flood will serve the remainder of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s term. Fortenberry was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation for lying to federal authorities about an illegal campaign contribution.
Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in the special election. Both candidates won their respective primaries to seek a full term and will face each other in a rematch in November.
Musadiq Bidar contributed to this report.