New York, Colorado and Utah primaries 2024: Bowman loses, Boebert wins

Three Trump-endorsed candidates also lost in Republican primaries.

June 25 was one of the most jam-packed primary election days of the year: Democrats and Republicans in Colorado, New York, Utah and parts of South Carolina picked their party's nominees for this fall's elections.

Two incumbent representatives — Jamaal Bowman and Lauren Boebert — who have made enemies inside and outside their own parties faced serious challengers in their primaries, but they met with different fates. Bowman lost to a more moderate Democrat, George Latimer, in what was the most expensive congressional primary in history. However, Boebert easily prevailed in her Republican primary despite running in an entirely new district.

It was also a bad night for former President Donald Trump. Going into these primaries, only one candidate he had endorsed for Senate, House or governor had lost; tonight alone, three did, including his preferred candidate to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney in Utah.

In addition, the fields are now set in some key congressional matchups this fall. In Colorado, Republicans avoided nominating far-right candidates who could have put normally safe red districts in play. Meanwhile, Democrats picked their fighters in two competitive New York House districts that could help them reclaim the House majority.

538 reporters and contributors broke down the election results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.


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South Carolina Senate loss is a blow for female representation in the state

As Geoffrey just mentioned, the Republican women who voted with Democrats to defeat the near-total abortion ban measure were the only Republican women in the South Carolina Senate. Healy stated earlier this month, "You can’t tell me that’s not a slap in the face of women.” According to the Center for American Women in Politics, South Carolina ranks 47th in terms of female representation in state legislatures.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor


Last Republican woman in South Carolina state Senate loses renomination

In other Palmetto State news, state Sen. Katrina Healy has conceded defeat in the runoff for South Carolina's 23rd Senate District. Healy belonged to a group of three women state senators from the GOP who broke with their party to oppose a near-total abortion ban in the state last year. But this made them targets in their party primaries: Two lost renomination in the June 11 primary, while Healy is now headed for defeat in a runoff after no candidate won a majority two weeks ago.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538


New Yorkers' concerns have significantly evolved since the midterms

While we're starting to get results in the marquee New York races, let's check in on the issues voters in the state are prioritizing this year. Like voters around the country, New Yorkers are most likely to say that the economy is the most important issue facing the state, according to a May Emerson College/The Hill/PIX 11 survey. Thirty-four percent of New York voters said that the "economy (jobs, inflation, taxes)" was the most important issue, and it topped the list for Democrats, Republicans and independent voters. The exact same share overall (34 percent) also named economy as the top issue in polling just before the 2022 midterms.

Beyond that, though, a lot has changed for the state since 2022. Before the midterms, the second most important issue to New Yorkers was "threats to democracy," named by 14 percent of respondents. That has fallen to just 7 percent in the most recent survey, while the issue of immigration has risen to second place, from 3 percent in 2022 to 16 percent. Housing has also risen in importance; in 2022, 3 percent of New Yorkers named "housing affordability" as the most important issue facing the state, compared to 12 percent now. And abortion has fallen as a key issue; in 2022, 11 percent said "abortion access" was their top issue, while just 3 percent say so today. With the exception of immigration, which has risen in salience across the political spectrum, these changes in priorities are particularly pronounced among Democrats in New York.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538


Polls are closed in New York and Colorado

It's 9 p.m. Eastern, and polls just closed in both New York and Colorado, home to tonight's marquee primary contests. We'll have updates from races in both those states shortly!

—Tia Yang, 538


Democratic divisions on full view in New York's 16th District

In Tuesday's marquee race, Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman could lose renomination against Westchester County Executive George Latimer in New York's dark blue 16th District. This race is defined by internal Democratic divisions over the Israel-Gaza conflict, the influence of pro-Israel groups and controversies about Bowman's past behavior. Bowman has joined with fellow members of the progressive "Squad" and some other Democrats to criticize and oppose U.S. support for Israel, a position that made him a major target for pro-Israel groups.

Bowman lacks a strong electoral record, having won only 54 percent of the primary vote in his first reelection campaign in 2022. He also attracted scrutiny last September when he pulled a fire alarm in a Capitol Hill office building just before a high-profile vote to avoid a government shutdown, for which he was censured by the House and had to pay a fine. On top of this, old blog posts by Bowman came to light in January that included conspiracy theories about the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. All of this has helped boost the primary challenge from Latimer, who's also built up a strong local political reputation in Westchester County — where 9 in 10 of the district's voters live, according to Daily Kos Elections.

Still, the big story is Latimer's support from pro-Israel donors and organizations. Latimer has raised $5.8 million, $2.4 million of which came via individual donors who used the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as a conduit to contribute to his campaign. This has helped give him a financial leg up on Bowman, who has raised $4.3 million. And the monetary disparity grows far starker when we look at outside spending. Groups have spent a whopping $17.7 million either opposing Bowman or supporting Latimer, according to OpenSecrets, while they've spent only $3.0 million attacking Latimer or boosting Bowman. As a result, this has turned into the most expensive House primary on record, according to AdImpact.

The principal group behind the massive spending is United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, which has forked out $14.6 million on the race to take down Bowman. Despite the pro-Israel connection, the group's ads rarely mention the ongoing conflict, instead criticizing Bowman on issues such as not supporting President Joe Biden's position on a major infrastructure package in 2021 and a debt ceiling deal in 2023. Bowman and his allies haven't taken this lying down. In the last primary debate, Bowman attacked the "racist MAGA Republicans" — a reference to AIPAC's bipartisan sources of financial backing — supporting Latimer, a criticism leveled in ads put out by Bowman and outside groups backing him.

The most recent survey of the race — an Emerson College/The Hill/WPIX poll from early June — found Latimer ahead of Bowman 48 percent to 31 percent, which signals just how in danger Bowman is of becoming the first Democratic incumbent to lose renomination in 2024.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538