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.
Latest headlines:
And it's Jeff Hurd in Colorado's 3rd
The AP projects attorney Jeff Hurd has won the Republican primary in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. And thanks to solid margins in Pueblo, a city south of Colorado Springs, and throughout the Western Slope, it wasn't that close in the end. At over 80 percent of expected votes reporting, Hurd currently has 42 percent of the vote — his closest competitor is self-described "pro-Trump warrior" Ron Hanks, at 28 percent. Actually, getting so close to 50 percent is a real accomplishment in a 6-person race — so Hurd certainly has something to celebrate tonight.
—G. Elliott Morris, 538
Bowman rails against AIPAC in concession speech
Not known for his subtly, Bowman, still speaking now at a catering hall in Yonkers, is clearly agitated, fired up, not going down without a fight, even in his loss. After quickly (and, likely, in jest) telling his crowd not to jeer at AIPAC's mountains of spending against him, he led the crowd of a hundred or so supporters and staffers in a group "BOO" of the group that lobbed nearly 15 million dollars to elect Latimer.
"Our opponents-not opponent-may have won this round at this time at this place. But this will be a battle for our humanity and justice for the rest of our lives. And we will continue to fight that battle for humanity and justice for the rest of our lives."
Next to me, supporters are crying into one another's shoulders, clearly leveled by this loss. Actually, a few of them just ran over to the bar. I think it'll be a late night here.
—Brittany Shepherd, ABC News
Curtis leads, as expected, in Utah
With an estimated 30 percent of the vote counted in the Utah Republican primary for Senate, Curtis leads with 54 percent, followed by Staggs at 27 percent, Wilson at 13 percent and Walton at 6 percent. That result is pretty much in line with what polling said and, if it holds, would represent the third loss for a Trump-endorsed candidate (Staggs) tonight.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
Answer: Going all in on the Israeli conflict probably backfired
There's probably a lot of reasons that Bowman lost, Nathaniel, but going all in on pro-Palestinian rhetoric, even to the very end probably didn't help. In the Emerson College/PIX 11/The Hill poll of the race a few weeks ago, 45 percent of voters said Latimer's views were more aligned with theirs on the war between Israel and Hamas, compared with 29 percent who said Bowman's views were more aligned with theirs. And statewide, it doesn't seem to be a winning issue for Democrats: In a Slingshot Strategies poll taken during the protests in May, 44 percent of voters statewide said the protests made them less sympathetic to the pro-Palestinian viewpoint, compared with 23 percent who said they were more sympathetic.
I'm sure many folks will also point out there's also a significant Jewish population in Westchester County, but I think even absent that demographic, these ideas just aren't that popular in the district or in the state. Bowman could have leaned away from that position and tried to bolster his other progressive bona fides, but he ... didn't.
—Mary Radcliffe, 538
Final thought: Abortion may not be as big an issue in blue states this year
As Mary wrote earlier, only 3 percent of New Yorkers said that abortion was a key issue in advance of these primaries, down from 11 percent last year. Abortion access is protected in the state, but Democrats were hoping to nationalize it as an issue to win key races this fall. A vote for a Republican in the House or Senate, the thinking goes, is one step closer to a national abortion ban.
However, that strategy didn’t work for Klee Hood, who made access to abortion a centerpiece of her campaign. She lost to Mannion, who also supports abortion rights but also supports some restrictions after 24 weeks. If that issue isn’t as top of mind for New York voters, or other blue state voters, by the time November comes, that could make it harder for Democrats to gain an advantage in tighter general election races in close districts. That’s especially because voters do still care a lot about economic issues and rate Biden’s handling of the economy poorly. Whether abortion will be as much of a deciding factor this year as it was in the midterms, which proved to be good for Democrats, remains one of the biggest questions of this election cycle.
—Monica Potts, 538