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:
Burns looks favored over Biggs for the GOP nomination in South Carolina's 3rd District
Palmetto State primary voters went to the polls on June 11, but one notable race went to a runoff: the GOP nomination contest in the open and solidly red 3rd District. In the first round of voting, pastor Mark Burns ran slightly ahead of Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs, 33 percent to 29 percent. And Burns is probably favored on Tuesday thanks to his endorsement from former President Donald Trump, which Burns has highlighted in ads ahead of the runoff. He also received an endorsement from state Rep. Stewart Jones, who finished third in the primary with 19 percent. Moreover, Burns had $111,000 in the bank versus Biggs's $43,000 as of June 5, and Burns further improved his financial standing with a $250,000 loan on June 7. That brought his total campaign loans this cycle to $750,000, for which The Post and Courier found Burns had received extremely favorable terms that could run counter to campaign finance laws.
Still, Biggs can't be counted out due to outside spending. Conservatives for American Excellence and America Leads Actions, two super PACs that have opposed more anti-establishment candidates this cycle, have spent $510,000 to oppose Burns or boost Biggs during the runoff campaign, while Burns has received just $59,000 in outside support. This opposition to Burns may connect to his controversial past: A high-profile Trump surrogate in 2016, he retweeted a fake photo of Hillary Clinton in blackface, and in 2022 he called for the execution and arrest of those who support transgender and other LGBTQ children. In a June 18 debate, Burns also faced questions about 2016-era revelations that his church website biography falsely claimed that he'd obtained a bachelor's degree and had served in the Army Reserve.
—Geoffrey Skelley, 538
Welcome!
Good evening, and welcome to another election night with 538! Today, voters cast their ballots in downballot primaries in Colorado, New York, South Carolina and Utah. And with so many of those states and districts being uncompetitive in November, that means today's results will decide the next members of Congress from many of those places. In fact, as my colleagues will tell you shortly, we're expecting at least one sitting member of Congress to lose reelection tonight.
We should start seeing results shortly: Polls just closed (at 7 p.m. Eastern) in South Carolina, while it will be pencils down in Colorado and New York at 9 p.m. Eastern. Finally, we will start getting results in Utah shortly after 10 p.m. Eastern. We hope you'll stick with us throughout the evening; this is the last regularly scheduled primary until late July, so enjoy the election-night rush while you can!
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
Tenney projected to win renomination in New York's 24th District
The AP projects that New York Rep. Claudia Tenney will win the Republican primary in New York's 24th District. We figured she was favored, but Tenney only defeated the same opponent, businessman Mario Fratto, by 14 points in the 2022 primary here, so we were keeping an eye on this one. However, with 36 percent of the expected vote reporting, Tenney leads 65 percent to 35 percent, per AP, so she looks set to survive and win reelection in this solidly red Upstate seat.
—Geoffrey Skelley, 538