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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Republicans pick Trump-endorsed Gabe Evans in ultra-competitive CO-08

According to the Associated Press, businessman and state Rep. Gabe Evans has won the Republican Primary for Colorado's 8th Congressional District. With 64 percent of the vote reporting, he currently has a 78 percent to 22 percent lead over his opponent, Janak Joshi, a physician and former state representative.

Evans will face off against incumbent Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who won the district by 1,600 votes in 2022. It is the most competitive seat in Colorado according to the Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index.

—G. Elliott Morris, 538


Boebert is projected to win Colorado's 4th

The AP projects that Lauren Boebert will win the GOP nomination in Colorado's 4th District. With 66 percent of the expected votes in and Boebert at a sizable lead above her next closest competitor, Deb Flora, it's (as my dad would say) all over but the crying. Boebert had a big fundraising advantage, Trump's endorsement, and obviously has a ton of name recognition, but after the headlines of the last year, that didn't necessarily equate with a guaranteed win. She had her work cut out for her in this new district, according to her campaign, where voters were skeptical of her reputation. But she reportedly put in the work, trekking all across this district over the last few months. A spokesperson for her campaign told me last month that on Easter weekend alone, she drove the district end-to-end for multiple campaign stops, totaling about 1,000 miles. Whatever combination of hard work, notoriety and deep pockets seems to have worked, and now she can all but cruise into the seat in November in this deep red district.

—Kaleigh Rogers, 538


Early and clear leads for Hurd, Evans in CO-03 and CO-08

With nearly half of the vote reporting in Colorado's 3rd and 8th Congressional Districts, mainline Republican candidates Jeff Hurd and Gabe Evans have pulled ahead of the competition. Evans is endorsed by both Trump and the conservative activist organization Americans for Prosperity, funded by the influential Republican Koch brothers, so no surprises here really. Hurd's race was closer though. Going into the night he had a clear fundraising advantage and the support of several "normie" Republican organizations — like the national cattleman's association and the association of automobile dealers. A victory for Hurd (which looks likely, but there's quite a few rural votes left to be counted) would be a defeat for the other MAGA-aligned candidates in the race — such as Ron Hanks, who has previously called himself a "pro-Trump warrior".

—G. Elliott Morris, 538


Latimer holds early edge over Bowman in New York's 16th District Democratic primary

In perhaps the highest-profile race of the evening, Latimer leads Bowman 56 percent to 44 percent in the Democratic primary for New York's 16th District, with a little more than a quarter of the overall expected vote reporting, per the AP. Bowman is running up huge numbers in the small part of the district that's in the Bronx — he leads 84 percent to 16 percent there — but about nine-tenths of the district's population lives in Westchester County, where Latimer currently leads 69 percent to 31 percent.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538


That’s a wrap!

And with that, we’re calling a lid on one of the busiest primary nights of the year! Here’s a recap of what went down.

First, in the two highest-profile races of the night, controversial incumbents went 1-for-2:

- In New York’s 16th District, the AP has projected that Westchester County Executive George Latimer will defeat progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the Democratic primary. This race was defined largely by internal Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas conflict and the influence of pro-Israel groups, although controversies about Bowman's past behavior certainly made him more vulnerable.

- In Colorado’s 4th District, the AP has projected that Rep. Lauren Boebert will win the GOP nomination. Boebert caused a lot of grumbling after switching districts from the 3rd, on the other side of the state, but she ultimately won easily thanks to her big fundraising advantage, Trump’s endorsement and ton of name recognition.

It was a bad night for Trump-endorsed candidates in competitive races, three of whom lost:

- The AP has projected that Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sheri Biggs will narrowly defeat Trump-endorsed pastor Mark Burns in the Republican runoff in South Carolina’s 3rd District..

- According to the AP, Jeff Crank, a conservative talk radio host, won the Republican primary in Colorado’s 5th District, defeating state party chair and Trump endorsee Dave Williams.

-In the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Utah, Rep. John Curtis defeated Trump-endorsed Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs. Curtis will follow in the moderate footsteps of Sen. Mitt Romney, who is retiring from this seat.

Both parties also chose their nominees for some competitive House races this fall — and in general, they chose the more electable options.

- The AP has projected attorney Jeff Hurd will win the Republican primary in Colorado's 3rd District. Republicans avoided nominating former state Rep. Ron Hanks, who was so conservative he risked losing this light-red seat to Democrat Adam Frisch.

- The AP has projected that state Rep. Gabe Evans has won the Republican primary for Colorado's 8th District over state-party-endorsed Janak Joshi. Evans will face off in November against Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who won this district by just over 1,600 votes in 2022.

- In New York’s 1st District, former CNN anchor John Avlon won the Democratic primary against 2020 nominee Nancy Goroff. He’ll face Republican Rep. Nick LaLota this fall.

- In New York’s 22nd District, the AP has projected that state Sen. John Mannion will win the Democratic primary against DeWitt Town Councilor Sarah Klee Hood. Mannion will face Republican Rep. Brandon Williams in this blue-leaning district in the general.

However, conservative Republicans did score a win in one solid-red open seat:

- In Utah’s 3rd District, the AP has projected that state Sen. Mike Kennedy, who was endorsed by Sen. Mike Lee, will win the GOP nomination to succeed Curtis. Kennedy outpaced four other contenders, including trampoline tycoon Case Lawrence, who self-funded his bid but came in second place.

Finally, a number of other incumbents also beat back notable challengers tonight:

- The AP has projected that incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox will defeat state Rep. Phil Lyman in the Republican primary for Utah governor. However, Lyman, who was running to Cox’s right, still took more than 40 percent of the vote.

- Moderate Rep. Blake Moore also won renomination in Utah’s 1st District, according to the AP, easily dispatching a more conservative challenger.

- The AP has projected that Rep. Claudia Tenney will win the Republican primary in New York's 24th District over businessman Mario Fratto, who came within 14 points of unseating her in 2022.

—G. Elliott Morris, Monica Potts, Nathaniel Rakich, Kaleigh Rogers and Geoffrey Skelley, 538; Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor; and Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections