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:
Biggs projected to win Republican nod in South Carolina's 3rd District
The AP projects that Biggs has defeated Burns in the GOP runoff in South Carolina's 3rd District. With more than 95 percent of the expected vote reporting, she leads 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent — what looks to be a narrow win. This is a somewhat surprising result: Trump had endorsed Burns, who led in the initial primary vote on June 11 and even had an endorsement from the third-place finisher.
But Biggs may have triumphed thanks to more than $500,000 in outside help from two conservative super PACs that have been spending against more anti-establishment candidates in GOP primaries like Burns. Per FEC data, Conservatives for American Excellence and America Leads Action spent mostly against Burns but also made some outlays to support Biggs.
—Geoffrey Skelley, 538
Early results in New York's 22nd Congressional District
With 24 percent of the expected vote in, Mannion is leading Hood in the Democratic primary in the 22nd Congressional District, 60 percent to 40 percent, according to the AP. Hood had hoped to position herself to Mannion's left on issues like abortion and has a fundraising advantage, as Geoffrey wrote earlier. But Mannion, a state Senator, is a well-known entity in much of the district.
—Monica Potts, 538
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
Who will replace Romney as senator from Utah?
Utah may be safely Republican, but the MAGA faction of the party is looking to pick up seats from the traditional Republican faction in Tuesday's primaries. And the biggest prize of all is the state's open U.S. Senate seat, currently held by anti-Trump Sen. Mitt Romney.
The front-runner to replace Romney is Rep. John Curtis, whose temperament — and attitude toward Trump — are closest to Romney's. Although he hasn't taken a high-profile stand against Trump like voting for impeachment, Curtis declined to endorse Trump during this year's presidential primaries and has avoided commenting on Trump's legal issues. Another tell: Though Romney hasn't made an endorsement, much of the incumbent's political operation is behind Curtis, who is known on Capitol Hill for being the rare Republican to talk about climate change and for owning 300 pairs of quirky dress socks.
Curtis faces three opponents who are, to varying degrees, more enthusiastic about Trump. Former state House Speaker Brad Wilson has raised the most money ($2.0 million from donors, $3.0 million from himself), but his efforts to strike a happy medium between moderate and MAGA (he introduced a resolution to pay tribute to Trump shortly after his second impeachment but also blocked an effort to censure Romney for voting to convict; he endorsed Trump for president, but only after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out) may end up pleasing no one. Meanwhile, businessman Jason Walton has vocally defended Trump and is well funded thanks to a $2.5 million loan to his own campaign, but Trump himself opted to support underfunded Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs instead.
That surprising endorsement may have cost MAGA Republicans their best shot at defeating Curtis. Not only has Curtis raised $3.8 million on his own, but outside groups largely funded by moderate Republican donors have spent a whopping $9.6 million to help him or hurt Staggs. As a result, a [June 4-6 poll from HarrisX/the Deseret News/the University of Utah]) put Curtis at 47 percent support, with Wilson (24 percent), Staggs (21 percent) and Walton (8 percent) well behind.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538