The presidential election has long been seen as a rematch between Donald Trump and President Biden as all eyes shifted early on to the general election. But what’s made the presidential primaries intriguing is how they’ve demonstrated the gaps of support Trump and Biden have both suffered as our Julia Mueller notes this morning.
Biden has contested with an ongoing protest vote over his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. The conflict reached a new low late last month when a strike conducted by Israel in Rafah left tens of Palestinians dead and several hundred more wounded as they looked to target several Hamas leaders.
The president announced late last week that Israel had offered a proposal aimed toward achieving a ceasefire in the region while releasing the remaining hostages, and Biden has pushed Hamas to accept the conditions.
Yet protesters angry at the Biden administration signaled skepticism and dissatisfaction with the proposal, with a spokesperson from the uncommitted moment saying in a statement “Biden’s endorsement of a six-week ceasefire is a welcome development, but will likely fall flat as long as he arms [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s war crimes. We need a permanent ceasefire now.”
That protest vote could play out tonight in several states, including New Jersey and New Mexico.
At the same time, Trump could be contending with an enduring protest vote of his own. Former U.N. ambassador and Trump presidential rival Nikki Haley has accumulated a sizable portion of the GOP presidential primary electorate vote — even months after she dropped out in March.
Though Haley made the notable move to endorse Trump last week, Haley will still be on the ballot in New Mexico, which could offer one datapoint for whether her endorsement may be enough to start turning the tides on Trump’s fortunes with GOP holdouts.
Other key federal and state-level races are also happening tonight:
- New Jersey Senate Democratic primary where Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) is all but certain to win the nomination.
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There’s intriguing congressional races for the seat Kim is leaving open in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District while Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), son of the embattled senator, tries to fend off a primary challenge.
- Montana’s gubernatorial primary as Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) seeks reelection.
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Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D) and Republican Tim Sheehy will be officially coronated their party’s respective party nominees for Tester’s seat
Follow The Hill’s coverage as we partner with Decision Desk HQ to make race calls on tonight’s races. We’ll also have takeaways of Tuesday’s elections later this evening.
