Another member of the “squad” of progressive lawmakers is fighting for political survival in Tuesday’s primaries, which will also put former President Donald Trump’s endorsement to the test once again, including in Michigan’s crucial battleground Senate race.
Rep. Cori Bush’s Democratic primary in Missouri is among the most expensive and hotly contested races Tuesday, when voters in four states — Missouri, Washington, Michigan and Kansas — pick their parties’ nominees in congressional and state races.
Four years after she ousted longtime Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. in the heavily Democratic 1st District, Bush is looking to win a race that has exposed the party’s divisions over Israel.
She has faced an onslaught of attacks from United Democracy Project, a super PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group. The super PAC also spent millions to defeat a fellow “squad” member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., in a June primary.
‘Squad’ member Cori Bush faces Democratic primary putting a spotlight on Israel
The pro-Israel super PAC has also worked to boost Bush’s challenger, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, who was initially running for the Senate but decided to take on Bush a few weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
And Bush isn’t the only House member on defense Tuesday.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., is once again looking to advance through a primary after he drew Trump’s ire for voting to impeach him after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Along with Rep. David Valadao of California, Newhouse is one of two pro-impeachment House Republicans still in office. The eight other Republicans either retired or lost to Trump-backed primary challengers two years ago.
Valadao and Newhouse have benefited from their states’ top-two primary systems, in which all candidates compete on the same primary ballot and the top two vote-getters advance to November, regardless of party affiliation.
Trump initially endorsed Navy veteran Jerrod Sessler in the race against Newhouse. But on Sunday, he also voiced support for former nurse Tiffany Smiley, who has outspent the rest of the field on the airwaves, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Smiley has also gotten a boost from a supportive super PAC. Meanwhile, America Leads Inc., a group that has backed two other GOP lawmakers facing primaries, has spent on ads to bolster Newhouse.
A third House member — Democrat Shri Thanedar — is on defense in his primary in Michigan’s 13th District. He faces two intraparty challengers vying for the seat he has held for nearly two years: Detroit City Council member Mary Waters, who has been endorsed by Mayor Mike Duggan, and attorney Shakira Lynn Hawkins.
Michigan battles take shape
Tuesday’s primaries will also set the matchups in a slew of competitive races in Michigan, a swing state in presidential elections, which is also home to one of the top Senate races of the year.
Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow is not seeking a fifth term, and both party establishments have rallied around candidates to succeed her.
Trump has endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers, who had once been a strident critic of his. But Rogers is seen as one of the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s big recruiting victories of the cycle, giving the GOP a candidate with a history of electoral success and appeal to independent voters.
Other potentially strong contenders, including former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, former Rep. Peter Meijer and wealthy businessman Sandy Pensler, all ended their campaigns. That leaves former Rep. Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party in 2019 after having grown “disenchanted” and “frightened” by the GOP, as Rogers’ top competition.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Elissa Slotkin is seen as the party’s front-runner, given her support from key party leaders and labor organizations. She faces a challenge from Hill Harper, a political newcomer and actor known for his work on the ABC series “The Good Doctor.”
Tuesday’s primaries will also set the matchup in a number of competitive House races, including multiple ones in Michigan.
In Michigan’s 3rd District, Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten faces multiple challenges to the seat she has held for nearly two years.
Scholten has the benefit of incumbency against Democratic challenger Salim Al-Shatel, a former small-business owner, former substitute teacher and real estate agent who graduated from Michigan State University in 2015.
On the GOP side, attorney Paul Hudson and financial adviser Michael Markey are competing to face off against the Democratic winner in November. So far, Trump has not weighed in on the Republican primary race.
Scholten defeated Republican John Gibbs by nearly 13 percentage points in the 2022 general election, flipping the seat for Democrats.
Notably, on July 11, Scholten joined the chorus of congressional Democrats who called for President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race, praising his leadership while encouraging him to pass the torch. She has since participated in a surrogate event for Vice President Kamala Harris in Grand Rapids late last month.
The 3rd District, in western Michigan, includes most of the Grand Rapids area and is home to battleground Kent County, which swung for Biden by about 6 points in 2020. (Biden won the entire state by less than 3 points.)
There are also competitive primaries on both sides in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, where Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat, is not seeking re-election.
Republican contenders include Paul Junge, a former criminal prosecutor and TV news anchor who served in the Trump administration and has Trump’s endorsement; Mary Draves, a former Dow Chemical executive; and Anthony Hudson, a truck driver. Former Flint Mayor Matt Collier, state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet and State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh are running for the Democratic nomination.
The general election there is seen as a tossup.
The matchup will also be set in Michigan’s competitive 7th District to replace Slotkin. The parties have coalesced around two former state senators: Republican Tom Barrett, who lost a close race to Slotkin two years ago, and Democrat Curtis Hertel.
More Trump tests
Trump’s endorsement will be put to the test in a handful of other races Tuesday.
Trump endorsed multiple candidates in the Missouri governor’s race, backing three of the top Republican contenders: Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and state Sen. Bill Eigel.
With the state trending to the right, the winner of the GOP primary is expected to win the governor’s race in November. Tuesday’s primary will also set the matchup in the state’s Senate race, with Marine veteran Lucas Kunce making another run against GOP Sen. Josh Hawley after he lost the 2022 Democratic primary.
Further down the ballot, Trump has backed former state Sen. Bob Onder to replace retiring GOP Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer in the deep-red 3rd District.
The primary has attracted millions of dollars in outside spending. The conservative Club for Growth Action has backed Onder, while two establishment groups active in other GOP primaries, Conservatives for American Excellence and America Leads Action Inc., have launched ads attacking him.
But in Kansas’ solidly Republican 2nd District, Trump and Conservatives for American Excellence are on the same side in Tuesday’s primary to replace retiring GOP Rep. Jake LaTurner. Both are backing former state Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Kansas Republicans will also pick a candidate to take on Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids in the more competitive 3rd District, which Trump has not weighed in on.
Trump has taken sides in Washington’s 3rd District, where Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is a top Republican target as one of five Democrats representing a district Trump won in 2020. He has backed controversial Army veteran Joe Kent.
Kent lost to Gluesenkamp Perez by less than 1 percentage point in 2022 as he faced allegations about his ties to extreme groups. Kent faces Camas City Council member Leslie Lewallen in the primary. She has argued Kent would once again lose if he is the GOP nominee.
Polls close at 8 p.m. ET in Michigan and Missouri and 9 p.m. ET in Kansas. Washington elections are conducted entirely by mail, and ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day or placed in drop boxes by 11 p.m. ET.
Wil Courtney
contributed
.