Iowa will hold closely watched primary elections on Tuesday in the state’s competitive open-seat primary races for Senate and governor.
Both contests are to replace retiring Republicans — Senator Joni Ernst and Gov. Kim Reynolds — and Democrats see each race as a top pickup opportunity in a state where President Trump’s tariff policies have hampered the farm economy.
The Senate race has received the bulk of the state’s attention, with Democrats engaged in an expensive primary that has emerged as a test of the influence of the political machine loyal to Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader. Republicans also have their own bitter primary for governor, though a late endorsement from Mr. Trump on Friday may have put an end to the drama.
Elsewhere, Montana Democrats will choose between their most recent nominee for governor and a smokejumper endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a battleground-seat House primary. A former Biden cabinet secretary is running for governor of New Mexico and New Jersey Democrats will choose nominees in two House districts.
Here are the races to watch — non-California edition — on Tuesday. (Here’s our preview of California’s primary races.)
Do Iowa Democrats move to the middle or swing left?
Two Iowa state legislators with very different views of how to win in November are facing off for the Democratic nomination for Senate.
Josh Turek, a Paralympian from conservative western Iowa, is pointing to his victories in a State House district that President Trump won as evidence that he can win over voters in a state Mr. Trump has carried decisively three times.
His opponent, Zach Wahls, is a state senator from Johnson County, Iowa’s most reliably Democratic place and home to the University of Iowa. Mr. Wahls is aiming to capitalize on anger at both Mr. Trump and Democratic establishment figures.
Mr. Turek has the tacit — though not explicit — support of Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York. VoteVets, a Schumer-aligned Democratic veterans group, has spent $10 million — more than all the other Democratic candidates and outside groups combined — to lift Mr. Turek in the race.
The winner is expected to face Representative Ashley Hinson, a Trump-backed Republican who is heavily favored in her primary, in the general election.
Can Steve King get his revenge on Randy Feenstra?
Six years ago, amid a torrent of scandals, Steve King, then a Republican congressman in Iowa, lost a primary to Randy Feenstra, who at the time was a conservative state senator.
This year, Mr. Feenstra was the early establishment choice for governor, with key endorsements from Ms. Ernst and former Gov. Terry Branstad, among others. But Mr. King, who never forgave Mr. Feenstra, is backing Zach Lahn, a first-time candidate and farmer who in recent weeks has overtaken Mr. Feenstra in fund-raising and drawn TV ad attacks from Mr. Feenstra.
Mr. Feenstra on Friday won a late endorsement from Mr. Trump, which, if recent patterns hold, appears likely to propel him to the nomination. But Mr. Lahn does not need to beat Mr. Feenstra to create a headache for Iowa Republicans, who are set face Rob Sand, the well-funded Democratic state auditor, in the general election.
If none of the five Republicans in the primary get more than 35 percent of the vote, the nomination would be decided at a June party convention — a nightmare scenario for the establishment-minded Mr. Feenstra.
Will a progressive push be successful in western Montana?
Last week, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez trekked to Missoula, Mont., to host a rally for Sam Forstag, a smokejumper who has become a darling of the progressive left.
Mr. Forstag is one of a host of Democrats with real-world jobs trying to break into Congress this year. But he faces stiff opposition in the primary for the House district that covers western Montana. Ryan Busse, who was the party’s nominee for governor in 2024, and Russ Cleveland, a rancher, are each said to be bunched together with Mr. Forstag in the limited private polling of the race.
Democrats believe the seat is in play for the general election given Mr. Trump’s sagging approval ratings and the retirement of the incumbent Republican, Representative Ryan Zinke. Mr. Trump has endorsed Aaron Flint, a local talk radio host, in the Republican primary.
Can a former Biden cabinet secretary win in New Mexico?
Deb Haaland, the Biden administration’s interior secretary, has received far less attention in her run for governor of New Mexico than her former cabinet mate Xavier Becerra has in California, where he is running for the state’s top job.
But she, too, has gone unendorsed by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Ms. Haaland remains a favorite in the race against Sam Bregman, the district attorney for New Mexico’s largest county. Mr. Bregman’s other claim to fame is that his son, Alex, is the starting third baseman for the Chicago Cubs.
New Mexico has become a blue state in recent years, and the primary winner will be a heavy favorite in November. Three Republicans are vying for the nomination: Gregg Hull, a former mayor of Rio Rancho; Duke Rodriguez, a former state agency administrator; and Doug Turner, a small-business owner who ran and lost in the 2010 primary for governor.
Which New Jersey Democrat will challenge the missing Thomas Kean?
New Jersey Democrats will choose a nominee to challenge Representative Thomas Kean Jr., a two-term Republican who has not been seen in public for months.
Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot; Dr. Tina Shah, who was an adviser to the U.S. surgeon general in both the Biden and Obama administrations; Brian Varela, a progressive who ran for a neighboring House seat in 2022; and Michael Roth, who was a senior official in the Biden administration’s Small Business Administration, are all running in the Democratic primary for the Seventh Congressional District. Ms. Bennett has raised the most money and leads in the available polling.
Farther south in the state’s 12th District, a dozen Democrats are running to replace Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, who is retiring after six terms.
Dr. Adam Hamawy, a progressive surgeon, has the endorsement of Mr. Sanders and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. With so many Democrats running and no clear favorite, someone could win the nomination with a relatively small percentage of the primary vote. Kamala Harris won 61 percent of the district’s vote in 2024, so the primary winner will be a heavy favorite in November.
