Five states to vote in primary contests on Tuesday

August 11, 2020 4

Aug. 11 (UPI) — Several states will cast votes in primary contests Tuesday to determine final races for November.

Voters in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Vermont will hold races while Georgia will hold a pair of runoff contests from its June primary.

Minnesota

Rep. Ilhan Omar has been a visible member of Congress in her first term, as part of a group of first-term representatives that came to be known as “The Squad” — alongside Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayana Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Omar faces a field of four other Democratic candidates in the 5th District, including attorney and mediator Antone Melton-Meaux, a well-funded first-time candidate who’s accused the congresswoman of being sidetracked by personal distractions.

Businessman Lacy Johnson has also led a successful fundraising campaign in the Republican race for the seat as he faces off against Dalia Al-Agidi and Danielle Stella.

In the 7th District, a group of Republicans will seek to unseat Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson in an area that has shown strong support for President Donald Trump.

Former state senator and Lt. Gov. Michell Fischbach has received the endorsement of the GOP and backing from Trump, but faces competition from David Hughes, who has challenged Peterson for the past two elections, as well as physician Noel Collis and two other candidates.

Wisconsin

Democratic candidates Josh Pade and Roger Polack, a civilian intelligence official and senior policy advisor under former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, will battle for the right to face Republican incumbent Rep. Bryan Steil as they attempt to flip the seat previously held by former House Speaker Paul Ryan.

In District 4, Tim Rogers and businesswoman Cindy Werner will face off in the Republican primary as they battle for the chance to challenge incumbent Rep. Gwen Moore.

Connecticut

Republicans Jim Griffin and Mary Fay will battle for the chance to challenge Democratic Rep. John Larson in Connecticut’s 1st District. Griffin, a career lobbyist and former official in the White House budget office, has so far outraised Fay, a financial services executive and self-described moderate.

In the 2nd District, construction worker Thomas Gilmer and veteran Justin Anderson will face off in the Republican primary to challenge Democratic Rep. Joe Courtney.

Connecticut will also be the last state to vote in the Democratic presidential primary.

Vermont

Vermont’s lone member of the House, six-term Democratic Rep. Peter Welch, will face a challenge from activist Ralph “Carajou” Corbo.

Corbo is also running in the race for governor after attempting to get younger candidates to run for the offices, saying they are most affected by issues such as climate change.

Republican candidates Miriam Berry, Jimmy Rodriguez, Justin Tuthill and Anya Tynio, as well as Progressive Party candidates Chris Brimmer and Cris Ericson, will also seek to make it to the ballot for November.

Two-term Republican Gov. Phil Scott faces challenges from four candidates on the GOP side, while Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and former Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe lead the four-person field in the Democratic primary for governor.

President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, Tim Ashe, and state Sen. Debbie Ingram will battle in the Democratic primary to fill the seat vacated by Zuckerman, while five Republicans and one Progressive are also on the ballot Tuesday.

Georgia

Two pairs of Republican candidates face runoff elections from the party’s primary in June.

In the 14th District, Marjorie Taylor Greene will face off against John Cowan.

Greene has sparked controversy by making statements about Muslim members of Congress and supporting the QAnon conspiracy, which Twitter took steps to limit last month. Her comments led Republican Rep. Jody Hice to rescind her endorsement. Cowan, a neurosurgeon, has employed the slogan “all of the conservative, none of the embarrassment.”

In the 9th District, state Rep. Matt Gurtler will face off against military veteran and gun store owner Andrew Clyde.

Reporting by Daniel Uria & Danielle Haynes

United Press International

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