Senate Republican Primary In Kansas Highlights 5 Races To Watch Tuesday

Enlarge this image

Some Washington Republicans worry that Kris Kobach, a polarizing conservative who lost a race for governor last year, would become the GOP’s Senate candidate and lose in the general election.

Charlie Riedel/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Charlie Riedel/AP

Analysis
2020 Electoral Map Ratings: Trump Slides, Biden Advantage Expands Over 270 Votes

«If [Kobach] wins the primary, that’s probably curtains for the majority,» one veteran GOP strategist engaged in 2020 congressional races told NPR.

Some Democrats are so eager to face Kobach that they’re behind a campaign ad touting Kobach as a true conservative and denigrating Marshall.

Democratic state Sen. Barbara Bollier, a retired physician and former Republican who’s raised millions of dollars for her campaign, is likely to be awaiting the winner of Tuesday’s GOP race. Kansas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932.

Loading…

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib (left), seen here during a March hearing on Capitol Hill, has a Democratic primary challenge.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

2. Michigan’s 13th Congressional District — Democratic: Two primaries of note on Tuesday feature Democratic incumbents challenged in very liberal districts.

First-term progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib has one such challenge, and it’s a rematch. Detroit City Councilor Brenda Jones topped Tlaib in a special election to serve in Congress briefly, and then Tlaib eked out a win over Jones in 2018 for a full term.

Since then, however, Tlaib, one of the first Muslim women in Congress, has significantly raised her national profile, along with three other noteworthy first-term progressive women who’ve referred to themselves as «the squad.» Shortly after being sworn in, Tlaib invoked expletives to declare she wanted to impeach President Trump, giving Republicans evidence that Democrats were determined to do so from the get go.

Jones told Quinn Klinefelter of member station WDET that she’s running because voters want a different tone in Congress. The district is one of the poorest in the nation, Klinefelter says, and now hit hard by job losses and the coronavirus.

Loading…

3. Missouri’s 1st Congressional District — Democratic: The other intra-party tussle of note in a left-leaning district comes in St. Louis.

Rep. William Lacy Clay, who’s been in office nearly 20 years, faces a second challenge from nurse and activist Cori Bush. Clay topped Bush by 20 percentage points in 2018, but Bush’s profile has risen since then, partly because of a documentary that also profiled New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The Democratic primary is another example of a progressive challenging a well-known incumbent. Bush has been endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; Justice Democrats, a group closely aligned with Ocasio-Cortez; and Jamaal Bowman, who dispatched with longtime New York Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel earlier this summer.

Clay’s backers, including fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, maintain he’s «no moderate Democrat,» citing, for instance, his support of «Medicare for All.»

Loading…

4. Arizona’s 6th Congressional District — Democratic: This is a district held by a GOP incumbent, with a clear Republican lean, that’s suddenly gotten more competitive after ethics violations.

Just on Friday, the House unanimously passed a rare ethics resolution to reprimand incumbent Rep. David Schweikert for breaking congressional and campaign finance rules. Schweikert admitted to the violations and agreed to pay a $50,000 fine.

Schweikert won his last election by 10 points, and there are four Democrats vying for a general election matchup this year, including Anita Malik, whom Schweickert defeated in 2018.

As Steve Goldstein of member station KJZZ has reported, protests against racial injustice are motivating many voters in the Scottsdale-centered suburban district, as well.

Loading…

5. Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District — Republican: This seat is being left vacant by the retirement of Rep. Justin Amash, an independent who left the GOP in 2019 and voted to impeach President Trump. Amash also briefly considered running to be the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee before opting against it.

The district, which includes Grand Rapids, has a Republican lean, according to the Cook Political Report. One of its counties, Kent County, has long been reliably Republican — Grand Rapids was the boyhood home of President Gerald Ford — but it’s also a suburban area that Democrats aim to win in November.

America Reckons With Racial Injustice
How Racial Unrest Is Motivating White Voters In One Key Michigan County

Former Department of Justice attorney Hillary Scholten is unopposed on the Democratic ballot, but there are a handful of candidates on the GOP side, including state Rep. Lynn Afendoulis.

Loading…

NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis contributed to this report.