The Latest: Polls open for races across the US as a busy primary election day gets underway
Jun 2, 2026, 7:25 AM | Updated: 11:58 pm
A person walks from a polling place for the New Jersey primary election in Oaklyn, N.J., Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Credit: AP Photo/Matt Rourke
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
For a state that’s home to Hollywood, there isn’t much star power in California’s gubernatorial race. It’s a somewhat different story in Los Angeles, where a reality television personality is running for mayor as the city prepares to host the Olympics.
More primaries are being held on Tuesday as well. Democrats are banking on a rare chance to regain ground in Iowa, a rural state that has repeatedly eluded them in recent years. Republicans, meanwhile, are grappling with a New Jersey congressman whose unexplained absence could put their already slim majority at risk.
— California: Voters are weighing in on who should lead the nation’s most populous state, where there is no clear leader among candidates vying to advance in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Plus, U.S. House races are on the ballot, along with the Los Angeles mayor’s race.
— New Mexico: Contests in the state include primaries for congressional seats, a U.S. Senate seat and a long list of statewide offices, but the governor’s race is the main attraction. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is running for the Democratic nomination, which could put her on a historic path for Native American leaders.
— New Jersey: One of this year’s most closely watched House midterms will take place in the battleground district represented by Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who has drawn public scrutiny and concern after missing more than 100 House votes due to an undisclosed medical issue. Voters are deciding which Democrat will run against him in November.
— Read more about races in Iowa, Montana and South Dakota.
Here’s the latest:
A Democrat has held the governor’s office since 2011, when Jerry Brown took over from Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Democrats have also had a firm grip on the state Legislature.
Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco say that means Democrats are to blame for the state’s expensive gas and housing, its homelessness crisis and a slew of other problems. Both have pledged to reduce regulations and taxes.
Hilton has President Donald Trump’s backing. That could help him in the primary but hurt him in the general election in the heavily Democratic state.
Holding on to Iowa is a big part of the GOP’s plan to keep its U.S. Senate majority.
A super PAC affiliated with Senate Republicans has pledged $29 million to help ensure the seat stays in GOP hands.
That means all candidates are on the same ballot, regardless of their party affiliation. California has used that system for more than a decade.
It has occasionally resulted in two candidates from the same party competing against each other in a general election. That happened most notably in U.S. Senate races in 2016 and 2018, when two Democrats faced off.
In the governor’s race, though, one Republican and one Democrat have always advanced to November. Democrats had feared a lockout this year, given their large field of candidates. But those worries have diminished in the race’s closing weeks.
The candidates are U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, state Rep. Eddie Andrews, businessman and former conservative political director Zach Lahn, former state Rep. Brad Sherman and former director of the state Department of Administrative Services Adam Steen.
If no candidate earns at least 35% of Republican primary voters, the nominee would be selected at a contested state party convention.
Trump endorsed Feenstra on Friday, saying on social media that “Randy is MAGA all the way!”
The generational fighting that has been ripping through the Democratic Party continues in California’s primaries.
In the Los Angeles-area’s 32nd District, 42-year-old lawyer Jake Levine is challenging Brad Sherman, 71, a 15-term member of the House of Representatives.
And in the 7th District near Sacramento, 40-year-old city councilwoman Mai Vang is challenging Doris Matsui, 81, who has held the seat since her husband, a congressman himself for decades, died in 2005.
Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund manager turned climate activist, spent nearly $200 million of his money on advertising alone.
The billionaire’s ad campaign was the most expensive in the country by far this election cycle. The data comes from advertising tracker AdImpact.
Steyer’s rivals in the governor’s race and his critics have accused him of trying to buy the election.
But he’s defended his spending, saying he is fighting against powerful corporate interests that are driving up the price of living in the state. Pacific Gas & Electric, a major California utility, is among the corporations and business interests funding anti-Steyer ads.
“I’m only working for the people of California,” Steyer said last week.
They are former mayor of fast-growing Rio Rancho Gregg Hull, cannabis business owner Duke Rodriguez and public relations professional Doug Turner.
While Hull and Turner have not aligned their campaigns with the MAGA movement, Rodriguez was recently served a cease-and-desist letter from a law firm representing Trump for “deceptive use” of the president’s image in campaign materials. That contest’s winner faces an uphill battle to win in a state where a Republican has not been elected to statewide office in 10 years.
