Voters in five states go to the polls to decide some fascinating races.
In today’s edition … Big Trump administration folks head to Congress … We ask you about the future of the Iran war … but first …
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If it is Tuesday — at least this time of year — it is a day for primaries nationwide.
Voters in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota will go to the polls to pick their nominees for key positions, making today arguably the most substantial primary day so far this year.
Here’s what you should be keeping an eye on:
The race to be the Democrats’ Senate nominee in Iowa has been a fascinating contest in an already remarkable political year for the state.
State Rep. Josh Turek has benefited from a flood of outside spending, mainly almost $10 million from VoteVets. We profiled the race a few weeks ago — when the spending for Turek was a measly $8 million — and noted that Turek versus state Sen. Zach Wahls was exposing fissures within the Democratic Party.
Our colleague Theodoric Meyer yesterday filed a fascinating report from Mason City, Iowa — the town that inspired “The Music Man” and one of Dan’s favorites in the state — that cast the race as a test of “whether the way to win a state that President Donald Trump carried three times is a moderate message — or a fiery indictment of the Democratic establishment.”
One thing is clear: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) and his allies see Turek as the best candidate to flip this Senate seat, opened up by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst’s decision to retire. But that view — now well known in Iowa — has allowed Wahls to forcefully run against Schumer, casting him as part of the problem.
“I’m not running against Schumer,” Turek told Theo. “I’m running against Ashley Hinson and Trump.”
While Hinson has a primary opponent, she is the overwhelming favorite to officially become the Republican nominee today.
There is also a fascinating open gubernatorial contest in Iowa this year. Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the state’s only Democrat elected statewide, is running unopposed in his party’s primary. The interest right now is on the Republican side: President Donald Trump got behind Rep. Randy Feenstra last week, but a number of high-profile Republicans and groups — including Turning Point Action — have endorsed businessman Zach Lahn.
Yesterday we highlighted a bunch of the House races you should keep an eye on in California.
So let’s talk about the state’s gubernatorial contest today.
It’s been a truly wild contest with several flawed candidates. Xavier Becerra, former health and human services secretary, is seen as the top Democratic candidate, but billionaire Tom Steyer has spent more than $200 million of his own money to keep himself in the race.
Recent polling suggests that Democrats are likely to avoid their nightmare scenario: two Republicans advancing to November under California’s top-two primary system. Because the state employs a “jungle primary,” in which candidates from both political parties are on the same ballot and the top two vote-getters move on to November, there was worry among Democrats that two Republicans — conservative political commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — would emerge from the crowded contest.
But it now looks more likely that the November matchup will be Hilton against a Democrat.
Few may know where Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-New Jersey) is right now, but he will be on the ballot today.
Kean is running unopposed in his primary, despite persistent questions about how his uncertain whereabouts may have imperiled his political future.
Kean has not voted in the House since March 5. He has not appeared at a public event in his district. He has not held a town hall, attended a committee hearing or stepped onto the House floor — leading to a mix of confusion, frustration and anger. Kean said in a statement in April that he was dealing with “a personal medical issue” but did not specify when he expected to return.
The race for the chance to take on Kean will be decided today, too. Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, is seen as the leading Democrat in the race. But she faces several challengers, including Michael Roth, a former Biden administration official; Tina Shah, a doctor; and Brian Varela, a businessman.
“He is never around, he’s not on the ground, he doesn’t meet with voters, and he doesn’t meet with constituents,” Bennett said of Kean’s absence. “And so, to me, this is just an extension of how he’s been in office from the beginning.”
The Montana Senate race was never supposed to be interesting. But when Sen. Steve Daines (R) decided to withdraw from the contest minutes before his state’s filing deadline, allowing mere minutes for Kurt Alme, the U.S. attorney for the District of Montana, to announce a run with Trump’s endorsement, the race took a turn.
There are five Democrats running to be the nominee. But none are seen as having a real shot at winning the race in November.
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Enter: Seth Bodnar, a former University of Montana president, who is running as an independent — though he is using the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue to raise money.
Bodnar is gaining some momentum and collecting real money, including more than Alme in the most recent quarter.
Former interior secretary Deb Haaland could make history this November. If elected as New Mexico’s next governor, Haaland would be the first female Native American to serve as governor of any state.
She has to get through her primary first, but she is widely seen as the front-runner against Sam Bregman, the district attorney of Bernalillo County — and the father of Alex Bregman, the all-star third baseman for the Chicago Cubs.
Some big names will be taking questions from Congress.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting attorney general Todd Blanche will all be testifying before lawmakers today. They’ll all have to talk about major tensions surrounding their departments.
Blanche has been defending Trump’s $1.8 billion payout fund, which would compensate people who say they were unfairly targeted by a politically driven Justice Department. His testimony last week in the Senate met a lot of skepticism as he asserted that the fund would benefit people beyond Trump’s allies. Even several Senate Republicans viewed the fund as unsellable to voters.
The administration was dealt a blow yesterday after a federal judge temporarily blocked any payouts from the fund until at least June 12. Salvador Rizzo has more on that front. The move puts the fate of the fund in question after the Justice Department announced that it would abide by the court order and put the fund on ice. Cat Zakrzewski, Theodoric Meyer, Jarrell Dillard and Mariana Alfaro have more on the status of the fund.
Rubio will have two appearances today: in the Senate Foreign Relations and House Appropriations committees. He will have to discuss the State Department’s budget amid the conflict with Iran, which has choked off trade through one of the world’s most important shipping channels. A resolution to the conflict continues to be elusive. Iran’s government yesterday said it would stop negotiations with the Trump administration after Israel escalated its offensive in Lebanon. Trump posted on Truth Social yesterday that he was still optimistic that talks could continue. Steve Hendrix and Susannah George have more on the situation.
Mullin will go before the Senate Appropriations Committee to talk about the Homeland Security Department’s budget request for the next fiscal year, which starts in October. Funding the department has been one of the biggest political conflicts for Congress over the past 12 months. Democrats refused to fund the department following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good in Minnesota last winter, sparking the longest-ever shutdown of a government agency. Democrats eventually agreed to help fund the department, but excluded funding for immigration enforcement agencies.
Senate Republicans were on track to fund the immigration enforcement agencies on their own, but then they balked at advancing the funding legislation amid frustration over Trump’s payout fund. Read Jarrell Dillard, Riley Beggin and Theodoric Meyer’s coverage from before the Senate recess for a refresher.
The Colorado Sun: Tina Peters, a former county clerk who helped secretly copy voting machine hard drives in an effort to bolster Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, was released from prison Monday. Peters served 19 months of her nine-year sentence before Gov. Jared Polis (D) granted her clemency.
The Spokesman-Review: The last two decades have seen a deepening relationship between Vietnam and eastern Washington state. The reason? Apples. The number of Washington apples exported to Vietnam has multiplied 20 times in the last 20 years, all because of one variety of apple: the Cosmic Crisp. This story is a reminder of the interconnectedness of trade and why certain tariffs often have unforeseen implications.
We asked you for your thoughts on Trump’s proposed payout fund and received overwhelmingly negative responses. Several of you back a push by some states to levy a 100 percent tax on any money distributed from the fund.
“I find this move to be very interesting and creative. And I hope that those states do pass the bills,” Rick Prescott wrote. But Prescott said the payout fund was so legally dubious that he believed the courts would probably permanently block it.
John Frank, however, thought a more immediate approach was necessary.
“Striking it down in the courts will take years as both sides appeal and reappeal. And when it finally reaches the Supreme Court it has an excellent chance of being upheld with the stacked court,” Frank said. “The states that can should tax it. Maybe after the mid terms the House and Senate will turn and they can pass a bill to stop it. It is blatant fraud. I don’t see how anyone other than a MAGA follower could possibly see differently.”
Martha Mattus said the payout fund was beyond the pale and noted that even some of the president’s allies in his own party find it objectionable.
“Trump once claimed that he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it. I think this fund is going to prove that he was wrong about that, at least when it comes to money,” Mattus wrote. “The corruption is finally so open that even some of the Republicans can’t stomach it.”
The conflict with Iran shows no signs of stopping, with Tehran saying it is breaking off talks to end the war after U.S. and Israeli strikes. How worried are you about this war continuing with little end in sight? Are you concerned about gas prices this summer? What else? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at [email protected].
Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan and Matthew on X: @merica and @matthewichoi.
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