Decision Desk HQ is covering all of this year’s Gubernatorial elections along with federal specials.
4/30/2019- North Carolina 3rd Congressional District Special Election Primaries
The race to replace the late Rep. Walter Jones is a crowded one, with seventeen Republicans and six Democrats facing off in their respective primaries. If no candidate crosses 30%, second place candidates can request a runoff, scheduled for July 9th. Fifteen of the seventeen Republicans will attend an open forum tonight, just in time for the start of early voting. The Republicans are strongly favored to hold this seat.
5/14/2019- North Carolina 9th Congressional District Special Election Primaries
The drama of the sole vacancy to carry over from 2018 begins its conclusion as ten Republicans compete in a race that could carry over into a runoff. The 2018 Democratic candidate, Dan McCready, who raised $1.6 million in Q1 for this re-do, faces no competition, and may wind up the slight favorite in the special general depending on the Republican primary outcome. Absentee voting has already begun in this race– with state officials’ careful monitoring, particularly in Bladen County. Election fraud involving such ballots were the determining factor in the NCSBE’s decision to call a new election. One candidate in the race, Union County Commissioner Stoney Rushing, recently urged his competitors not to demand a runoff if they fail to win and the victor falls under the 30% threshold, warning them, about McCready, “If we don’t beat him in September, it is going to be extremely difficult to do it in November.”
Due to the election scheduling, if a runoff occurs, the general election will coincide with state municipal elections, which would likely see increased Democratic turnout.
5/21/2019- Kentucky Gubernatorial Primaries
Incumbent Republican Governor Matt Bevin has his detractors in his party, and speculation grew in 2018 he may not seek a second term, conditions that invited three other Republicans into a primary before he committed and filed on January 25th. Bevin is the prohibitive favorite on May 21st, though the general election is more up-in-the-air. The Democratic primary’s front-runner remains State Attorney General Andy Beshear, who led opponents Rocky Adkins and Adam Edelen 55% to 17% and 7% respectively in a February Garin-Hart-Yang poll. In their race to upset Beshear, Edelen has recently embraced decriminalization of recreational marijuana while Adkins has pushed for a free-college-for-all-Kentucky-students plan.
5/21/2019- Pennsylvania 12th Congressional District Special Election
In arguably the least likely federal special to see a flip this year, Democratic candidate Marc Friedenberg and Republican candidate Fred Keller have made the usual rounds across the sprawling district. Endorsements have been rather sparse in this low-profile contest: Keller recently earned one from the NRA’s Political Victory Fund, and has the backing of the previous office holder, Tom Marino. Friedenberg earned former 7th District Congressman Joe Sestak’s endorsement in his 2018 run here and has it again for the special.