US midterm primaries: A look at key House races - CTV News

US midterm primaries: A look at key House races – CTV News

June 7, 2022
6:45 pm

A slate of Republican U.S. House members in heavily Democratic California is facing primary challengers on Tuesday in races that will help determine control of Congress.
No incumbents appear at risk of losing their primary, but the districts will be among the country’s marquee races in November. Two of the House members are trying to surmount challenges tied to former U.S. President Donald Trump: One voted to support the former president’s impeachment after the U.S. Capitol insurrection, while the other fought against it.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is competing against several other Republicans for a chance to capture a new U.S. House district in western Montana. In Iowa, a trio of Republicans is jockeying to take on the state’s lone Democratic U.S. House member in a newly drawn district with a stronger GOP tilt. And in Mississippi, Republican U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo is running for reelection after a congressional ethics watchdog raised questions about his campaign spending.
A look at key U.S. House races:
Two Republican congressmen are facing challenges tied to Trump, but for different reasons.
In a Democratic-tilting district in the state’s Central Valley farm belt, Republican Rep. David Valadao is highlighting an independent streak while contending with GOP fallout for his vote to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection. Republican Chris Mathys has made Valadao’s vote a centerpiece in his campaign to oust him.
In a Democratic-leaning district north of Los Angeles, three Democrats are vying for the chance to take on Republican Rep. Mike Garcia, who captured the seat in 2020. Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot who was endorsed by Trump in 2020, joined House Republicans who rejected electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania and opposed Trump’s impeachment after the Capitol insurrection. Two other Republicans are also on the ballot.
California uses a top-two election format in which only the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election, regardless of party.
Montana gained a second congressional district this year thanks to its growing population, and Zinke, an Interior Department secretary under Trump, is one of five Republicans on the primary ballot for the open seat.
Zinke’s rivals have been drawing attention to his troubled tenure at the agency, which was marked by multiple ethics investigations. One investigation determined Zinke lied to an agency ethics official about his continued involvement in a commercial real estate deal in his hometown. He’s faced a smear campaign over his military service from the extreme right wing of his party and questions about his residency following revelations that his wife declared a house in California as her primary residence.
Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, is widely considered the de facto incumbent, since he twice won elections for the state’s other House seat before stepping down in 2017 to join the Trump administration.
His primary opponents include former state Sen. Al "Doc" Olszewski, an orthopedic surgeon and hard-line conservative who has tried to paint Zinke as a "liberal insider." Three Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination: public health advocate Cora Neumann, Olympic rower and attorney Monica Tranel and former state Rep. Tom Winter.
Three Republicans are competing for a chance to run against two-term Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne in a newly drawn Iowa district that could be more favorable for the GOP.
In previous elections, Axne was elevated by her strong support in the Des Moines area, even as she struggled in rural counties that typically lean Republican. The new district includes several counties in southern Iowa known to turn out strongly for Republicans, increasing the pressure on Axne to drive up her numbers in Democratic-friendly Des Moines and its suburbs.
Among the Republicans, state Sen. Zach Nunn is the best known of her challengers. He’s an Air Force pilot who has served in the Legislature since 2014 and has worked to cut taxes. He’s running against Nicole Hasso, a financial services worker, and Gary Leffler, who works in the construction industry.
First elected in 2010, Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo of Mississippi is facing his largest-ever primary field after a congressional ethics watchdog raised questions about his campaign spending.
A 2021 report by the Office of Congressional Ethics found "substantial reason to believe" Palazzo, a military veteran who serves on the Appropriations and Homeland Security committees, abused his office by misspending campaign funds, doing favors for his brother and enlisting staff for political and personal errands. His then-spokesperson, Colleen Kennedy, said the probe was based on politically motivated "false allegations."
His six opponents include a sheriff, Mike Ezell, and a state senator, Brice Wiggins. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, a runoff will be June 28.
Trump also is playing into the fight for South Dakota’s lone House seat.
GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson, a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, is facing a challenge from his political right from Republican state lawmaker Taffy Howard. She has echoed Trump’s discredited claims of widespread voter fraud and criticized Johnson for voting to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Johnson, however, has maintained a wide fundraising edge. No Democrats are running, so the winner of the GOP primary will likely take the seat.
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Associated Press writers Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa; Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Miss.; Matthew Brown in Billings, Mont.; and Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, S.D., contributed to this report
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Researchers at McMaster University have conducted the first Canada-wide study of early childhood anxiety, finding that nearly three per cent of kindergarten-age kids had behaviours associated with anxiety.

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A defrocked Oblate priest who was convicted of dozens of horrendous sexual crimes against Inuit children has been granted parole.

A chartered flight carrying 170 Ukrainians fleeing the conflict in their country is set to arrive at in Moncton, N.B., Tuesday afternoon.

Ontario's remaining mask mandates are set to expire this weekend, effectively bringing an end to more than two years of public health restrictions in the province.

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Ukrainian troops were engaged in fierce street fighting with Russian soldiers in the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, while other towns were under constant shelling, as the Kremlin pushed for control of the eastern Donbas region.

Sunday's attack on St Francis Catholic Church in the Nigerian town of Owo killed 22 people and injured 50, an official from the National Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday.

Investigators commissioned by the UN's top human rights body say tensions between Palestinians and Israelis are underpinned by Israel's 'perpetual occupation' of Palestinian areas with no apparent intention of ending it.

India's government sought on Monday to calm anger at home and abroad after two officials of the ruling BJP party made remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, with 38 people arrested for rioting in a northern city and a protest planned later in Mumbai.

An American woman who prosecutors say led an all-female battalion of Islamic State militants in Syria pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a case that a prosecutor called a first of its kind in the United States.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn't saying whether he supports President Joe Biden's decision to exclude Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba from this week's Summit of the Americas.

Two Ontario members of Parliament are switching allegiances in the Conservative leadership race from Patrick Brown to Pierre Poilievre, citing the need to unite the fractured party.

As more evidence emerges on the efficacy of third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts say it's high time public health authorities revise the definition of 'fully vaccinated' to include a booster dose.

Regulators said a new version of a popular diabetes medicine could be sold as a weight-loss drug in the U.S.

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Apple kicked off its annual developer conference by unveiling its next-generation mobile software, iOS 16, with new features that will let users personalize their lock screens and change how they text friends through iMessage.

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Tiger Woods says he will not play in the U.S. Open, the third major of the golf calendar, next week at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

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