{"id":85779,"date":"2026-06-23T15:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/primary-voters-head-to-polls-in-maryland-new-york-south-carolina-and-utah\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T15:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:33:10","slug":"primary-voters-head-to-polls-in-maryland-new-york-south-carolina-and-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/primary-voters-head-to-polls-in-maryland-new-york-south-carolina-and-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Primary Voters Head to Polls in Maryland, New York, South Carolina and Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tuesday marked the latest round of primary elections across four states \u2014 Maryland, New York, South Carolina, and Utah \u2014 as voters began selecting the nominees who will compete in November’s midterm elections.<\/p>

The November midterms will decide which party controls both chambers of Congress, along with dozens of governorships and other state and local offices. Primary elections are being held throughout the spring and summer in all 50 states to determine who will appear on the general election ballot.<\/p>

In Maryland, all eight congressional districts are holding contested primaries. The state typically leans left \u2014 only one of its districts is currently represented by a Republican \u2014 meaning primary winners often go on to win the general election. Gov. Wes Moore is seeking the Democratic nomination for a second term.<\/p>

In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been working to shape the city’s congressional delegation through a series of endorsements, including in Districts 7, 10, and 13. In District 12, several Democrats are competing for the party’s nomination, among them Trump critic George Conway and Kennedy family member Jack Schlossberg.<\/p>

In South Carolina, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson are squaring off in a Republican runoff for the gubernatorial nomination. President Donald Trump, who had initially endorsed Evette earlier this month, said Friday that either candidate would make a good choice.<\/p>

In Utah, voters are selecting congressional nominees under a newly drawn district map that created a more Democratic-friendly seat centered in Salt Lake City.<\/p>

Here is the latest from Tuesday’s elections:<\/p>

The newly redrawn Salt Lake City district \u2014 the result of a lengthy court battle over previous congressional boundaries \u2014 could prove critical for Democrats, who need to pick up only a handful of U.S. House seats in November to flip control of the narrowly divided chamber.<\/p>

In the Democratic primary for that seat, former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, considered a moderate, is running against three candidates who are positioned further to his left. Progressive voters could divide their support among those challengers, potentially clearing the way for McAdams to return to Washington \u2014 or they could unite behind state Sen. Nate Blouin, Liban Mohamed, or Michael Farrell.<\/p>

McAdams’ path to Congress has evolved since his first run in 2018, when he successfully convinced voters he was a sensible moderate capable of representing a swing district, defeating the Republican incumbent by a narrow margin. This time around, running in a heavily Democratic district, McAdams has pledged support for abortion rights and describes himself as only “moderate in tone” \u2014 a shift from his earlier self-described anti-abortion stance. His progressive opponents argue he is too conservative for the new district, a claim McAdams disputes, pointing to his record.<\/p>

Republican U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy is seeking reelection in a district that looks very different from the one that first sent her to Congress three years ago. She faces former state lawmaker Phil Lyman, who is running to her political right, in a redrawn district covering most of southern and eastern Utah. Maloy was first elected in a 2023 special election and won a full term in 2024. Lyman, who promoted false claims of fraud following the 2020 presidential election, is best known for organizing an illegal ATV ride to protest a federal land decision. A jury convicted him on misdemeanor charges, but Trump pardoned him in December 2020.<\/p>

In New York, Mayor Mamdani made an appearance Tuesday morning outside a polling location on the Lower East Side alongside congressional candidate Brad Lander, a fellow Democrat. Mamdani described candidacies like Lander’s as “a referendum on whether the kind of leadership we have is the one that is serving the people of this city.”<\/p>

“It’s not just a question of electing more Democrats. It’s a question of electing better Democrats,” the mayor said. He stressed the importance of putting “working people back at the heart of our politics” and championing freedom from fear and freedom of worship. “It’s time to bring some of those notions back so that working people can look at this party and see themselves, see their struggles, see their focuses,” Mamdani added.<\/p>

The polling site appeared lightly attended, with voters trickling out every few minutes. One man leaving the building grumbled that the election had forced the cancellation of a lunch program for senior citizens. After the mayor departed, Lander recorded a video urging people to vote and reach out to friends. “We’re going to be calling people, knocking on doors, texting people all day long,” he said.<\/p>

In New York’s 10th District, Rep. Dan Goldman \u2014 a former federal prosecutor who served as lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment \u2014 is running for a third term in the heavily Democratic district covering parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. He faces former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who has the backing of both Mayor Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders. Lander was acquitted earlier this month on charges stemming from a protest inside a building that houses an immigration court and has vowed to push back against the Trump administration, promising to “fight, not fold.”<\/p>

A separate development involving Goldman emerged Monday when the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced an investigation into a Brooklyn coffee shop that said it would refuse service to the congressman over his support for Israel. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Poetica Coffee shared an image of Goldman in their Williamsburg location and wrote, in part: “We don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers or anyone in between. Too bad we didn’t recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away.” Goldman responded that he had purchased coffee from a barista who allowed his daughter to use the restroom and “could not have been nicer.” The top civil rights prosecutor at the Justice Department said on X that the coffee shop could face an enforcement action for discrimination. Goldman told CNN he was saddened by the post but did not believe it warranted a federal investigation. The coffee shop did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>

In New York’s 12th District, eight Democrats are running to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in one of Manhattan’s wealthiest House districts. Four candidates have dominated the race. Jack Schlossberg, a 33-year-old Kennedy family heir, and George Conway, a former Republican lawyer turned prominent Trump critic, represent a newer social media-driven style of campaigning. The two front-runners are Assemblymember Micah Lasher \u2014 a childhood magician turned political insider endorsed by Nadler himself \u2014 and Assemblymember Alex Bores, a former computer engineer whose artificial intelligence regulation bill made him the target of more than $7 million in ads from AI industry supporters. Bores has turned the spending against him into a rallying point, attracting other donors to counter the effort and positioning himself as a national symbol of resistance to big money in politics.<\/p>

Further north in New York, Anthony Constantino \u2014 a Trump-backed “Make America Great Again” supporter and head of the custom sticker company Sticker Mule \u2014 is facing off against conservative state lawmaker Robert Smullen in a Republican primary. Constantino is known for his public overtures to the president, including placing a large “Vote for Trump” sign on top of one of his company’s buildings. Smullen, a former U.S. Marine Corps colonel and current state Assembly member, has broad support from state Republicans and presents himself as a steady, experienced choice for the House.<\/p>

Back in Maryland, Republican voters are choosing a candidate they hope can unseat first-term Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, who has emerged as a rising figure in the Democratic Party. The GOP field ranges from ultra-moderate to staunchly conservative. Among the most closely watched contenders is Dan Cox, an attorney and former state delegate who ran unsuccessfully for governor four years ago. Cox has a photo of himself with Trump on his law firm’s website and has pledged to cut taxes and expand housing affordability programs if elected.<\/p>

At one Maryland polling location at Bowie High School’s 9th Grade Center, turnout was light under overcast skies. Rodrick Greensword, 58, and his wife Natasha Greensword, 45, both voted for incumbent Gov. Moore in the Democratic gubernatorial primary and for Maryland State Delegate Adrian Boafo to be the Democratic nominee to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Steny Hoyer. “We know the governor is governed by the pillars on which his culture is built,” Natasha said, adding that he will work for the people and make moral and humane choices. She said Boafo appeared to share the same values as Moore and Hoyer, and that Hoyer’s endorsement of Boafo also carried weight with her.<\/p>

In Maryland’s most crowded primary, 24 candidates are on the Democratic ballot to succeed Rep. Hoyer. Among them is Harry Dunn, a former police officer who defended the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riot. Dunn became an advocate for democratic institutions in the aftermath of that day. His campaign platform includes protecting democracy and holding Trump and his allies accountable for what he describes as misinformation and violence.<\/p>

In South Carolina, Alan Wilson has served as state attorney general since 2011, building relationships with law enforcement officials across the state over more than a decade. Many of those officials endorsed his gubernatorial campaign. Since advancing to the runoff, Wilson has also received endorsements from three fellow Republicans who did not make it to the final round: state Sen. Josh Kimbrell and U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also endorsed Wilson, calling him “a proven conservative fighter who has spent years defending the Constitution.” Cruz traveled to South Carolina on Monday to appear at three campaign events with Wilson.<\/p>

The South Carolina primary season was marked by months of sharp attacks between candidates competing for a rare open governor’s seat. Wilson acknowledged the tension but said the candidates’ relationship improved the more they encountered each other in person. “It’s easy to say things about people on social media, but when you start talking to them backstage, at forums and debates and things like that, you have conversations, you start to see a human being, not an avatar on a social media app,” he said. Wilson noted that he regularly checked in on Rep. Mace after her father died in April. After finishing last in the June 9 primary, Mace quickly endorsed Wilson, and Wilson said the two had “buried the hatchet.”<\/p>

When the runoff was set, Lt. Gov. Evette wasted no time going on offense, calling Wilson a “career politician \u2026 who won’t take a stand and who does the political thing and not the right thing.” The crowd responded to Wilson’s name with boos. Wilson, for his part, did not mention Evette by name in his remarks and instead said he welcomed support from voters who had backed other candidates in the earlier primary.<\/p>

After voting in Lexington on Tuesday, Wilson said it might take “a couple of weeks” for candidates on both sides to shake off the tension from a grueling year-long primary season. But he expressed confidence that “the Republican party’s going to coalesce around the candidate” ultimately nominated.<\/p>

On the Democratic side in South Carolina, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson won his party’s gubernatorial nomination outright, defeating two other candidates. Charleston physician Annie Andrews also secured the Democratic nomination to challenge the incumbent U.S. senator. Democrats face a steep climb in the state \u2014 in the last governor’s race, the Republican incumbent won by nearly 18 percentage points, and Democrats have not won a gubernatorial race in South Carolina since 1998. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in the state in decades either.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Voters in four states cast ballots Tuesday in primary elections that will shape the November midterms. Maryland, New York, South Carolina, and Utah are all holding contests for congressional and gubernatorial nominations. The results could influence which party controls Congress after the fall elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":85778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[833],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782243190171.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-mjx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24071,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/congressional-map-battles-continue-as-mid-decade-redistricting-spreads-nationwide\/","url_meta":{"origin":85779,"position":0},"title":"Congressional Map Battles Continue as Mid-Decade Redistricting Spreads Nationwide","author":"Admin","date":"February 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"While primary campaigns are already underway, multiple states are still fighting over congressional district boundaries ahead of November's midterm elections. 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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing far-left challengers against Democratic incumbents, testing his political influence. Meanwhile, a crowded Manhattan Democratic primary and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782211553307.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":72068,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/alabama-congressional-map-blocked-by-federal-court-before-midterm-elections\/","url_meta":{"origin":85779,"position":2},"title":"Alabama Congressional Map Blocked by Federal Court Before Midterm Elections","author":"Admin","date":"May 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A federal court has temporarily stopped Alabama from implementing new congressional district boundaries that could benefit Republican candidates in upcoming midterm elections. 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