Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated Rep. Jared Golden’s district. He represents Maine’s 2nd District.
Voters in four states on Tuesday will head to the polls to choose which candidates in a slate of congressional and state primaries will battle it out in contentious races this fall.
The results of close races in Nevada and Maine could determine which party controls the House and Senate next year and with it significant power over the agenda for the 2024 White House winner. Contests in South Carolina and North Dakota are almost certain to decide the general election winner in heavily Republican areas.
Here’s a look at some of the most competitive and influential races to watch across the country on Tuesday.
South Carolina
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace faces a competitive primary challenge for South Carolina’s 1st congressional district from former state cabinet official Catherine Templeton. The race is shaping up to be a proxy fight between former President Donald Trump’s MAGA wing of the Republican party and establishment conservatives.
Mace has received criticism from members of the GOP for voting with seven other House Republicans in 2023 to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. McCarthy had backed Mace when she initially ran for Congress in 2020, but the Charleston-area Republican lawmaker argued that McCarthy had not kept his promises.
American Prosperity Alliance, a group aligned with McCarthy, ran an ad against Mace in the race. And McCarthy’s political action committee, Majority Committee PAC, has donated $10,000 to Templeton’s campaign.
Templeton, who served as head of the state health and environment department under then-Gov. Nikki Haley, has received endorsements from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.
