Voters turned out for primary elections in Nebraska, West Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday, ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
Here’s what you need to know.
Nebraska Senate race: The Republican, the Democrat and the independent
Republican Pete Ricketts, the incumbent heading into the election, faces four challengers on the primary ballot.
The Nebraska State Democratic Party has endorsed Dan Osborn, who is running as an independent. Osborn ran against incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer in 2024 and lost by narrow margins.
Though Osborn has party support, community college instructor Cindy Burbank and pastor Bill Forbes are also running for the Democratic nomination.
Forbes and Burbank both filed for candidacy last-minute, and some have accused Forbes of running only to pull votes from Osborn and ensure Ricketts’ success in the race.
“William Forbes is a Ricketts plant. Don’t let the MAGA Republicans mess with our primary. Vote for Cindy Burbank,” said Jane Fleming Kleeb, Nebraska Democratic Party chair.
Forbes, though running as a Democratic candidate, is anti-abortion and told CNN that he voted for President Donald Trump multiple times. Forbes said he is a lifelong Democrat and denies accusations of being a plant.
Burbank told NBC News that she chose to run to prevent Forbes from pulling votes from Osborn, and said she would exit the race and back Osborn if she did not have a clear path to victory.
Burbank’s personal website promotes Osborn, saying, “Dan Osborn is a good man, a working man, a strike leader, and someone we can trust. He deserves a fair shot against Ricketts. So vote for me—and I’ll make sure we send Billionaire Pete Ricketts PACKING!"
Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen tried to remove Burbank from the ballot in March, saying Burbank was not a “good-faith candidate,” but the Nebraska Supreme Court later reinstated her candidacy.
Nebraska’s 2nd District: The fight for the blue dot
Things are also heating up in Nebraska’s 2nd District, where retiring Republican Rep. Don Bacon is leaving an open seat in a district that voted for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Several Democrats are competing in Tuesday’s primary for a chance to oppose Republican nominee Brinker Harding in the midterm elections in November. Harding is currently running unopposed in the GOP primary.
The race among Democrats for the Omaha-area seat is between political organizer Denise Powell and Nebraska state Sen. John Cavanaugh. More than $5 million has been spent on the two campaigns combined.
Omaha is considered a “blue dot” region in red-leaning Nebraska. Nebraska is one of only two states (the other being Maine) that divide Electoral College votes by congressional district instead of a winner-take-all system. Powell said that if Cavanaugh wins the election, Republicans will be able to change this system in their favor because of his missing vote in the state legislature.
Governor elections: The endorsement advantage
In addition to the Senate, Nebraska is holding elections for governor.
Incumbent Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is running for reelection against five Republican challengers. Pillen is the only candidate with an endorsement from Trump.
Lynne Walz and Larry Marvin are competing for the Democratic nomination. Nebraska has not elected a Democratic governor since 1994.
Elsewhere: Incumbents compete to stay
West Virginia and New Jersey also have polls open Tuesday.
In West Virginia, GOP Sen. Shelly Moore Capito faces five other Republicans in the primary as she runs for her third term. The Democratic primary ballot has five candidates.
In New Jersey, incumbent Mayor Ras Baraka, who has served as mayor of Newark for more than a decade, faces seven challengers as he tries to keep his office for a fourth term. This race comes a little over a year after Baraka was arrested at a protest outside a federal immigration detention center.
Polls will close at 7:00 p.m. MDT in Nebraska, 5:30 p.m. MDT in West Virginia and 6:00 p.m. MDT in New Jersey.