NEW YORK (AP) — Florida Republican Rep. Dan Webster on Tuesday narrowly defeated Laura Loomer, a far-right provocateur in Florida who’s been banned on some social media networks because of anti-Muslim and other remarks.
Webster had been in an unexpectedly tight race against Loomer, a nationally known activist who sought to align herself with former President Donald Trump.
In other races, redrawn maps shuffling U.S. House districts in New York were threatening the political career of a first-term progressive and ensured the ouster of one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress.
The scramble led to contentious races between Democrats in the second-largest blue state in the country, with both challengers and incumbents sensing a rare window to win or lose power in Tuesday’s primary elections.
There was an added degree of uncertainty to how New York’s congressional primary contests will shake out as voter turnout was expected to be low. It was the second primary election day in New York this summer after statewide and state assembly primaries were held two months ago. New York voters are not accustomed to casting primary ballots this late in the summer — and certainly not used to casting them twice — and many were finding their longtime district lines had shifted, adding to confusion. Polls close in the state at 9 p.m. EDT.
Some of the top elections:
FAR-RIGHT PROVOCATEUR RAN AND LOST AGAIN
Webster, who has served central Florida districts since 2011, won the primary for a race in Florida’s 11th District, which is home to The Villages, the nation’s largest retirement community and a GOP stronghold.
Loomer unsuccessfully ran for the House in 2020, winning a Republican primary but losing the general election that year to incumbent Democrat Lois Frankel for a Palm Beach-area seat that includes Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort.
On social media, Loomer regularly posted conspiracy theories and misinformation around Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to Congress. Among them was the false claim that Omar and other Democrats were plotting to institute Sharia in Minnesota.
END OF AN ERA
For three decades, Democrat Jerry Nadler has represented Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and Democrat Carolyn Maloney has represented the Upper East Side.
But under new redistricting maps, much of their longtime congressional districts were merged, spanning Central Park and linking two iconic New York City neighborhoods whose residents claim very distinct identities.
Maloney, 76, and Nadler, 75, are likewise each trying to claim distinction Tuesday as they face off in a race for New York’s 12th District.
Nadler, who was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, has talked up his role overseeing Donald Trump’s impeachments while serving as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Maloney has touted her own check on the former president while serving as chair of the powerful House Oversight Committee.
Challenging them both is 38-year-old lawyer Suraj Patel, who argues it’s time for a new face in Congress.
A CROWDED FIELD FOR AN OPEN SEAT
With Nadler and Maloney running in the district immediately north, a congressional seat covering southern Manhattan, including Wall Street, and Brooklyn is a rare open contest in one of the most liberal and influential areas of the country.
New York’s 10th District has attracted a bevy of progressive candidates, including an incumbent congressman from the New York City suburbs, Mondaire Jones, who moved to the area to run. Jones, one of the first openly gay Black members of Congress, said it’s important to have an LGBTQ representative in the district that includes the West Village and the Stonewall Inn, the site of riots that gave birth to the gay rights movement.
Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump, is among his leading challengers.
Other candidates include Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou, New York City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera and former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, who last served in Congress in 1981.
TOUGH FIGHT FOR HOUSE DEMOCRATS’ CAMPAIGN CHIEF
New York’s new 17th District, home to idyllic towns along the historic Hudson River Valley, has turned into a tough political fight for Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm.
Maloney, a Democrat who became New York’s first openly gay congressman when he was elected a decade ago, is facing a primary challenge from state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi.
Biaggi, a 36-year-old progressive endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is a granddaughter of former Bronx congressman Mario Biaggi. She has sought to portray Maloney as out of touch and part of the establishment.
Maloney, who has the backing of former President Bill Clinton, has campaigned on Democrats’ recent legislative wins in Congress and warns the seat could fall to Republicans in November if the Democratic nominee is too liberal.
REPUBLICANS VIE TO REPLACE CONGRESSMAN AFTER BACKLASH
A Republican race in western New York has become a heated contest to replace GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs.
Jacobs decided not to seek reelection after facing backlash from his own party for voicing support for an assault weapons ban following a racist mass shooting in his hometown of Buffalo in May.
Tuesday’s race in New York’s redrawn 23rd District features New York’s Republican Party chair, Nick Langworthy, and Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino.
Paladino, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010, has a long history of inflammatory and offensive remarks, including recent comments that praised Adolf Hitler and circulated conspiracy theories around mass shootings.
SPECIAL ELECTIONS
New Yorkers are not only casting votes in primary races Tuesday but are also electing two new House members to fill vacancies for the rest of the year.
One of the special elections will be a battleground race in southern and central New York to replace Democrat Antonio Delgado, who became New York’s lieutenant governor. Republican Marc Molinaro and Democrat Pat Ryan are vying for the seat in what is currently New York’s 19th Congressional District.
In western New York, Democrat Max Della Pia and Republican Joe Sempolinski are running to serve out the rest of the year in what is currently New York’s 23rd District. They are competing in a GOP-favored seat to replace Republican Rep. Tom Reed, who resigned in May, a year after he was accused of sexual misconduct.
GAETZ PASSES TEST AFTER SCANDAL
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Trump protégé who is under federal investigation in a sex trafficking case, won a primary contest that was seen as a test of whether he could keep support among moderate Republicans.
Gaetz has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. He was facing a challenge from Mark Lombardo, a former Marine and executive at FedEx who had blanketed the western Panhandle with attack ads centering around the investigation as he tried to take him on in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.
Rebekah Jones, a former Department of Health employee who questioned the state’s COVID-19 data, won the Democratic primary for the seat in the heavily Republican district. A state inspector general’s report concluded Jones’ allegations were unfounded, but in her race for Congress, she tapped into national support for fundraising, bringing in more than $500,000.
CROWDED PACK FOR POSSIBLE GOP PICKUP
Republicans have another pickup opportunity in the seat held by Democrat Stephanie Murphy, who didn’t seek reelection.
The new configuration of her district, Florida’s 7th, shifts it from competitive to comfortably Republican.
Cory Mills, a U.S. Army veteran and businessman, won an eight-candidate primary that included state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, one of the Florida Legislature’s most conservative members. Sabatini is known for bucking his own party in the Legislature because it was not conservative enough for him. He also called for defunding the FBI after the search of Mar-a-Lago and promoted false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Farrington reported from Tallahassee, Fla.
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