Leger Fernandez defeats Plame; Feenstra topples King

New Mexico: Teresa Leger Fernandez clinched the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Mexico’s 3rd district, beating out former CIA officer Valerie Plame in a highly watched race that saw an influx of outside spending. With 70% of the vote counted, Leger Fernandez received 42% and Plame was trailing with 23%. Leger Fernandez is aiming to win the seat being vacated by Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination for Senate. In the state’s 3rd district, Yvette Herrell, who lost narrowly in 2018 to Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM), will take on Torres Small again this November, after winning a bruising Republican primary.       

Iowa: Nine-term Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who has been repudiated by the GOP for his history of bigoted comments, lost his Republican primary bid in Iowa’s 4th district to challenger Randy Feenstra, who received 46% of the vote to King’s 36%. In November, Feenstra will face Democrat J.D. Scholten, who came within striking distance of King in 2018 and ran unopposed for the nomination.   

Pennsylvania: Lisa Scheller appears poised to clinch the Republican congressional primary in Pennsylvania’s 7th district, currently leading 51.8% to 48.2% against Lehigh County Commissioner Dean Browning, as mail-in ballots continue to be counted. The winner will face freshman Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) in November. In the state’s 8th district, Jim Bognet held a lead of several hundred votes in the Republican primary, slightly edging out Teddy Daniels in a race that has yet to be called.

Maryland: Rep. Kweisi Mfume received more than 75% of the vote in the Democratic primary in Maryland’s 7th district, after winning a special election in April to fill the seat held by the late Rep. Elijah Cummings. In the 5th district, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) trounced progressive challenger Mckayla Wilkes. In the Baltimore mayoral race’s Democratic primary, disgraced former Mayor Sheila Dixon was leading the count, followed by City Council President Brandon Scott, with former U.S. Treasury official Mary Miller in third place and incumbent Mayor Bernard Young in a distant fifth — with many votes left to be tallied.