Florida voters choose in governor, Senate primaries, and more races to watch

Three states are holding primaries on Tuesday, with Florida deciding its nominees for both governor and for Senate. In Alaska, Sen. Dan Sullivan is facing several competitors — including one who shares his name — in the nonpartisan top-four primary. 

Floridians will also be voting in primaries in new congressional districts after GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through new district boundaries to give Republicans an advantage in 24 of the state’s 28 districts. 

Here are the major races to watch today: 

Florida governor

Florida hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since 1994 and DeSantis is prevented from running again due to term limits. In 2018, DeSantis won by less than a single point. By 2022, he won by 20 points — transforming Florida from being seen as a swing state to being solidly Republican. 

Rep. Byron Donalds, first elected in 2020 to represent Naples, Fort Myers and the surrounding area, is backed by President Trump and has long branded himself as a “Make America Great Again” member of the House. He is a prominent member of the House Freedom Caucus and in 2023, challenged Kevin McCarthy in the race to become speaker, forcing 15 rounds of voting. Donalds also put his name in the bid to replace McCarthy 10 months later when he was ousted from the speakership. 

In addition to Mr. Trump’s backing, Donalds has amassed a significant war chest, having raised $90 million so far. He has also held a commanding lead in polls. 

There are 10 other Republicans seeking the nomination, with Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and far-right activist James Fishback as the leading challengers to Donalds. While DeSantis has not endorsed in the race, Collins has branded himself as “DeSantis-appointed,” but it’s likely a race for second place given Donalds’ lead.

Collins tried earlier this summer to get Fishback booted from the ballot, alleging Fishback had not met the state’s seven-year minimum residency requirement. The case was ultimately thrown out by a judge. 

Fishback, a 31-year-old Florida native, has gained momentum among young men in the “groyper” movement online and has support of Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson. Fishback has taunted Donalds with racist comments, calling him a “slave to donors,” a “token Black” in Congress and accusing him of wanting to turn Florida into a “Section 8 ghetto.”

As the well-funded front-runner, Donalds generally does not acknowledge Fishback’s comments. Fishback has raised little money and does not stand much of a chance of succeeding on Tuesday, but he has pushed white nationalism into the governor’s race and caused a splinter in the GOP. 

Across the aisle, there are six Democrats seeking the nomination on Tuesday, with former Republican Rep. David Jolly as the front-runner. Jolly represented the St. Petersburg area from 2014 to 2016, and is the second prominent Republican-turned-Democrat to run for governor in Florida in two cycles. In 2022, former Gov. Charlie Crist — who served as a Republican as governor before becoming a Democrat and defeating Jolly in the 2016 election — lost to DeSantis by nearly 20 points. Crist is now running for St. Petersburg mayor. 

Florida Senate race

When Marco Rubio became secretary of state, DeSantis appointed Ashley Moody to his Senate seat, and she is now running to serve out the remainder of his term. Moody was elected the state’s attorney general twice, defeating her Democratic challenger in 2022 by more than 20 points. 

Moody faces three Republican challengers on Tuesday, although she is expected to win the nomination. 

Democrats Alex Vindman and Angie Nixon are duking it out for the Democratic nomination. Vindman, a retired lieutenant colonel, served on the National Security Council as an expert on Ukraine during Mr. Trump’s first term. He became a key witness in Mr. Trump’s first impeachment, testifying he heard Mr. Trump on a phone call pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden. Vindman was later forced out at the NSC. His brother, Eugene, who also reported the phone call as being improper, was elected to Congress in 2024 from Virginia. 

Nixon, a state representative from Jacksonville, led the Democratic protest against DeSantis’ new congressional map. A labor organizer, she is touting her progressive support, including from unions and progressive Rep. Maxwell Frost, who represents the Orlando area. 

Florida House 

Earlier this year, DeSantis pushed through a new congressional map to favor Republicans in four more districts after the Supreme Court decision that narrowed the section of the Voting Rights Act that required the creation of majority Black voting districts in some states. Rep. Darren Soto’s district, which was protected by the Voting Rights Act, was redrawn to become more favorable to Republicans. 

Soto is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination, and seven Republicans are running on Tuesday to take him on. Republican Thomas Chalifoux Jr., Soto’s challenger in 2024 who won more than 40% of the vote under the old lines, is running again, as is Marcus Carter, who ran in 2024 on the general election ballot as a NPA candidate. Republican Dan Green, who worked in the first Trump administration, is touting his ties to the president. He has been endorsed by seven members of Congress, although none from Florida. 

Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s current district was also affected. She’s now running in the neighboring 20th District, which is still a majority Black district and has been represented by a Black representative since the 1980s. Wasserman Schultz was sharply criticized by Black community leaders and the other four candidates, who are all African American, for running in this district. 

The seat is currently vacant after former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned earlier this year moments before the House Ethics Committee was set to determine whether she should be sanctioned for allegations of theft and other misconduct. But despite resigning less than six months ago, Cherfilus-McCormick is running again this year. There are three other candidates: Luther Campbell, Dale Holness and Elijah Manly. 

Moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz’s district was also redrawn to favor Republicans. Moskowitz faces a challenger to the left, Oliver Larkin, a democratic socialist. Younger and usually progressive challengers have pulled off upsets in New York, Colorado and Connecticut, and Larkin has cast Moskowitz as being pro-Israel and being tied to AIPAC. Florida’s 25th District has one of the heaviest concentrations of Jewish voters in the country. 

Republican Rep. Cory Mills, who represents the 7th District in central Florida, has three GOP primary challengers. Mills faces a House Ethics Committee probe for allegations related to federal contracting violations, stolen valor and assault. He has been accused of assault by a woman who filed a police report last year, and a former girlfriend filed a restraining order against him. He has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.

Two Republicans in Florida’s House delegation have endorsed Mills’ challenger, Ryan Elijah, a former local television anchor. There have also been calls for him to be censured or even expelled by other members of Congress, especially in the wake of several high-profile accusations of misconduct in the House. 

Alaska Senate race

Democrats have to flip four seats to take control of the Senate, in addition to holding all their current seats. Although Alaska hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 2009, Democrats believe Alaska could be a long-shot target in the right political environment. 

Former Rep. Mary Peltola has opted to take on incumbent two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Alaska has nonpartisan primaries, so the top four finishers in Tuesday’s primary will be on the ballot in November. 

Peltola won a surprise victory in a special election to represent Alaska’s at-large congressional district in 2022 and won a full term that November, but she lost to Republican Nick Begich in 2024. Mr. Trump won Alaska by 13 points in that election.

There are 13 candidates on the ballot on Tuesday, and there is another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan, whom the Alaska Division of Elections attempted to take off the ballot earlier this summer. The Alaska Supreme Court determined that Daniel J. Sullivan can appear on the ballot, saying his candidacy appears to be in good faith. On Friday, Mr. Trump accused Democrats of trying to “trick” Alaska voters, since Daniel J. Sullivan is also on the ballot as a Republican. 

The money raised in the race shows the front-runners: Peltola has raised more than $18 million so far, while the incumbent Sen. Sullivan has brought in more than $11 million. The other Daniel J. Sullivan has raised $18,000.

Despite the large sums already raised by Peltola, her campaign has raised some eyebrows in the past week. Former Vice President Kamala Harris sent around a fundraising email for Peltola, but her campaign told national media that they had not approved the fundraising pitch as she seeks to distinguish herself as an independent. 

Wyoming

One-term Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis is not running for reelection, leaving open one of the safest GOP seats in the country. Mr. Trump has endorsed Harriet Hageman, whom he also backed to unseat former Rep. Liz Cheney in 2022 for the state’s at-large House seat. 

Hageman is facing four other primary candidates. There are also two Democrats vying to take on the winner of the GOP race. 

With Hageman vacating her seat, nine Republicans are vying for the GOP nomination and two Democrats are competing for their nomination.