Voters in 7 States Cast Ballots in Midterm Primaries, Runoffs

Oklahoma Republicans will sort through 10 candidates to select a candidate to run for U.S. Senator, two Mississippi GOP congressional incumbents face runoffs, and controversial Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) is being challenged by a party rival in her first re-election campaign.

Those races are among the dozens of local, state, and congressional races on tap as voters in seven states head to polls for June 28 runoffs and primaries, capping a busy month of preliminary contests to set November general election ballots.

Mississippi and South Carolina will stage runoffs to settle unfinished business from June primaries. In Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, and Utah, Republicans and Democrats are voting in party primaries.

After the June 28 elections, 29 states will have completed inter-party rounds leading up to fall’s 2022 midterm elections.

The primary pace slackens in July, with only Maryland on the docket before picking up in August. Of the 19 states with primaries still on tap—Louisiana and Rhode Island do not have primaries—15 will stage them between Aug. 2-23.

New York is moving ahead with June 28 primaries for governor, lieutenant governor, and state assembly, while preliminary contests for Congressional and state senate seats were shifted to Aug. 23 after the Democrat-controlled legislature’s proposed electoral district maps were rejected and revised in May court rulings.

A roundup of June 28 runoffs and primaries:

Oklahoma

Ten GOP candidates are vying in the June 28 primary to replace 87-year-old Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, who took office in 1994 and was elected to a fifth term in 2020 before announcing his retirement in February.

Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) is regarded as the frontrunner, but in the crowded field, it is unlikely he’ll secure the 50 percent threshold that will allow him to advance to November without a runoff on Aug. 23.

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