WASHINGTON — With frustrated voters poised to unleash their wrath, unpopular Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and vulnerable Sen. Barbara Boxer will find out their Republican opponents this fall. And fellow Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln will learn whether she’ll even be on the November ballot.
Voters in 12 states cast ballots Tuesday in contests that will determine the fate of a Senate incumbent in Arkansas, decide the matchups for high-stakes races in Nevada and California and settle a nasty gubernatorial primary in South Carolina.
Their states — Nevada, California and Arkansas — are among 12 holding primaries and runoffs Tuesday, the busiest night thus far of this year’s congressional and gubernatorial elections.
The outcomes will determine matchups for November, when Democrats will try to maintain their comfortable majorities in the House and Senate and overcome Republican challenges in dozens of gubernatorial races.
Although Democrats are on defense, the results of previous primaries make clear that neither party is safe from voters’ ire.
Nationwide, Democrats and Republicans alike are facing an electorate filled with people like Judy Hamilton of Columbia, S.C., who voted in the GOP primary even though she says, “I don’t believe very many politicians or very many people on the political scene.”
Across the board, voters are angry over the state of the country, from the persistent economic woes to the typical ways of Washington. And earlier nominating contests in Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia and Alabama indicated that voters are willing to fire Washington incumbents — regardless of party.
That said, the party that controls the White House typically takes a big beating in the president’s first midterm elections, and an increasingly difficult political environment for Democrats is boosting the GOP’s hopes of a victorious November. President Barack Obama’s job performance rating is hovering around 50 percent, and most people say the nation is on the wrong track.
A look at the contests:
Maine (Polls close at 8 p.m. EDT)
The primary races for governor are wide open, with no clear front-runners to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. John Baldacci. A seven-way Republican primary includes tea party favorite Paul LePage. Businesswoman Rosa Scarcelli has staked out the right and the outsider’s role in the four-way Democratic race. The other three are government insiders — Senate President Libby Mitchell, former Attorney General Steve Rowe and Pat McGowan, a former legislator who also served in Baldacci’s Cabinet.
________
Arkansas (Polls close at 8:30 p.m. EDT)
Two-term Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a centrist Democrat, is fighting for her political life against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. The two were forced into a runoff for the party nomination after neither captured 50 percent of the vote in the May 18 primary. Unions and other outside groups have spent millions in the state to influence the outcome.
____
California (Polls close at 11 p.m. EDT)
Republican billionaire Meg Whitman has invested more than $70 million of her own fortune in the governor’s race against state insurance commissioner Steve Poizner, a wealthy former businessman who has put $24 million into his campaign. The likely winner of the Democratic nomination is Attorney General Jerry Brown, who was governor in the 1970s and 1980s.
Carly Fiorina, a former Hewlett Packard Co. chief executive, is leading in some polls over her GOP opponents for Senate: former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, a tea party favorite. The winner will challenge Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.
The congressional race in Southern California’s 36th District features contrasting Democratic candidates Rep. Jane Harman, who belongs to the Blue Dog group of conservative Democrats, and Marcy Winograd, co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Progressive Democrats of America. In 2006, Harman beat Winograd with 62 percent of the vote.
_____
Nevada (Polls close at 10 p.m. EDT)
Gov. Jim Gibbons could be the first sitting governor to lose a nominating contest in the state in 100 years. He’s had a tumultuous first term that included a nasty public divorce and allegations of infidelity. Polls have found Gibbons trailing GOP front-runner Brian Sandoval by double digits.
Three Republicans are in a bruising fight for the chance to face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Tea party favorite Sharron Angle has recently been running ahead of former Nevada GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden and Las Vegas businessman Danny Tarkanian.
____
South Carolina (Polls close at 7 p.m. EDT)
Republican state Rep. Nikki Haley is hoping to become the state’s first female governor. The race has turned nasty with allegations of infidelity, which she denies. In some polls, Haley is edging out her GOP challengers, including Rep. Gresham Barrett, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and Attorney General Henry McMaster. Of the three Democratic gubernatorial candidates, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen has spent the most money. All are vying to succeed the term-limited Gov. Mark Sanford in the Republican-leaning state.
Democrats pick a challenger to Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Bob Inglis is in a tough race to keep the seat he’s held for six terms. His challengers have made the primary a referendum on his 2008 vote to bail out the nation’s banking industry. His race, as well as the GOP gubernatorial primary, could end up in a June 22 runoff.
____
Iowa (Polls close at 10 p.m. EDT)
Iowa has a three-way Republican primary for the right to oppose Democrat Chet Culver, considered one of the nation’s most vulnerable governors. Polls suggest former Gov. Terry Branstad leading over businessman Bob Vander Plaats and state Rep. Rod Roberts. Democrats choose a challenger to Sen. Charles Grassley.
___
North Dakota (Polls at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. EDT)
Officials in both parties say Sen. Byron Dorgan’s retirement gives Republicans their best opportunity to pick up a seat in the Senate. Republican Gov. John Hoeven is the leading candidate.
____
South Dakota (Polls close at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. EDT)
Democrats failed to find a candidate to challenge Republican Sen. John Thune, a popular politician who is seeking a second term in the Senate.
____
Virginia (Polls close at 7 p.m. EDT)
Virginia Republicans face critical choices about nominees as they look to win back the three U.S. House seats lost in the Democrats’ 2008 sweep. The GOP has its eye on Rep. Tom Perriello’s 5th Congressional District seat, since he won in 2008 by just 727 votes. Seven candidates are vying for the nomination, with no clear front-runner.
___
Georgia (Polls close at 7 p.m. EDT)
In north Georgia, Tom Graves hopes his involvement with the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots will help him defeat Lee Hawkins, another conservative, in a runoff to fill a vacant House seat in a heavily Republican district. Rep. Nathan Deal resigned to run for governor.
____
New Jersey (Polls close at 8 p.m. EDT)
Members of the House faced challenges in seven of the state’s 13 congressional districts but no upsets were expected. The tea party movement created a crowded field on the Republican side, with some candidates, including former NFL star Jon Runyan, endorsed by both the GOP and a tea party group.
____
Montana (Polls close at 10 p.m. EDT)
Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg is the front-runner in his re-election bid, though he has challengers from both the left and the right.