New York, Florida and Oklahoma elections

ST PETERSBURG, FL - AUGUST 23: Florida Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) speaks to the media before casting his vote in the primary election at The Gathering Church on August 23, 2022 in St Petersburg, Florida. Crist faces his opposition Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.  (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
Henderson: Crist's win a sign of a weak Democratic Party in Florida
01:33 - Source: CNN

What we covered

52 Posts

Our live coverage on tonight’s primary elections has wrapped, but you can keep reading about the night’s most notable races and dig into all the results here:

  • You can read the key takeaways from tonight’s primaries here.
  • For full results from Florida, go here.
  • For full results from New York, go here.
  • For full results from Oklahoma, go here.

CNN Projection: Nick Langworthy will win Republican primary for New York 23rd Congressional District

Nick Langworthy listens to supporters during an event in Elmira, New York, on Monday, August 22.

Republican Nick Langworthy will win the party’s nomination in New York’s 23th Congressional District, CNN projects.

He defeated primary challenger Carl Paladino.

Langworthy will now face Max Della Pia, Democratic nominee, in the general election in November. Democrats currently control 18 out of the state’s 27 US House seats. The state lost a seat after the 2020 census.

Remember: There was also a special election in the 23rd district on Tuesday to fill the remainder of former GOP Rep. Tom Reed’s term. CNN projected Republican Joe Sempolinski will step into that seat after winning the separate race.

Langworthy will run for the district’s full term in November.

CNN Projection: Democrat Pat Ryan wins special election in New York's 19th Congressional District   

Pat Ryan, center, speaks to supporters during a campaign rally in Kingston, New York, on Monday.

Pat Ryan will win the special election in New York’s 19th Congressional District, CNN projects, and will fill the seat of Democratic Rep. Antonio Delgado.

Ryan defeated Republican Marc Molinaro in the race.  

Delagado resigned to become Lieutenant Governor of New York, following predecessor Brian Benjamin’s indictment on federal bribery charges.  

Ryan serves as Ulster County Executive and also won the Democratic primary for New York’s 18th District.  

Rep. Carolyn Maloney "saddened that we no longer have a woman representing Manhattan in Congress"

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, center, stands with family, staff and supporters at an election night party in New York on Tuesday.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney acknowledged her defeat to fellow Rep. Jerry Nadler in New York’s contentious 12th district Democratic primary, calling Nadler, “a distinguished member of Congress,” and saying, “I share his progressive values, and I wish him every success.”

Maloney said she was “proud to have followed in the footsteps and stand on the shoulders of the strong New York women who opened doors and took on the tough battles,” adding that “these heroic women fought sexist systems and misogyny that continues today, as we know from my own campaign.”

CNN Projection: Republican Joe Sempolinski will win special election in New York’s 23rd District   

Republican Joe Sempolinski will win the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, CNN projects, and fill the remainder of GOP Rep. Tom Reed’s term. 

After being accused of sexual misconduct in 2021, Reed announced he would not run for reelection, and he resigned in May. He joined a lobbying firm.  

Sempolinski is chair of the Steuben County Republican Committee and served as a staffer for Reed. While he’s running in the district’s special election — which is held under the old district lines — he is not running in the regularly-scheduled primary election in the district’s new party lines.

Sempolinski was the favorite to win the special election in the Republican district that Trump carried in 2020 by 11 points – though he is not running for a full term. 

Sempolinski defeated Democrat Max Della Pia, an Air Force veteran, in the special election.  

Rep. Jerry Nadler thanks supporters and vows to fight for progressive causes

Rep. Jerry Nadler speaks during his election night party in New York on Tuesday.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, who was first elected in 1992 to represent the Upper West Side, delivered a victory speech before an enthusiastic crowd of supporters gathered on a restaurant patio, saying the district belongs to the voters and, “I think the voters made themselves clear tonight.”

“Tonight is a big night,” Nadler told the crowd, during a roughly 11-minute speech, during which he thanked a long list of supporters, including local politicians and Democratic clubs who helped get out the vote, along with Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, who lent their support to him. He went on to thank his family and “New York leaders who came before me” including Bella Abzug, a congresswoman and leader and champion of women’s rights. 

Nadler emerged victorious in an unusual matchup that pitted him against his longtime ally and friend, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who was elected in 1992 to represent the Upper East Side. Both considered political heavyweights who chaired important committees, Nadler and Maloney were drawn into the same district after a messy redistricting process.

“I’m so proud of tonight’s victory and I’m thrilled that we were able to win while remaining committed to our principles of kindness and progressivism,” Nadler said.

Nadler said he had spoken with Maloney and another challenger, Suraj Patel, saying they had graciously conceded. Nadler called Patel “an exceptionally bright and committed young leader” and said of Maloney, “I thank her for her decades of service to our city.”

“I’m humbled by the way we worked together to achieve this victory. We won with votes from the East side and the West side,” Nadler said. “We built a coalition made up of stagehands in Chelsea, nurses in Yorkville and yes maybe a professor or two on the west side.”

Gen Z candidate wins Democratic nomination in Florida's 10th District

Maxwell Frost, a gun violence prevention activist, speaks during a March For Our Lives drive-in rally and aid event in Orlando in 2021.

Maxwell Frost, a 25-year-old community organizer and one of the first members of Gen Z to run for Congress, will win the Democratic nomination in Florida’s 10th District, CNN projects. 

He bested a crowded field of candidates looking to replace Democratic Rep. Val Demings in the Orlando district including state Sen. Randolph Bracy, former US Rep. Corrine Brown – who recently settled a federal corruption case after winning a new trial and serving more than two years in prison – and former US Rep. Alan Grayson

Demings vacated the deep-blue district seat to run for Senate. She clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday and will face GOP Sen. Marco Rubio in November.

Ahead of the primary, Frost — a gun violence prevention activist who this summer disrupted conservative talk show host Dave Rubin’s public interview of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis with calls to end gun violence — generated considerable buzz. 

He was endorsed by progressives Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, as well as the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, and he had raised $1.5 million through Aug. 3, more than any other candidate in the field, according to Federal Election Commission filings. 

For the first time in 2022, members of Generation Z – those born after 1996 – could be elected to the US House of Representatives. Frost on the campaign trail has leaned into his youth and says that if elected to Congress, he would bring the fervor of Gen Z with him. 

“Our generation has been through some of the modern challenges our country is going through, yet we don’t have representation in Congress, and we deserve to be at the table,” Frost told CNN Tuesday. 

“I’m not here saying I represent the values and thoughts of every single member of Gen Z. We’re like any other generation… many different ideologies and everything like that. But I think I do holistically represent our lived experience as young people,” he said.

In addition to fighting for gun safety, Frost has advocated for abortion rights and voting rights with the ACLU of Florida. 

Since launching his campaign, he has focused his energy on what he calls the need for “bold change.” His platform includes proposals like Medicare for all and a plan for “ending gun violence,” as well as “the climate crisis,” which includes the progressive Green New Deal resolution.

Frost on Tuesday described growing up as part of the “mass shooting generation” and said, “We’re a generation that goes through more school shooting drills than fire drills.”

“We’ve seen these things and been wondering our whole lives as young people, in high school, middle school and elementary school, why? Why is this happening? Why have we not fixed this? And now we’re at a place where we can vote and we can run, and we’re going to do it,” he said.

Results are coming in from New York and Oklahoma. These are the big takeaways so far.

Rep. Jerry Nadler holds a campaign rally in Manhattan on August 20. Nadler will win the Democratic nomination for New York’s 12th Congressional District, CNN projects, defeating fellow longtime Rep. Carolyn Maloney.

With the midterms looming, results from a series of heated contests in New York are coming in, with voters deciding on who to send to Capitol Hill next year,

Here are some of the key takeaways so far:

Nadler emerges in clash of Upper Manhattan Democratic titans

Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney are about the same age, share nearly identical ideological views and both chair powerful committees in the House, where they both arrived in 1993. But it will be Nadler, bolstered by endorsements, that will return to Capitol Hill next year after he defeated Maloney in one of the most contentious primaries in recent New York history.

It was a race neither wanted and, according to Maloney, Nadler urged her to run in another district after their parallel strongholds on Manhattan’s Upper East and West Sides were drawn together at the conclusion of a long redistricting process.

Rep. Markwayne Mullin speaks with the media outside a luncheon in Norman, Oklahoma, on Tuesday.

Markwayne Mullin to become the favorite in race to fill Inhofe’s Senate seat

Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin will be the GOP nominee for the special election to fill Sen. Jim Inhofe’s Oklahoma Senate seat, CNN projected. As the Republican nominee, Mullin is in a strong position to win the general election this fall in the conservative state. He will face off against former Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn.

Inhofe, a veteran of the Senate, announced in February that he would retire in January 2023, sparking the special election. 

Mullin, who represents Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District, defeated former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon in Tuesday’s runoff. Mullin advanced to the runoff after leading the first round with 44% of the vote, and that was before an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. 

Read more key takeaways here.

CNN Projection: Josh Brecheen will win Oklahoma Republican primary runoff in 2nd district

Josh Brecheen will win the Republican runoff race in Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District, CNN projects.

Brecheen will face Naomi Andrews, the only Democratic candidate who filed to run. Oklahoma Republicans currently hold all five of the state’s US House seats and are expected to maintain that control in November’s election.

CNN Projection: Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney will win Democratic nomination for New York’s 17th District 

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney walks outside the US Capitol in July.

Incumbent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney will win the Democratic nomination for New York’s 17th Congressional District, CNN projects, defeating progressive state senator Alessandra Biaggi. 

By winning the primary, Maloney is likely to stay in Congress — the seat leans toward Democrats.

Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, drew criticism when he decided to leave his modestly redrawn district to run in the new 17th District, a safer seat that includes his home but had largely been the territory of Rep. Mondaire Jones.

Democrats had accused Maloney of abandoning his more competitive seat to run in a more Democratic-leaning district. Critics pointed out the irony that the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee would imperil a more competitive district – the newly drawn 18th — to help his own congressional career. And his decision forced Jones to run in a new, New York City-based district.

Maloney was endorsed by establishment Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Biaggi attacked Maloney as a “corporate Democrat,” and many progressives, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Working Families Party, backed Biaggi. 

2 Democrats named Horn will be on the ballot this fall for different Oklahoma Senate seats

Madison Horn.

Madison Horn will win the Democratic Senate race in Oklahoma, CNN projects, and will face incumbent Republican Sen. James Lankford in November.

Horn will not be the only Horn on the ballot this fall: Former Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn will face GOP nominee Rep. Markwayne Mullin in a separate Senate race. That one is for the seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe.

CNN Projection: Rep. Jerry Nadler will win the Democratic nomination for New York's 12th District 

Rep. Jerry Nadler speaks to reporters after voting in New York on Tuesday.

Rep. Jerry Nadler will win the Democratic nomination for New York’s 12th Congressional District, CNN projects, defeating fellow longtime Rep. Carolyn Maloney after a New York court-appointed special master redrew the state’s congressional districts and placed the two in the same district.  

Both are major figures in the Democratic Party, with Nadler serving as chair of the Judiciary Committee and Maloney as chair of the Oversight Committee. 

Nadler and Maloney were drawn into the same district by an independent mapmaker after state Democrats’ proposed lines were thrown out in court. For decades, the pair enjoyed parallel dominion over the East and West sides, but the new map – and their mutual refusal to consider another district – prompted what became one of the nastiest primary races of the year.

Attorney Suraj Patel appears to be on track to finish third, his argument that the new district was hungering for new blood having lost out to the loyalties assiduously cultivated by Nadler and Maloney over their decades in office.

Nadler was already viewed as the favorite in the race as primary day neared, but then got perhaps a clinching boost when he was endorsed by the influential New York Times editorial board. From there, Maloney, sensing the contest slipping away, ramped up her offensives on her soon-to-be-former colleague, at one point suggesting he might be “senile.”

But Nadler — who was also backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — only seemed to grow stronger as the campaign entered its final days.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio rally Florida Republicans ahead of general election

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, in July.

As Florida Democrats picked their candidates for governor and senate, Florida Republicans held their own counter programming in Hialeah, where Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. Ron DeSantis rallied supporters ahead of the looming general election.

Rubio warned GOP voters not to get complacent or buy into midterm narratives that suggest their party is well-positioned in Florida to continue their electoral dominance.

“It doesn’t matter how much support you have if that support doesn’t turn into votes,” Rubio said. 

Speaking about Rep. Val Demings, the Democrat’s newly anointed nominee to challenge him in November, Rubio characterized her as an instrument of the party’s progressive “radical” base with little to show for her five years in office.

“She’s done nothing,” Rubio said. “Not a single law passed.”

DeSantis reminded voters he only narrowly won his race for governor in 2018 by the slimmest of margins over Democrat Andrew Gillum.

DeSantis did not mention his general election opponent, Charlie Crist, by name during his turn at the microphone. With $132 million sitting in the bank, DeSantis vowed his campaign would “generate the biggest Republican turnout this state has ever seen in a governor’s race.”

“We’ve accomplished an awful lot in Florida, more than anyone thought was possible when I got elected less than four years ago,” DeSantis said. “But we’re just getting warmed up.”

Both Rubio and DeSantis ran unopposed for another term in Florida.

CNN projects these candidates will win their party's congressional primaries in New York

Some results are starting to come in New York’s congressional primary elections. While the state held some of its primaries back in June, its protracted redistricting process pushed the congressional primaries to August.

Republican incumbent Nicole Malliotakis will face Democrat Max Rose in the state’s 11th Congressional District, CNN projects.

Here’s who else will win their party’s nominations so far:

  • New York’s 4th Congressional District, Democrat Laura Gillen is the projected winner
  • New York’s 7th Congressional District, Democrat incumbent Nydia Velazquez is the projected winner
  • New York’s 8th Congressional District, Democrat incumbent Hakeem Jeffries is the projected winner
  • New York’s 13th Congressional District, Democrat incumbent Adriano Espaillat is the projected winner
  • New York’s 18th Congressional District, Democrat Pat Ryan is the projected winner
  • New York’s 20th Congressional District, Democrat incumbent Paul Tonko is the projected winner
  • New York’s 21st Congressional District, Democrat Matthew Castelli is the projected winner
  • New York’s 26th Congressional District, Democrat incumbent Brian Higgins is the projected winner

Follow New York’s House results live as they roll in here.

These are the top takeaways from Florida's primary elections on Tuesday

Democrats in Florida on Tuesday picked Rep. Charlie Crist, left, to take on Gov. Ron DeSantis in the fall, CNN projected.

The final pieces of the midterm puzzle are coming into focus as Tuesday primaries in New York, Florida and Oklahoma lock in key parts of the November election slate.

Democrats in Florida on Tuesday picked Rep. Charlie Crist to take on Gov. Ron DeSantis in the fall, CNN projected. Crist’s challenge comes as DeSantis seeks both a second term and a boost ahead of a rumored presidential bid in 2024. CNN also projected that Democratic Rep. Val Demings would take on Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in November.

Here are the some of the key takeaways so far:

Crist looks to derail DeSantis in the fall

For the second time in eight years, Democratic voters elected Crist as their nominee for governor, choosing the seasoned veteran over Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who was vying to become the state’s first female governor. Crist now has just 11 weeks to unite his party, energize the Democratic base and convince independent voters that the state needs a new direction.

The stakes for Democrats are high, and not just in Florida, where DeSantis has already pushed through an aggressively conservative agenda, vowing that a second term will bring new action to further restrict abortion and to make it easier to carry a gun in public. But national Democrats are also now looking for Crist to slow DeSantis’ rise before an anticipated campaign for the White House in 2024. 

Florida’s latest contentious Senate race formally takes shape

The Senate race between Rubio and Demings is on.

Demings won her primary on Tuesday and Rubio was unopposed, setting up a race that Republicans believe they should easily win but one that offers Democrats yet another chance to show they can win statewide in a place that has crept right for years.

The two have been focused on each other for months — their primaries were not competitive — but on Tuesday night, the contours of the race were clear: Rubio plans to brand Demings a “Pelosi Puppet” who is inextricably linked to President Joe Biden, while Demings plans to attack Rubio as ineffective, selfish and wedded to a Republican Party dominated by Trump.

Read more takeaways.

Polls are closing in New York

A voter fills out a ballot at a polling station in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday.

It is 9 p.m. ET and polls are closing across New York.

The Empire State is holding its second primary Election Day of the summer, with voters casting ballots in their congressional and state Senate primaries. The state was supposed to hold all its primaries in June, but the congressional redistricting process pushed some elections to August.

Here are the key races to watch for:

  • Democratic 10th Congressional District: Rep. Mondaire Jones chose to run in the district, which includes parts of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, rather than face Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in the state’s redrawn 17th Congressional District.
  • Democratic 12th Congressional District: Longtime New York City Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney are facing each other after a New York court-appointed expert redrew the state’s congressional districts and placed the two in the same district. Nadler and Maloney have held their respective seats for nearly 30 years and currently represent the west and east sides of Manhattan, respectively.
  • Democratic 17th Congressional District: Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, drew criticism when he decided to leave his modestly redrawn district to run in the new 17th, a safer seat that includes his home but had largely been the territory of Jones. Instead of engaging in a member-versus-member campaign, Jones moved to run in the newly open 10th District.
  • Special election, 19th Congressional District: The district needs a representative after Democratic Rep. Antonio Delgado resigned to become lieutenant governor of New York. Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro are the candidates to represent the 19th District for the remainder of the 117th Congress.
  • Special election, 23rd Congressional District: Party officials have chosen candidates to run in the special election to finish the remainder of GOP Rep. Tom Reed’s term. After being accused of sexual misconduct in 2021, Reed announced he would not run for reelection and resigned in May. Joe Sempolinski, who served as a staffer for Reed, is the GOP contender for the seat. While he’s running in the district’s special election – which is held under the old district lines – he is not running in the regularly-scheduled primary election in the district’s new party lines. Democrat Max Della Pia is running in both elections and is uncontested in the Democratic primary election for a full term. 

CNN Projection: Rep. Markwayne Mullin will win Oklahoma Senate special primary runoff 

Rep. Markwayne Mullin speaks with supporters at a luncheon in Norman, Oklahoma, on Tuesday.

Rep. Markwayne Mullin will win a runoff to be the Oklahoma GOP nominee in the Senate special election to fill Sen. Jim Inhofe’s term, CNN projects, defeating former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon. 

Mullins was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and will likely win the general election this fall, then take office when Inhofe resigns in January and serve until 2027.  

He will face former Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn, who was unopposed for her party’s nomination. 

Mullin, who represents Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District, led the first round with 44% of the vote, and that was before an endorsement from former President Trump. 

Mullin’s campaign website highlights his support for the former President, saying, “In Congress, he fought the liberals trying to stop President Trump.” Shannon promises to “fight for the America First agenda,” on his campaign website, which describes him as a “conservative Oklahoman that believes in the power of capitalism and going all in for America.” 

Demings: "We're not looking behind us — tonight, we come looking forward"

Rep. Val Demings speaks to supporters at an election night event in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday night.

Rep. Val Demings, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Florida, rallied with supporters this evening in Orlando, saying “we’re not looking behind us — tonight, we come looking forward.” 

Demings touched on abortion access and voting rights in her remarks, two key issues for Democratic midterms candidates. 

“I dream of an America where we protect constitutional rights like a woman’s right to choose. I’ve said it along this campaign trail, let me say it again. We’re not going back. We’re not,” Demings said.  

On voting rights, Demings referenced civil rights icon John Lewis, saying he told her “that the right to vote is precious. That it’s almost sacred. And we have to do everything in our power to protect the right to vote.” 

"Nobody ever broke a glass ceiling on the first pitch," Fried says during concession speech

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried speaks to her supporters at an election night event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried told a room of supporters that she had called Rep. Charlie Crist to congratulate him on winning the Democratic nomination for governor shortly after polls closed in the Florida Panhandle at 8 p.m. ET, Tuesday night.

“We are not going to back down until we restore democracy here in Florida and reverse 28 years of one party control in this state,” she said. 

People walk past a sign spelling ‘Nikki’ at an election night event for Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Tuesday.

A Jewish woman from South Florida, Fried unexpectedly won a four year term to become the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services in 2018 when Democrats lost every other statewide race. She spent the last four years as the party’s de facto leader, and became a constant — though often powerless — nemesis of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on the Florida Cabinet.

However, she struggled to turn that momentum into a political movement or make a case to lead the state. Nevertheless, she suggested this isn’t the last of her time in the Florida political arena. 

“Movement doesn’t happen overnight,” she said. “Change doesn’t happen overnight.”

CNN Projection: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz to face Rebekah Jones in Florida's 1st district

Matt Gaetz speaks at CPAC in Dallas, Texas, on August 6.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz will win his party’s nomination in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, CNN projects.

Gaetz is seeking a fourth term. He will face Democratic nominee Rebekah Jones in November.

Jones, who was a former data scientists with the Florida Department of Health, claimed she was pressured by health department officials to falsify Covid-19 data to hide the extent of Florida’s outbreak in the early months of the pandemic. The state inspector general’s office said in March there was insufficient evidence to prove her claims.

Republicans currently control 16 of the state’s 27 US House seats. The state gained a seat after the 2020 census.

CNN Projection: Crist will win Democratic nomination for Florida governor and face DeSantis in November 

Florida gubernatorial candidate Rep. Charlie Crist speaks to the media before casting his vote in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Tuesday.

Rep. Charlie Crist will win the Democratic nomination for Florida governor, CNN projects, and face incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in November.  

Crist defeated Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the primary. He is a former Republican governor of the Sunshine State who switched parties and now serves in Congress as a Democrat.  

Crist was elected governor as a Republican in 2006, and then ran for Senate as an independent in 2010, losing to Republican Marco Rubio. Crist then ran for governor in 2014 as a Democrat and lost to now-Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican. Crist won his House seat as a Democrat in 2016. 

Abortion emerged as a major issue in the Democratic primary, with Fried’s campaign attacking Crist’s record on the issue and Crist responding with a TV ad. The two Democrats spent much of the race taking shots at DeSantis. 

CNN Projection: Demings will win the Democratic nomination for Senate in Florida and face incumbent Rubio

Rep. Val Demings delivers a campaign speech at an event in St. Petersburg, Florida, in June.

Rep. Val Demings will win the Democratic nomination for Senate in Florida, CNN projects, and will face incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in November.

Demings is a former Orlando police chief who served as an impeachment manager in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.

CNN Projection: Aramis Ayala will win the Democratic nomination for Florida attorney general

Then-State Attorney Aramis Ayala speaks at a news conference in 2019 in Orlando, Florida.

Aramis Ayala will win the Democratic primary for Florida attorney general, CNN projects.

Ayala, after defeating two other challengers on Tuesday, will now face Republican incumbent Ashley B. Moody in November. Moody is seeking a second term.

Final polls are closing in Florida and Oklahoma

It’s 8 p.m. ET and final polls are closing across Florida and Oklahoma.

Here’s what to know about the key races we are tracking in both states:

  • Florida: Democrats are choosing a candidate to take on GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis in November. The race has mainly narrowed between former Republican governor and now-Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. Abortion has emerged as a major issue in the race, with Fried’s campaign attacking Crist’s record on the issue and Crist responding with a TV ad. The two Democrats have spent much of the race taking shots at DeSantis, who will be favored in the fall regardless of who wins the Democratic primary.
  • Oklahoma: is holding runoff elections for races where no candidate got a majority of the vote in the June primary. In the highest-profile contest, Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon will compete in a runoff to be the GOP nominee for the special election to fill GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe’s seat. The winner of the Republican runoff will likely win the general election this fall. Mullin led the first round with 44% of the vote, and that was before an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. The winner will face former Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn, who was unopposed for her party’s nomination. The state is also holding a Democratic runoff for the regularly scheduled Senate seat and a GOP runoff for the 2nd District seat that Mullin is vacating. 

New York Rep. Jerry Nadler talks to voters at subway station ahead of polls closing

Rep. Jerry Nadler speaks to the press after voting in New York on Tuesday.

Rep. Jerry Nadler was campaigning and talking with New York voters at the West 72nd street subway station a few hours before polls are set to close as he fights to hang on to his seat in Congress.

The state’s new congressional map pits Nadler against Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the 12th Congressional District. They both have held their respective seats for nearly 30 years and currently represent the west and east sides of Manhattan, respectively. The city will now be separated into north and south. 

At the subway station, Nadler said he believes he’ll win. He attributes his expected success to the endorsements he’s received. 

Nadler also cited his campaign’s strong absentee voter program, saying, “We’ve had a big operation to send absentee ballot operations to people.”

Nadler’s campaign has sent dozens of mailers, many of them making appeals to people to vote absentee if they were going to be out of town on Election Day. They even sent ballots that were entirely filled out with the recipient’s information that just had to signed and dropped in the mail.

With many similar positions, the contest between the former longtime allies has turned personal, with both candidates saying they asked the other to stand down and run in a different district.

Florida results are coming in. CNN projects these Republicans will win their party's House nominations.

Polls are closing in Florida, and some results for Florida’s congressional primary races are coming in.

Here are the Republican House winners:

  • Florida’s 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Kat Cammack is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 4th Congressional District, Aaron Bean is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 5th Congressional District, incumbent John Rutherford is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 6th Congressional District, incumbent Michael Waltz is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 12th Congressional District, incumbent Gus Bilirakis is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 16th Congressional District, incumbent Vern Buchanan is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 18th Congressional District, incumbent Scott Franklin is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 19th Congressional District, incumbent Byron Donalds is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 21st Congressional District, incumbent Brian Mast is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 25th Congressional District, Carla Spalding is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 26th Congressional District, incumbent Mario Diaz-Balart is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 27th Congressional District, incumbent Maria Elvira Salazar is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 28th Congressional District, incumbent Carlos Gimenez is the projected winner

Follow live results as they continue to come in here.

CNN projects these Florida Democrats will win their congressional primary races

Polls in Florida are closing and some projections are coming in for congressional races across the state.

Here are some of the Democrats CNN projects will win their House races:

  • Florida’s 14th Congressional District, incumbent Kathy Castor is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, Jared Moskowitz is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 24th Congressional District, incumbent Frederica Wilson is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 25th Congressional District, incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 20th Congressional District, incumbent Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 27th Congressional District, Annette Taddeo is the projected winner.
  • Florida’s 28th Congressional District, Robert Asencio is the projected winner.

You can see the full results as they come in here.

Key things to watch tonight as Democratic primaries in New York and Florida take center stage

A campaign worker places a sign at outside of a polling place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on August 21.

The tail-end of the August primary season arrived on Tuesday, with elections in New York, Florida and Oklahoma.

Here are some key things to watch for tonight:

Florida Democrats to choose a challenger to DeSantis: The Florida Democratic Party has wandered lost through the Sunshine State ever since Republican Ron DeSantis narrowly defeated their 2018 nominee for governor, Andrew Gillum. They have no power in Tallahassee as the perpetual minority party in the state legislature, they squandered their sizable voter registration advantage, they lost the 2020 presidential election to Donald Trump here by a healthy margin and have struggled lately to convince donors that Florida is still a battleground worth investing in.

Meanwhile, DeSantis has become one of the most recognizable Republicans in the country and a potential GOP nominee for the White House in 2024.

On Tuesday, Democratic voters in the state will choose a nominee for governor who they hope can lead their turnaround and maybe slow DeSantis’ meteoric rise. The choice is between Rep. Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor who Democrats made their gubernatorial nominee in 2014, and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the Florida’s only statewide elected Democrat.

Abortion rights — and bail reform — dominate upstate New York House special election: Abortion rights are on the ballot in this special election between Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, the Democrat, and Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro — at least, that is what Ryan (and his lawn signs) are saying.

Ryan, an Iraq War veteran, has sought to channel anger over the Supreme Court ruling ending federal abortion rights into an electoral advantage over Molinaro, a moderate Republican who says, despite being “personally pro-life,” he would not vote for a national ban. (At the same time, Molinaro refused to state whether he would support legislation to legalize abortion nationwide.)

An Uptown power struggle meets call for “generational change”: Redistricting upset a lot of New York’s status quo, but perhaps nowhere more than in a big piece of Upper Manhattan, which for decades had been politically dominated by Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler, on the West Side, and Carolyn Maloney, on the East Side.

Their parallel dominions were fused by the hand of a “special master” who drew up the new districts, provoking one the most ferocious campaigns of the cycle in a hot summer chock full of them. On Saturday, Maloney — on camera — recommended an editorial in the New York Post. “They call him senile,” she said. Nadler, meanwhile, has accused his rival of exaggerating her record in the House, to which they both were elected in 1992.

Could a moderate emerge from one of NY’s most liberal new districts? Thirteen candidates are on the ballot in open-seat primary, though one, former Mayor Bill de Blasio, dropped out in late July. Of the remaining dozen, four appear to have a realistic chance of emerging to represent Lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn – in what will be one of the country’s most liberal districts

But a pile-up of progressives, led by state Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, City Council Member Carlina Rivera, and Rep. Mondaire Jones, an incumbent member who moved to the city from the suburbs, risks splintering the more left-leaning vote and paving the way for Daniel Goldman, the moderate former federal prosecutor who served as lead counsel for the Democrats at former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.

Most polls are now closing in Florida

A voter enters a polling location in Saint Petersburg, Florida, on Tuesday.

It’s 7 p.m. ET, and most polls in Florida are closing. While voters cast their ballots, there are some races that won’t start seeing results come in until 8 p.m. ET.

How votes are counted: Florida is split between the Eastern and Central Time Zones, and polls across the state close at 7 p.m. local time. All mail ballots and early in-person ballots must be reported to the Florida department of State within 30 minutes after polls close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The first results reported out of Florida will be early and mail ballots.  

Key races to keep an eye on:

  • Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio is up for reelection this year along with a full slate of congressional races.
  • Florida Democrats will choose a candidate to take on GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis. The race has mainly narrowed between former Republican governor, and now-Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. Abortion has emerged as a major issue in the race. The two Democrats have spent much of the race taking shots at DeSantis, who will be favored in the fall regardless of who wins the Democratic primary.   

Here's your hour-by-hour guide to tonight's primaries

Voters cast ballots at a polling location in Miami Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.

A jam-packed month of primaries comes to a close today, with voters in Florida, Oklahoma and New York heading to the polls to set key Senate, House and gubernatorial contests for the fall.

After Tuesday, just two more primary days are left on the calendar before November. Below is a guide to help you follow along with the results as they roll in tonight, put together with a major assist from our friends in the CNN Political Unit.

 8 p.m. ET: Final polls close in Florida and Oklahoma

In Florida, Democrats will select their nominees to take on a past presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, and a possible future one, Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

The more competitive primary is to face DeSantis, featuring Rep. Charlie Crist, who previously served as a Republican governor of the state, and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is vying to be the first female governor in the state. Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the final stretch of the primary has largely been centered on the abortion issue.  

In the Democratic Senate primary, Rep. Val Demings, once a member of Joe Biden’s vice-presidential shortlist, is the heavy favorite and has already been spending big on TV ads. Both Democratic nominees will start as underdogs against DeSantis and Rubio in a state that has trended red in recent elections. 

Oklahoma is hosting several primary runoffs tonight, with the special election for the seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe serving as the main attraction. Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon are in a head-to-head battle to become the Republican nominee in the solidly conservative state. Mullin led in the voting from the initial primary election in June, has raised more money than Shannon, and secured former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. 

 9 p.m. ET: Final polls close in New York

The decennial redistricting process resulted in several contentious Democratic House primaries in New York that will reach their conclusion Tuesday. In the state’s newly drawn 12th District, Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney — both 30-year veterans of Congress and powerful committee chairs — will face off in a contest that also includes attorney Suraj Patel. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has endorsed Nadler.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who chairs the House Democrats’ campaign committee, caused an uproar when he decided to run in the 17th District under the state’s new map, territory that had largely been represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones, a first-term Black lawmaker. Jones decided to run in the newly open 10th District instead. But Maloney now faces a primary challenge from progressive state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who was endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Maloney still has the backing of the party establishment, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Jones now faces a crowded field in the Democratic primary in the 10th District, including Dan Goldman, one of the House’s impeachment lawyers in Trump’s first impeachment hearing, and former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, who served on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate investigation. 

Finally, a special House election in New York could serve as a useful barometer for the broader political environment 11 weeks out from the general election. Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro are squaring off in the 19th District — which went for Joe Biden in 2020, Trump in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2012 — to complete the term of former Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat who stepped down to become New York’s lieutenant governor. 

If Ryan, who has campaigned heavily on abortion rights, wins the race, it will further bolster Democrats’ confidence they can use the issue to their advantage in battlegrounds across the country. 

Subscribe to CNN’s The Point newsletter here.

DeSantis makes a prediction for his Democratic opponent

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes a question during a news conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on August 18.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis predicted that Rep. Charlie Crist will be his Democratic opponent in the general election — even though he didn’t even mention the congressman by name.

Rather, DeSantis was casting aspersions on Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who has served as the Republican leader’s nemesis on the Florida Cabinet.

DeSantis added that he thinks Fried will “come up not just short but significantly short” when all the ballots are counted in tonight’s Democratic primary.

Whoever the winner is, DeSantis said Democrats are nominating someone who “opposed every decision I’ve made to keep this state open” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I think that we’re in great shape and I look forward to the last few months of this,” he said.

The remarks came during a brief news conference after the Florida Cabinet — a body composed of the state’s elected constitutional officers — met in Tallahassee. In a bit of political gamesmanship, DeSantis chose to summon the Cabinet on Tuesday, forcing Fried to abandon her Election Day plans and return to the state capital. 

Making the meeting posed no trouble for DeSantis, he noted, because he was not on the ballot. 

“It’s always best to run unopposed, and so we’re happy that worked out for me,” DeSantis said.

Here's what Florida voters are saying about today's heated Democratic race for governor 

Campaign signs are seen outside of a polling station in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.

Primary voters in Florida are heading to the polls today to decide who will challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis in November. Two Democrats — Rep. Charlie Crist and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried — are facing off for the chance to take on the Republican incumbent.

CNN spoke to some voters outside a polling place just north of downtown St. Petersburg, Florida:  

Ken Smith, a 60-year-old Black man and registered Democrat, said he voted for Crist. “He’s been governor before. He has name recognition,” he said.

Smith called Crist a “bridge builder.”

“Even though he was at one time a Republican, he has worked with Democrats to get things done,” he added.

Rep Charlie Crist speaks to the media before voting in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Tuesday.

Smith told CNN he was unsure if Crist “has that great of a chance” against DeSantis because the governor “has such a war chest.”

“DeSantis is really running for president,” Smith added.

He told CNN that the big issue for him in this election is “climate,” adding, “and that’s for my daughter who is 17.”

“The impacts of climate change are going to be felt more by her,” he said.

Stephen Simon, a 79-year-old White man and registered Republican, said of the Democrats in the race, Crist has the best chance against DeSantis.

“Charlie Crist has a great reputation. He’s the only one that I see,” Simon said.

Asked what he thinks the impact of the Mar-a-Lago search and seizure of classified documents from former President Donald Trump will be on the midterms, Simon said, “It’s going to piss off the Republicans. That’s for damn sure.”

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried visits a restaurant in Miami on Monday.

If he had to choose between Trump or DeSantis, Simon said he would back the former President.

“I would vote for Trump. I mean, I love DeSantis, but look at what he (Trump) did…best economy we’ve ever had. Judge a person by their accomplishments,” Simon said.

He added: “Democrats destroyed the border. They’re destroying the country.”

Rachel, a 35-year-old White Democrat woman, who declined to provide her last name, said she voted for Crist.

On the issues that she and her friends discussed related to the race, she said, “We’ve talked about climate. We talk about abortion.”

“I’m definitely pro-choice, so that played a big role in my decision (to vote),” she added.

Stefanik stumps for controversial GOP candidate Carl Paladino

Rep. Elise Stefanik is seen at an event at the US Capitol in May.

On the eve of the New York primary, House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik held a telephone rally for controversial congressional candidate Carl Paladino, which drew more than 4,000 people, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.

In another sign of Stefanik’s investment in the race, two aides from her political operation are on the ground in Buffalo, New York, advising Paladino on communications and strategy, the source said.

Stefanik endorsed Paladino, a wealthy businessman with a long history of controversial comments, for NY-23, a solidly Republican district. He is facing off against Nick Langworthy, the chairman of the New York GOP.

Donald Trump and Carl Paladino speak during a pro-gun rally in Albany, New York, in 2014.

Paladino most recently came under fire for saying Attorney General Merrick Garland “probably should be executed,” a comment that he later walked back and said was facetious.

Despite his rhetoric, Stefanik has stood firmly by her endorsement by Paladino, as evidenced by her stumping for him on the eve of the primary.  

Tuesday's competitive House races in Florida and New York could be key to determining chamber's control

Tuesday’s high-profile races include the Democratic primary in Florida to take on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and a GOP Senate primary runoff in Oklahoma, the winner of which is likely to be the state’s next junior senator. But it’s the House races that take center stage, with several competitive contests in Florida and especially New York that could be key to determining control of the chamber next year.

New congressional maps have scrambled races in both states.

In Florida, DeSantis unexpectedly seized control of the state’s redistricting process earlier this year and pushed through a more partisan redrawing of the state’s congressional boundaries that likely gives Republicans an advantage in at least 18 of 28 districts. The state gained a seat in reappointment following the 2020 census.

New York’s highest court in April blocked the state’s Democratic-drawn congressional map and ordered new lines that were drawn by a lower court-appointed “special master.” The decision postponed the House primaries from late June to August. While Democrats had initially hoped to gain up to 22 seats (out of 26), they are favored in 15 seats under the new map, with around half a dozen competitive seats. The state lost a seat in reapportionment.

In addition to the regular primaries, New York is also hosting two special House elections Tuesday for the remaining terms of congressmen who resigned earlier this year. These elections will be held under the current congressional lines.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma is holding runoffs Tuesday for races where no candidate took more than 50% of the vote in the June primaries. One of them is the GOP primary runoff for the open 2nd Congressional District. Unlike Florida and New York, Oklahoma saw no changes to its congressional seat count after reapportionment, and Republicans are favored to retain all of the state’s five seats under a GOP-drawn map.

Read about the House primaries we’re watching Tuesday here.

Voters weigh Crist's experience against his stance on past issues in his home district of St. Petersburg

When it came time to decide who to support in Florida’s hotly contested Democratic primary for governor, Darla Price of St. Petersburg didn’t hesitate to fill in the bubble next to Charlie Crist’s name on her ballot.

“I’ve known him. I’ve met him. I trust him,” Price, a retiree who first moved to the area in 1977, told CNN after voting at the Roberts Recreation Center.

This is Crist’s home turf. Voters in St. Petersburg elected Crist to the state legislature in the 1990s. Some have supported him for governor when he was a Republican and again in 2014 when he ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat. He currently represents them in Congress. It’s where he headquartered his campaign, and it will be the backdrop for his watch party tonight.

St. Petersburg, along with Tampa and Clearwater, make up the Tampa Bay region, a voter-rich area on the western end of the vaunted Interstate 4 corridor that political strategists have long considered a bellwether for the state — and even the country. If Crist pulls off a victory Tuesday over Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and becomes the party’s nominee to take on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, his deep ties to this region will likely be a factor.

But voter John Chaplin is hoping this time St. Petersburg goes another direction and helps nominate Fried.

Chaplin said he finds it hard to trust Crist after all his party switches and job changes. He’s worried about reproductive rights in Florida, and though Crist has been a reliable vote for Democrats on abortion issues, Chaplin isn’t convinced that someone who once called himself “pro-life” will fight for abortion access as passionately as Fried.

“I can’t imagine he has the same opinions as me on important issues I care about,” Chaplin said.

But Price said Crist’s past life as a Republican doesn’t bother her.

“It’s what he believes now that I care about,” she said. 

A progressive backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking on the Democrats' campaign chair

New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi high fives a volunteer during a canvass launch event for her campaign on August 13 in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Progressive state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi is no stranger to campaign clashes with powerful, entrenched incumbents. In 2018, she unseated longtime state Sen. Jeff Klein, who led a faction of Democrats who for years caucused with state Republicans — helping to deny Democratic control of the body.

But Biaggi has a steeper hill to climb on Tuesday, when she takes on Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in the new 17th District, north of the city. Maloney, the moderate chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party’s House election arm, has outraised and outspent Biaggi, who decided to relocate to the district after the initial redistricting lines were tossed and rewritten.

Maloney lives inside the new borders, but in choosing to run in the 17th, left behind a big part of his old electorate in what will soon be the old 18th District. That decision also effectively nudged Jones off his home turf. (Jones ultimately chose to move to the city and run for the open seat in New York’s 10th District.)

The campaign has also riven Democrats in more familiar ways. Biaggi has denounced Maloney as a “corporate Democrat,” while Maloney has sought to tie his challenger to the party’s far-left, all but rolling his eyes at the mention of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement of Biaggi during a recent interview.

“It knocks the legs out of the argument that Democrats aren’t getting it done,” he said

Biaggi says she is quick to acknowledge the party’s success when talking to voters, but argued that it wasn’t enough — and that “a lot of people, even if they’re happy with what the Democratic Party has done in the last few weeks, which they should be … They also want to see different kinds of leaders in Congress.”

Florida Gen Z candidate hopes to bring generation's fervor to Congress: "We have the momentum on our side"

Maxwell Frost

Among the crowded field of Democrats in Florida’s 10th Congressional District looking to replace Rep. Val Demings — who is vacating her seat to run for Senate — Maxwell Frost is an outlier.

Frost, a 25-year-old community organizer and gun violence prevention activist, is one of the first members of Generation Z to run for Congress.

“We have the momentum on our side,” said Frost, who has the support of leading progressives including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. He had raised $1.5 million through Aug. 3, more than any other candidate in the field, according to Federal Election Commission filings. 

A drummer himself, Frost said he is listening to a lot of different music to help hype him up Tuesday with tunes that “run the gamut” from jazz and classical to country music and EDM. 

“I actually have a playlist that I’m going to release today. It’s called ‘A Better World,’ and it is the soundtrack of the campaign, at least for me,” he said. 

Frost has leaned into his youth on the campaign trail and says that if elected to Congress, he would bring the fervor of Gen Z with him. 

“Look, I’m not here saying I represent the values and thoughts of every single member of Gen Z. We’re like any other generation… many different ideologies and everything like that. But I think I do holistically represent our lived experience as young people,” he said.

In addition to fighting for gun safety, Frost has advocated for abortion rights and voting rights with the ACLU of Florida.

He described growing up as part of the “mass shooting generation” and said, “we’re a generation that goes through more school shooting drills than fire drills.”

“We’ve seen these things and been wondering our whole lives as young people, in high school, middle school and elementary school, why? Why is this happening? Why have we not fixed this? And now we’re at a place where we can vote and we can run, and we’re going to do it,” Frost said.

Redistricting is pitting two powerful committee chairs against each other in a New York primary

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, left, and Rep. Jerry Nadler

In Washington, Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler are two powerful committee chairs: Oversight and Judiciary. Back home in New York, they’re two politicians in their mid-70s trying to avoid much attention as they try not to be the one forced to leave Congress.

That has led to relationships fully breaking down between the longtime colleagues in the closing days of a campaign prompted by a newly redistricted congressional map, which combined their political fiefdoms on the Upper West and East sides of Manhattan and pitted them against each other.

Maloney has told people privately that Nadler is “half dead” and insinuated he won’t be healthy enough to finish another term if he wins, and people associated with her campaign have suggested that Nadler secretly briefly lost consciousness at a campaign stop last week. (His campaign has said that rather than losing consciousness, he tripped on a subway grate.)

She’s also urged voters to read a New York Post editorial that called Nadler “senile” and questioned his grip on reality. A Maloney spokesperson declined comment about her various remarks other than to argue she was just quoting the Post editorial rather than using the words herself.

Maloney has dodged questions about her comments and her aides have refused to give almost any information about her whereabouts in the closing days of the campaign, arguing that she changes her mind too much to keep track of her. When a CNN reporter tracked her down on Monday at a campaign stop on the Upper West Side to ask her about her comments, she began running down the sidewalk to a waiting car, while one of her daughters repeatedly positioned herself with her hands and legs out in an attempt to block any further questions.

Read the full story here.

Florida voters will decide who will challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis on abortion in November

Rep. Charlie Crist and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried

On this, the Democratic candidates for Florida governor agree: New restrictions on abortion in the Sunshine State and uncertainty about the future of women’s health across America have reinvigorated their voters and elevated the urgency to their effort to knock off Gov. Ron DeSantis this fall.

But the question of who is best suited to take that fight to DeSantis — seasoned Rep. Charlie Crist or Nikki Fried, the state agriculture commissioner vying to become Florida’s first female governor — has sparked a bitter war of words between the two candidates.

The Democratic race for governor has come to exemplify how the changing abortion landscape following the fall of Roe v. Wade this summer is animating politics on the left and giving Democrats renewed optimism for their chances in key battlegrounds.

With a significant fundraising advantage and overwhelming support from elected Democrats, Crist seemed well positioned to capture the nomination a few months ago. Limited reliable polling has made it difficult to determine where the race stands heading into Election Day, or how much voter sentiment has shifted since the US Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade.

For Fried, who stumbled out of the gates as a candidate and was slow to recover, the abortion decision brought new purpose to her campaign, and she has carried that momentum into the home stretch. She has hammered Crist, a former Republican governor before becoming an independent and then a Democrat, over his complicated record on abortion issues. She frequently reminds voters that Crist once considered himself “pro-life” and that he appointed a pair of justices who ruled to uphold abortion restrictions.

Some context: The fall of Roe, while maligned by Democrats, has nevertheless provided much-needed tailwinds here for a party that has been floundering ever since it lost the governor’s race to DeSantis by 32,000 votes four years ago. They have watched as DeSantis has used the office to push through an aggressively conservative agenda and catapult himself into the upper stratosphere of GOP presidential contenders. Along the way, Republicans for the first time surpassed Democrats in the state’s registered voters and now boast a 200,000-voter advantage

Democratic lawmakers, in the minority in both chambers, were powerless as the legislature passed and DeSantis signed a ban on abortion after 15 weeks with no exceptions for rape and incest. The new law took effect July 1 and it remains in place amid a legal challenge.

Special election in upstate New York tests political energy around abortion

Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro

As Democrat and Republican leaders search for clues about what lies ahead in November, the special election in New York’s 19th Congressional District on Tuesday has emerged as a national barometer of the political energy unleashed by the high court’s decision to end the nationwide right to abortion. It’s a test of whether Democrats can translate the anger of their base, and concerns over the implications of the ruling that cut across party lines, into a potent midterm message.

Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican counterpart Marc Molinaro are running to replace Antonio Delgado, a Democrat who left to become lieutenant governor. Whoever wins the special election will finish Delgado’s term before the district is split up by the redistricting process that was only resolved in late May.

No matter the result in Tuesday’s special election, both candidates could be on the ballot — in separate races — come November. In addition to the special election, Ryan on Tuesday is vying for the Democratic nomination in the new 18th District. Molinaro already secured the GOP’s in a redrawn version of the 19th.

On abortion: Ryan has cast the contest as a referendum on abortion rights. He has talked about the abortion fight in broader terms — and a language more typically associated with conservative or libertarian political arguments.

But Molinaro has a political brand that stretches back decades, to when he was elected mayor of Tivoli as teenager and, years later, in 2018, ran a credible campaign against then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He is, many Republicans believe, an ideal candidate to run for this seat — a conservative who has, at least until now, largely side-stepped any close association with the Trump-era GOP’s divisive national brand.

He also affirmed, as he’s promised in the past, that he would not support a nationwide ban on abortion if elected to Congress. But Molinaro demurred on the question of whether, if the tables were turned, he would vote to codify abortion rights. The 46-year-old, who describes himself as “personally pro-life,” argued that following the Dobbs decision, the decision rests with the states.

“It is now a new settled paradigm, and the states under this Constitution have the right to establish their policy,” said Molinaro, who had previously described abortion as a “settled constitutional right” during his run for governor.

Keep reading.

New York's new congressional map creates tension as some candidates change districts

New York 17th Congressional District Democratic primary candidate state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi speaks to the press during a canvass launch event for her campaign in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022.

Progressive state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi is running against five-term Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, in the 17th Congressional District which includes Rockland and Putnam counties, along with parts of Westchester and Dutchess counties.

Both candidates made decisions to change districts after the sate’s newly-drawn congressional map emerged. Biaggi had earlier been running for a gerrymandered seat that linked parts of Long Island, Queens, the Bronx and Westchester County. Maloney drew heat, especially from the left, for choosing to leave the majority of his current constituents, who are now in the new 18th, to run in redrawn 17th, where he lives.

In an interview on Thursday, Maloney defended his choice of district, arguing that he picked the best of a tough lot and would have faced a tough race in November no matter where he ran. But, he added, “I could have handled it better.”

Biaggi, while acknowledging Maloney’s argument about living in the district, called his move “very self-serving” — largely because he would have been such a strong candidate in the neighboring 18th, where he is more familiar to many voters. And that, as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, “his job is really to maximize the number of seats we’ve got in Congress.”

The infighting over map-driven maneuvering, though, flows from a deeper divide between the pair.

Biaggi, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and is the granddaughter of the late New York Rep. Mario Biaggi, rose to prominence in 2018 when she unseated the leader of a group of Democrats in the state Senate that had joined ranks with Republicans as part of a power grab blessed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. While Hillary Clinton has not taken sides in the race, former President Bill Clinton endorsed Maloney, who worked on his presidential campaigns and later in his White House.

More than half of Republican gubernatorial nominees have questioned or denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election

From left, Kari Lake, Doug Mastriano and Tudor Dixon

A Republican nominee in at least 21 of this year’s 36 gubernatorial races is someone who has rejected, declined to affirm, raised doubts about, or tried to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

And the list will almost certainly get longer when the last batch of Republican primaries is completed over the coming weeks.

The 21 candidates on the list so far have expressed varying views about the 2020 election. Some have falsely proclaimed the election stolen; some others have been evasive when asked if Biden’s victory was legitimate. Some incumbents endorsed a 2020 lawsuit that sought to overturn Biden’s win but have said little about the election since; some first-time candidates made false election claims a focus of their successful 2022 primary campaigns.

Regardless, the presence of a large number of 2020 deniers, deceivers and skeptics on general election ballots in November raises the prospect of a crisis of democracy in the 2024 presidential election in which former President Donald Trump is widely expected to run again. Governors play a major role in elections — signing or vetoing legislation about election rules, sometimes unilaterally changing those rules, appointing key election officials, and — critically — certifying election results.

It is possible that some swing states will have their 2024 elections run by both a governor and elections chief who have vehemently rejected Biden’s victory.

In Arizona, for example, both Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and secretary of state nominee Mark Finchem are conspiracy theorists who want to overturn Biden’s 2020 win in the state. In Pennsylvania, where the governor gets to nominate the election chief, the Republican gubernatorial nominee is Doug Mastriano, a fervent election denier who has taken various steps to try to reverse the 2020 result. Both Republican nominees in Michigan — Tudor Dixon for governor and Kristina Karamo for secretary of state — have falsely claimed Trump won the state in 2020.

Learn more about these candidates and their claims here.

Field of progressive candidates in New York's 10th District could make way for more moderate choice

A voting sign is seen at a polling place in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, on August 20.

In New York’s 10th Congressional District, the Democratic ticket began with a flood of entrants, including former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who would drop out after less than two months. In total, 13 candidates, including de Blasio, are on the Democratic ballot Tuesday.

Dan Goldman is joined by his family as he votes early in the Democratic primary election on August 17.

Dan Goldman, a moderate former federal prosecutor who served as Democrats’ lead counsel at former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, has poured millions from his personal fortune into the race and has appeared to move to the front of the pack.

But he has come under criticism for remarks that he “would not object” to a state law barring abortion at the point of fetal viability. Some voters also raised concerns about his decision to leave the city with his family to live for months in a second home in the Hamptons, on Long Island’s East End, during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

New York State Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, second from right, talks to voters while campaigning in Tompkins Square Park in New York on August 21.

State Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, who is also on the ballot, described her experience during that same period, recounting the story of an elderly woman who suffered a stroke. Because her home care worker caught Covid-19 she was stuck in her home for days without help. By the time Niou was alerted to the situation the woman was “sitting in her own urine and own feces.”

New York City Council Member Carlina Rivera, left, campaigns with Rep. Nydia Velázquez, center, and State Sen. Jessica Ramos, right, in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, on August 21.

Another candidate, Carlina Rivera, a native of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, worked in the area as an advocate and community board member until she was elected in 2018 to the city council. She has been endorsed by US Rep. Nydia Velazquez, the borough presidents of Manhattan and Brooklyn, numerous labor unions and council colleagues.

Rep. Mondaire Jones, center, campaigns in Brooklyn, New York, on August 21.

Freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones, who was effectively pushed out of a suburban seat he won two years ago, decided to move into the city and join the race in the 10th District. He has been the most willing to express frustration over the traffic in the race’s left lane creating an opening for Goldman.

“It’s clear that if this were a one-on-one between me and Dan Goldman, it wouldn’t even be close. I’d be running away with it,” he said after a news conference.

At least 11 GOP nominees for state elections chief have disputed 2020 election results

In at least 11 states, the Republican nominee for the job of overseeing future elections is someone who has questioned, rejected or tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Secretaries of state will play a critical role in managing and certifying the presidential election in 2024. The distinct possibility that some of these secretaries will be people with a history of election denial is a major challenge for American democracy — especially because former President Donald Trump, who is widely expected to run again in 2024, continues to pressure state officials to discard the will of voters.

The Republican nominees for secretary of state in the November 2022 midterm elections include three swing-state candidates who have made efforts to overturn 2020 results in their states: Mark Finchem of Arizona, Kristina Karamo of Michigan and Jim Marchant of Nevada.

The Republican nominee in Republican-dominated Alabama, Wes Allen, expressed support for a 2020 lawsuit that sought to get the Supreme Court to toss out Joe Biden’s victory. The Republican nominee in Republican-dominated Indiana, Diego Morales, has called the 2020 election a “scam,” the vote “tainted” and the outcome “questionable.”

The Republican nominee in Democratic-leaning but regularly competitive Minnesota, Kim Crockett, has described the 2020 election in her state as “lawless.” The Republican nominee in the Democratic-dominated Connecticut, Dominic Rapini, is the former chair of a group that has made baseless complaints of 2020 fraud.

The Republican nominee in Democratic-leaning but sometimes competitive New Mexico, Audrey Trujillo, has called the 2020 election stolen. So have the Republican candidates in Massachusetts and Vermont, both obscure figures who face long odds of winning their liberal states in November.

There are some significant differences in the intensity with which these 11 nominees have committed to election rejection. For example, Morales acknowledged in June that Biden “legitimately occupies” the presidency, while Finchem — a serial promoter of wild conspiracy theories about the election — has persisted this year in his impossible quest to reverse Biden’s victory in Arizona.

Read more about the candidates here.

2 incumbents in New York's 12th Congressional District face call for "generational change"

Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler

New York’s newly drawn 12th Congressional District is pitting two long-time incumbents against each other — and generational change has been at the forefront of the race.

There, Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler, who both chair powerful House committees, have held dominion for decades. They were both elected to the House in 1992 and hold committee gavels earned through seniority. But their power has, by definition, invited questions about age and the party’s future.

A third candidate in the primary, Suraj Patel, who is 38 years old, has sought to make the contrast, treading carefully in a district with a traditionally older electorate. Maloney and Nadler, by the simple fact of their combined six decades in the House, are removed from the “urgency” of the moment, Patel said.

“We don’t need rookies who don’t know what they’re doing in Congress,” Maloney said in a phone interview earlier that day. “We need our most experienced, strong, effective, accomplished, I would say, women, who know how to fight and how to overturn the attack on (Roe v. Wade) and on our rights.”

Suraj Patel speaks during New York's 12th Congressional District Democratic primary debate on August 2 in New York.

With little to separate them ideologically, Maloney and Nadler have turned back the clock, touting their shinier accomplishments — and highlighting the other’s lowlights. Maloney has also pointed out that, should she lose, Manhattan would be without a woman representing any of its congressional districts, assuming a woman does not win in the 10th District.

Nadler has noted that, if he were to fall, the city’s delegation in Capitol Hill would lose its only Jewish member — a remarkable fact, given the vibrancy, population and political power of its Jewish community. Patel, though he has been less keen to discuss it, would be the first Indian American to represent New York in Congress if he scored an upset victory.

“One of us is going to lose — hopefully Carolyn — but one of us is going to lose,” Nadler said. “That’s very unfortunate for New York. Two of us losing would be catastrophic for New York.”

See how New York's new congressional map sets up a member vs. member House primary

New York Judge Patrick McAllister approved the new congressional map drawn by a court-appointed special master. The map most likely gives Democrats an advantage in 19 districts. Under a blocked map the Democratic-controlled legislature drew earlier this year, Democrats had hoped to gain a path to about 22 seats.

New York will have a member-versus-member House primary as longtime Manhattan-based Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney were placed in the new 12th Congressional District.

Shifts in voting power: New York loses one of its 27 seats in the House after the 2020 census. Under the new map, there is an additional Hispanic-majority district in New York City, for a total of three. There are also two fewer White-majority districts.

CNN’s Melissa DePalo, Eleanor Stubbs and Christopher Hickey contributed to this report.

Here's how voting is shaping up so far in Florida's primary elections

Before polls even opened in Florida earlier today, more than 1 million Democrats had already cast ballots by mail or at early voting sites, according to the Florida Department of State.

The count as of Tuesday morning represents a 17% increase in pre-Election Day voting compared to the party’s 2018 gubernatorial primary, and that number will only grow as more ballots arrive in county election offices throughout the day. In 2018, Andrew Gillum won a five-way primary for the party’s nomination in a race decided by 1.5 million ballots.

The key race today: Democratic primary voters are picking who they want to take on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in November, a choice between Rep. Charlie Crist and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

It’s unclear if the uptick in early voting is predictive of a higher overall turnout — or if voting behaviors changed by the pandemic stuck — but it may suggest DeSantis’ contentious first term and growing urgency to protect abortion rights are is leading to an uptick of energy among Democrats here.

What to watch for in Florida's primary elections

Nikki Fried speaks with members of the media during her bus tour on August 18 in Gainesville, Florida.

Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio is up for reelection this year, as is Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Democratic primary election for governor will be one of the most-watched primary races in the state.

Here’s what to know about the Democratic gubernatorial race:

The race to take on DeSantis in November has mainly narrowed between former Republican governor and now-Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

While the Sunshine State has become more Republican over the years, Fried is hoping to cash in on being the most recent Democrat to win statewide in her bid for the governor’s mansion. Crist was first elected governor as a Republican in 2006 and then ran for Senate as an independent in 2010, losing to Republican Marco Rubio. Crist then ran for governor in 2014 as a Democrat and lost to now-Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican. He won his House seat as a Democrat in 2016. 

Abortion has emerged as a major issue in the race, with Fried’s campaign attacking Crist’s record on the issue and Crist responding with a TV ad. The two Democrats have spent much of the race taking shots at DeSantis, who will be favored in the fall regardless of who wins the Democratic primary.

Rep. Charlie Crist greets voters during a campaign event on August 17 in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Poll times: Florida is split between the Eastern and Central time zones. Polls close at 7 p.m. local time.

Voter eligibility: In Florida, only voters affiliated with a political party can participate in that party’s primary. Voters in Florida are required to show a form of photo ID when voting. The first results reported will be early and mail ballots. 

Congressional map: Florida gained a seat thanks to population growth recorded in the 2020 census. Click here to see how the map, which was drawn by DeSantis, likely gives the GOP an advantage in at least 18 out of 28 districts. 

Here's how Oklahoma's congressional map changed this decade

The Republican-controlled legislature drew Oklahoma’s new congressional map, which retains the GOP’s advantage in the state. The new map makes Oklahoma’s 5th District safer for Republicans by moving parts of Oklahoma City out of the district. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the map into law in November 2021.

Oklahoma will continue to have five seats in the House. White voters represent the majority in all five.

CNN’s Melissa DePalo, Eleanor Stubbs and Christopher Hickey contributed to this report.

What to know about the primary runoff elections happening in Oklahoma

Markwayne Mullin, left, and T.W. Shannon, right.

Oklahoma is holding runoff elections for races where no candidate received a majority of the vote in the June primary.

What to watch: In the highest-profile contest, Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon will compete in a runoff to be the GOP nominee for the special election to fill GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe’s seat.

The winner of the Republican runoff will likely win the general election this fall, then take office when Inhofe resigns in January and serve until 2027. Mullin led the first round with 44% of the vote, and that was before an endorsement from former President Trump. The winner will face former Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn, who was unopposed for her party’s nomination. 

There’s also a Democratic runoff for the regularly scheduled Senate seat and a GOP runoff for the 2nd District seat Mullin is vacating. 

Poll times: Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.

Voter eligibility: In Oklahoma, only voters registered with the Republican Party can participate in the GOP’s primaries. However, both registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters can participate in the Democratic Party’s primaries.

Florida's new congressional map likely gives Republicans an advantage

Florida gained a seat after the 2020 census. The new congressional map, drawn by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, likely gives the GOP an advantage in at least 18 out of 28 districts. Florida’s congressional delegation currently includes 16 Republicans.

A circuit court had previously blocked the map because the judge said it unconstitutionally disenfranchised minority voters by breaking up a north Florida district represented by Democrat Al Lawson, who is Black. The judge put in place a new court-ordered map that kept Lawson’s district intact. However, that decision was called unlawful by a state appeals court, and the DeSantis map was restored for the upcoming elections.

How it shifts voting power: There are two additional White-majority districts and one additional Hispanic-majority district under DeSantis’ map. The new map no longer includes a Black-majority district in the state, where Black residents represent 15% of the population.

Hispanic residents are still underrepresented under the new map: They represent the majority in 14% of districts but make up 26% of the state population overall. White residents are even more overrepresented than they had been under the previous lines. DeSantis’ new map sees White Floridians making up the majority in 68% of districts while representing 52% of the state population.

CNN’s Melissa DePalo, Eleanor Stubbs and Christopher Hickey contributed to this report.

Your guide to New York's key congressional primaries and special elections

New York will hold its second primary Election Day of the summer, with voters casting ballots in their congressional and state Senate primaries. The Empire State was supposed to hold all its primaries in June, but the congressional redistricting process pushed some elections to August.

The state held its Senate, gubernatorial and some local primaries in June.

Poll times: Polls will close at 9 p.m. ET.

Voter eligibility: New York does not require voters to provide ID at the polls. Only voters registered with a political party can participate in that party’s primary elections in New York.

These are the key races to watch:

  • Democratic 10th Congressional District: Rep. Mondaire Jones brings the most statewide name recognition to the 10th District race. Jones chose to run in the district, which includes parts of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, rather than face Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in the state’s redrawn 17th Congressional District. Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio started with his name on the ballot, but dropped out of the race.
  • Democratic 12th Congressional District: Longtime New York City Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney will face each other after a New York court-appointed expert redrew the state’s congressional districts and placed the two in the same district. Nadler and Maloney have held their seats for nearly 30 years and currently represent the west and east sides of Manhattan, respectively. The city will now be separated into north and south. The loss of either Nadler — who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee — or Maloney — who chairs the Senate Oversight Committee — in the primary means the Democratic Party will lose a major figure.
  • Democratic 17th Congressional District: Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, drew criticism when he decided to leave his modestly redrawn district to run in the new 17th District, a safer seat that includes his home but had largely been the territory of Rep. Mondaire Jones. Instead of engaging in a member-versus-member campaign, Jones moved to run in the newly open 10th District. Challenging Maloney is Alessandra Biaggi, a progressive state senator who decided to run for the seat after the shuffle.
  • Special election, 19th Congressional District: The 19th District, which covers a wide swath of New York State and includes the central Hudson Valley and the Catskills, needs a representative after Democratic Rep. Antonio Delgado resigned to become lieutenant governor of New York. The candidates vying to represent the 19th District for the remainder of the 117th Congress are Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro. This district narrowly voted for President Biden in 2020, so this special election is expected to be competitive.
  • Special election, 23rd Congressional District: Party officials have chosen candidates to run in the special election to finish the remainder of GOP Rep. Tom Reed’s term. After being accused of sexual misconduct in 2021, Reed announced he would not run for reelection and resigned in May. Joe Sempolinski, who served as a staffer for Reed, is the GOP contender for the seat. While he’s running in the district’s special election – which is held under the old district lines – he is not running in the regularly-scheduled primary election in the district’s new party lines. Democrat Max Della Pia is running in both elections and is uncontested in the Democratic primary election for a full term.

Take a closer look at New York’s new congressional map.

READ MORE

Seven takeaways from primaries in Florida, New York and Oklahoma runoffs
Five things to watch as Democratic primaries in New York and Florida take center stage
How to follow primary elections in New York, Florida and Oklahoma
Florida Democrats to decide Tuesday who would be best to take abortion fight to DeSantis
Redistricting pitted Maloney and Nadler against each other. Now, the hostile NY primary will reach its conclusion
Special election for upstate New York House seat offers new test of political energy around abortion
These 3 New York races highlight Democrats’ ideological and generational divides

READ MORE

Seven takeaways from primaries in Florida, New York and Oklahoma runoffs
Five things to watch as Democratic primaries in New York and Florida take center stage
How to follow primary elections in New York, Florida and Oklahoma
Florida Democrats to decide Tuesday who would be best to take abortion fight to DeSantis
Redistricting pitted Maloney and Nadler against each other. Now, the hostile NY primary will reach its conclusion
Special election for upstate New York House seat offers new test of political energy around abortion
These 3 New York races highlight Democrats’ ideological and generational divides