WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Voters are going to the polls Tuesday in New York, Florida and Oklahoma to weigh in on who they want to send to Congress.
There are a handful of key races in Tuesday’s primary, pinning Democrats against Democrats and Republicans against Republicans.
Political analyst Todd Belt, a professor and director of political management at George Washington University, said the results will indicate how progressive or moderate the Democrat part is leaning.
“We’re going to have a really interesting confluence of factors here,” Belt said. “There is sort of a struggle over the future of the Democratic party.”
In New York’s newly redrawn 12th district, voters will choose between Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who said he’s “a more principled progressive,” and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, also a self-proclaimed progressive. Both have been in Congress for nearly three decades.
“You usually don’t see two heavyweights going like this,” Belt said.
“It’s unfortunate,” Nadler said. “What else can you say about it?”
Another race to watch is the special election held in New York’s 19th district. Democrat Pat Ryan is up against Republican Marcus Molinaro. Results in the swing district could be a litmus test for the battle for Congress and could preview which party is more likely to control the House after November’s midterms.
“That buffer that democrats have right now is only five seats and so it’s going to be very close,” Belt said.
In Florida, State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and former Republican governor turned Democrat Rep. Charlie Crist are duking it out to see who will take on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“It will be interesting to see who’s going to go up against Ron DeSantis, who’s been a very polarizing figure,” Belt said.
These elections are happening later than normal and there is concern that there could be lower voter turnout as many Americans vacation around this time. It’s not known if that will help or hurt the parties.
