The trio of states will nominate candidates for two Senate and three House races that could upset the balance of power in the next Congress.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—Three states hold primary elections on June 4 in a pair of Senate contests and a handful of House races that could impact the balance of power in the next Congress.
Voters in New Jersey and Montana will nominate candidates for the U.S. Senate, where the Democratic Party will attempt to preserve its slim majority by retaining one open and one vulnerable seat.
In New Jersey and Iowa, the parties will nominate candidates in three races that the Democrats hope to flip in November.
New Jersey 7th
Incumbent Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) faces only token opposition in the primary. The real challenge is expected in the general election as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has targeted the 7th district as one of 34 open or Republican-held seats to capture this year.
Mr. Kean, who defeated incumbent Rep. Tom Malinowski, a Democrat, in 2022, has campaigned on a promise to lower taxes and create job growth.
Susan Altman, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary, has cast her race as a battle for control of the House in an effort to oppose President Donald Trump.
Ms. Altman, a progressive organizer and former leader in New Jersey’s Working Families Party, reacted to the Trump verdict in the New York business records case saying, “After the news of yesterday, I feel more convinced and more confident that we’re going to flip this district.” That’s significant, she added, because “we’re the only branch of government that can stand against Trump” if he is elected.
The 7th district is 80 percent urban but includes a large swath of less densely populated territory in the western part of the state.
New Jersey Senate
Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, is under indictment on charges that he acted as a foreign agent to the governments of Egypt and Qatar and accepted gold bars and cash as bribes. Mr. Menendez has denied any wrongdoing.
The veteran senator at first said he would run to retain his seat only if acquitted of the charges but abruptly reversed course on June 3, announcing that he would file to run as an independent.
Given Mr. Menendez’s presence in the race, Republicans have a better-than-usual opportunity to flip the seat.
The two Republican candidates include Curtis Bashaw, the well-connected founder and managing partner of Cape Resorts, which features a collection of renovated Cape May hotels. He has been a long-time real estate developer operating in New York state and New Jersey and is a former executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.
Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, the other Republican in the race, earned the endorsement of former President Donald Trump at his May 11 rally at the Jersey Shore.
Ms. Serrano Glassner is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and was a professional chef.
She received a presidential appointment to serve as the regional advocate for the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, where she addressed regulatory conditions with state and local governments and advocated on behalf of small businesses. She also served for seven years as the senior vice president for special projects at the Empire State Development Corporation, a division of the New York State government, one of the largest economic development agencies in the country.
New Jersey is a solidly Democrat state, and the prevailing primary Republican will face the top Democrat, probably U.S. Rep. Andy Kim who is expected to easily win the nomination.
Mr. Kim was a Rhodes Scholar and a national security expert who worked at the Pentagon and in Afghanistan as a civilian adviser to the military. He has two opponents.
Lawrence Hamm, is a far-left Democrat seeking reparations for slavery, free college, the end to climate change, and stronger unions, according to his website.
Labor leader Patricia Campos Medina attended Cornell University and earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial and labor relations, a master’s degree in public administration, and, later, a Ph.D. from Rutgers University. She advocates for workers’ rights to join a union and earn more money.
Montana Senate
With President Donald Trump’s endorsement of his opponent convincing Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) to withdraw from the GOP primary, Tim Sheehy appeared to be the ideal Republican to unseat Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat who has defied the odds three times to be elected to the U.S. Senate in ruby-red Montana.
But Mr. Sheehy’s cakewalk to securing the nod in Montana’s June 4 primary has been hampered by toe-stubs that spurred questions about his Minnesota upbringing, a confusing tale about a bullet in his arm, and business dealings that have drawn lawsuits.
The fog has buoyed Mr. Tester’s prospects for a fourth term—the Montana Democratic Party has created a website exclusively dedicated to Mr. Sheehy—and elevated former Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson’s candidacy from an also-ran into a viable upset underdog.
When Mr. Johnson, 72, a 40-year veteran of Montana politics, declared his candidacy in an Oct. 17 announcement, he noted Montana voters don’t really know who Mr. Sheehy, 38, is since he’s only lived in the state since 2014.
Nevertheless, Mr. Sheehy remains the front-runner. He’s raised $10.446 million, in contrast to Mr. Johnson’s $43,000, and the most recent poll, in March, shows him edging ahead of Mr. Tester.
While Mr. Sheehy has been on the defensive in the late primary campaign stages, Mr. Tester has been fundraising, drawing support from national donors.
He has more than $36 million now, likely more than $50 million by fall, to defend his seat and issues exposed in the primary.
Iowa 1st and 3rd Districts
In eastern and central Iowa, primaries in two competitive districts could have significant implications come November.
Iowa’s Third is helmed by U.S. Air Force veteran Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa). Mr. Nunn, who previously served in Iowa’s state House and state Senate, reached his current federal position in 2022. He replaced a Democrat, Cindy Axne.
He will likely face one of two Democrats in November. One is Lanon Baccam, a U.S. Army veteran who served under former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The other is Melissa Vine, executive director of a non-profit residential home for women in Des Moines, The Beacon.
Mr. Baccam, who Mr. Vilsack endorsed, has greatly outraised Ms. Vine as of mid-May, with $1.95 million for him to just under $155,000 for Ms. Vine according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) data.
His haul includes numerous contributions of $3,300, the FEC’s limit for donations from individuals to candidates, from donors residing in New York state, New Jersey, and other states far from the Midwest, such as billionaire Loews heiress Laurie Tisch.
Mr. Nunn has received significant out-of-state money, too, including from former TD Ameritrade CEO Joe Ricketts.
Democrat Tracy Limon also filed paperwork in the third district but, according to FEC data, hasn’t raised any money to date.
Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, a Republican, U.S. Army veteran, and medical doctor, was elected to represent Iowa’s 1st Congressional District in 2020. Like Mr. Nunn, she replaced a Democrat, Dave Loebsack. Mr. Loebsack, an emeritus professor of political science at Cornell College, was the face of the district in Congress for more than a decade.
He refused to speak with The Epoch Times, insisting he would “never talk to” the organization.
However, the Cornell College professor emeritus has remained an active political voice, condemning President Trump and urging his followers on X to donate to Christina Bohannan, the University of Iowa law professor who hopes to challenge Ms. Miller-Meeks in the general election.
Ms. Bohannan is not facing any opponents in her party, a reprise of 2022 when she also lost to Ms. Miller-Meeks. Data from the FEC show she has raised roughly $2.6 million as of mid-May, a little less than the $2.9 million Ms. Miller-Meeks has in her war chest.
The incumbent will face a challenger from her right in the Republican primary, U.S. Army veteran, marketer, and religious activist David Pautsch. Although Mr. Pautsch has raised only a little more than $35,000, signs for his campaign could still be spotted along rural roadways in the district.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Mr. Pautsch shone a spotlight on Ms. Miller-Meeks’ votes in connection with the 2020 election and its aftermath, including for the formation of the House’s Jan. 6 committee and to certify the results of that contest.
“She is now trying to pretend like she’s pro-Trump, but it’s just pure posturing in order to get elected,” he said, characterizing the succession of Democrats and Republicans who represented the First as “indistinguishable” from each other.
Mr. Loebsack was preceded by then-Republican Jim Leach, a former National Endowment for the Humanities chair who in 2022 registered as a Democrat.
“It’s a battle of weaklings,” Mr. Pautsch said of the probable showdown between Ms. Bohannan and Ms. Miller-Meeks in the moderately pro-Republican First.
The Epoch Times reached out to Ms. Bohannan, Ms. Miller-Meeks, Mr. Nunn, Ms. Vine, Mr. Leach, and Mr. Baccam for comment.
New Jersey, Montana Presidential
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be on the ballot for their respective parties’ primaries in Montana and New Jersey. Both clinched their nominations in March and are expected to be formally nominated at their conventions this summer, the Republican in July and the Democrat in August.
These will be the first presidential primaries since President Trump was convicted on May 30 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
These will also be the first contest held since former GOP candidate Nikki Haley announced that she would vote for President Trump. Ms. Haley, who did not endorse President Trump immediately after her withdrawal from the race on March 6, has received up to 21 percent of the vote during primaries held since that time.