Primary season continues today, as voters in Arizona and Florida, two states at the center for the battle for the House and Senate this cycle, head to the polls. Oklahoma voters also head to the polls Tuesday in runoff elections for governor and several U.S. House seats.
The primary in Arizona of course comes just days after the passing of longtime Arizona Senator John McCain. Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey will be selecting a replacement for McCain after his burial, a person who will likely serve until 2020 when there will be a special election to fill the remainder of McCain’s term.
The top contests to watch Tuesday night include two of ABC News’ “18 for 18” races.
The GOP primary in the Arizona Senate race is to replace retiring GOP Sen. Jeff Flake. Rep. Martha McSally is seen as the ‘establishment’ candidate, Dr. Kelli Ward has aligned herself with conservative tv personalities including Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren and former presidential adviser Sebastian Gorka, and infamous former Sheriff Joe Arpaio has made some headlines in the race but is widely seen as the likely third-place finisher in a three-way race.
In Florida, the battle to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott has been a test of who can either be more pro-Trump or anti-Trump. On the Republican side, Rep. Ron DeSantis faces off against former congressmen and current state Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam. On the opposing side, they’re hoping to pick a candidate who voters will elect to become Florida’s first Democratic governor since 1994. Among the candidates are former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, a daughter of Florida’s political dynasty — her father, Bob Graham, was once the state’s governor and U.S. senator. She’s challenged by four other male candidates, one of whom is Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum. He has the endorsement of progressive icon Bernie Sanders and a recent cash flow from billionaire George Soros.
Polls close in Florida and Oklahoma at 8 p.m. EDT, and in Arizona at 10 p.m. EDT.
8:02 p.m. — Rep. Ron DeSantis projected the winner in the GOP primary to be the next governor of Florida
We have our first major projection of the night from the Associated Press. Rep. Ron DeSantis, who has the backing of President Trump, easily defeated Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam in the GOP gubernatorial primary.
In another big projection, the AP has called the race in Florida’s 9th Congressional District. Rep. Darren Soto held off a primary challenge from liberal firebrand and former Rep. Alan Grayson.
8:00 p.m. — Polls are closed in Florida and Oklahoma
Polls are now closed in the entire state of Florida, and in the state of Oklahoma, which is holding runoff elections for the governor’s race and several congressional districts.
7:49 p.m. Young Arizona voters on why they have faith in the political process
Beyond the political heat, it’s also just plain hot in Arizona. In Tempe, just east of Phoenix, voters turned up to polling stations in 100 degree heat — but now more than ever, Arizonans encouraged fellow voters to hit the ballots.
“I have faith in [the political process] because you have people still, on a 106-degree day, walking in with their mail-in ballots, walking in to vote, with a smile on their face thinking that the research they did prior to walking in was valuable,” said Carlos Medina, who was out helping his dad, Enrique Medina, a candidate for Justice of the Peace in downtown Phoenix.
“And I agree with them. I think it is valuable,” Medina said.
Kaitlin Showers is also a young voter — part of the historically tough-to-reach demographic of 20-somethings that generally don’t turnout for primaries.
“It seems obvious but I think a lot of people don’t realize that you have to start voting locally to get the ball to move in the direction that you want it to go,” Showers said.
And another reason Showers was eager to exercise her right to vote in Arizona? The late Sen. John McCain and his effort to put “country over party.”
“I’m proud to say I’m an Arizonan. Because he’s one of our greatest legislators we’ve ever had,” she said.
Cheyenne Haslett reports from Washington, D.C. Terry Moran and Sarah Kolinovsky report from Tempe, Arizona.
7:30 p.m. — Our friends at FiveThirtyEight are also live-blogging primary night
If you can’t get enough of primary night coverage, head over to FiveThrityEight where they’re also tracking tonight’s results.
FiveThirtyEight’s Claire Malone points out a major figure hanging over not only tonight’s primaries but the entire midterm cycle: President Trump
Malone writes: Guess who looms over these primaries as he does over all things political these days? TRUMP!
As Perry mentioned, the president has taken a shine to endorsing Republicans he likes in primaries. Sometimes his picks aren’t who the GOP strategist class would want to see go into a general election (like Kris Kobach in Kansas or Brian Kemp in Georgia). Trump endorsed DeSantis for governor in Florida, leading to a surge in DeSantis’s polling numbers. But Trump was noticeably absent from endorsing in Arizona’s Senate primary. And that’s on purpose. Trump-y-from-the-beginning candidates Kelli Ward and Joe Arpaio would have loved to get the president’s benediction, but the White House knows that the more moderate Martha McSally is their best chance to win a really tight race to replace Jeff Flake.
7 p.m. — Polls have closed in most of the state of Florida
It’s seven o’clock on the East Coast, and polls in most of the state of Florida have now closed.
The key races to watch in the state include the race to succeed GOP Gov. Rick Scott, who is term-limited and running for the U.S. Senate this cycle.
The GOP race is a test of the strength of a Trump endorsement, while the Democratic race is a test of a Florida political dynasty, as former Rep. Gwen Graham, the daughter of former Sen. Bob Graham is hoping to emerge victorious from a crowded field of Democratic hopefuls.
Tune in to ABC News Live RIGHT NOW for live coverage.
6 p.m. — One hour until most polls close in Florida
It’s six o’clock on the East Coast, and we’re now one hour away from polls in most of Florida.
Some areas in the northwestern part of the state, otherwise known as the Florida Panhandle, are in the Central Time Zone, and polls there will not close until 8 p.m. Eastern.
Stay tuned right here to ABC News.com for more updates throughout the night on tonight’s key races, and tune in at 7 p.m. Eastern for LIVE digital coverage on ABC News Live.
5:45 p.m. — Parkland students cast their ballots for the first time
Florida voters are heading to the polls Tuesday and among them are the survivors of the Parkland shooting on Feb. 14. Voting for the first time — six months after they lost 17 classmates and teachers — the teenage activists of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school are showing up in full force to the polls in Broward County to finally have their say.
The members of the March for our Lives movement do not endorse candidates, but they are encouraging all Floridians to get out and vote.
The young people will win. pic.twitter.com/9RnmL8VTYu
5:30 p.m. — The Women Who Run: This first-time Caribbean American GOP candidate wants to turn her district red
When Vennia Francois, a woman of color, discusses politics with people, many of them automatically assume she’s a Democrat.
In recent years, identity politics have pushed the notion that all black Americans are Democrats, which is why many are surprised when they find out Francois is a Republican running for office in Florida’s 7th Congressional District, near Winter Park.
“Typically, African Americans tend to sway Democrat,” Francois told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“I am an American first and foremost, and anything else is secondary, but my cultural background is Caribbean American,” she stated.
ABC News’ Rachel Scott, MaryAliceParks and Brittany Berkowitz report.
4:45 p.m. — Gov. Rick Scott treads carefully in Donald Trump’s Florida
Since launching his U.S. Senate campaign to unseat longtime Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in April, Florida’s GOP Gov. Rick Scott, an early and vocal Trump supporter, has taken a markedly cautious approach to a president who has consistently injected political chaos into an already uncertain midterm election landscape.
Scott chaired a pro-Trump super PAC, raised money for the candidate and hosted an inaugural party after his 2016 victory. But as he attempts to move from the governor’s mansion to Capitol Hill, Scott faces a dilemma in embracing a party leader whose popularity remains a double-edged sword in the most prominent swing state in the nation.
ABC News’ John Verhovek and Lissette Rodriguez report.
3:45 p.m. — Arizona voters in Maricopa County face frustrating delays at certain polling locations
Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes held a news conference this morning, basically confirming some rumblings that had been percolating about issues with various polling places in Arizona Tuesday.
Over the course of the presser, he said that the number of voting locations that still aren’t open (of the 503 in the county, which is the most populous in Arizona) went from six at the start of the presser to four. But he also noted that at the peak of the problem, when they discovered that the contractor that they had used to hire technicians to set up the election technology on Monday ahead of the primary Tuesday, he thought there “were over 250 that we didn’t think were going to be open.”
He said that staff members in his office got trained up and were working throughout the afternoon and evening to address the issues ahead of this morning.
He wouldn’t say the name of the contractor because they’ve worked with them before successfully and they’re still sorting out what happened and why, leaving the door open to action – legal or otherwise – in response. They had a contract for 103 technicians to run around setting up the SiteBook technology that is used in Maricopa County and only 73 showed up. SiteBook is the county’s new technology and it was used (successfully) in the Congressional special election, so he stressed it wasn’t an issue of the technology, but the technology not being set up.
ABC News’ Meghan Keneally reports
3 p.m. — ‘It’s egregious and unforgiving’: Arizona voters weigh in on Trump’s reaction to McCain’s passing
President Donald Trump’s tepid reaction to McCain’s death is not surprising to some given the publicly acrimonious relationship the two men had before McCain’s death Saturday. Trump’s public response has included a two-sentence tweet of condolences to McCain’s family and a temporary lowering of the flag at the White House for little over one day, as opposed to the traditional lowering until the deceased’s body is interred.
Monday afternoon, facing widespread criticism, the president ordered the White House flag again flown at half-staff until McCain’s interment and then, after ignoring repeated questions, Trump finally spoke about McCain, saying “we very much appreciate everything Senator McCain has done for our country.”
ABC News’ Meghan Keneally reports on the ground in Phoenix, Arizona.
1:30 p.m. — FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich highlights all the key races to watch Tuesday
It’s the Spring Training Primary! Six months after pitchers and catchers first reported to pre-season MLB training camps in Arizona and Florida, local fans report to their polling places on Tuesday to decide some of the most crackerjack primaries of the year.
In addition, several Oklahoma primaries that went into extra innings after June 26 will be decided in runoffs. It’s the last big primary night of the year; play ball!
FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich reports.
12 p.m. — Ahead of the midterms, Florida hopes to bridge gap with potential Puerto Rican voters
Latino voters have played a large role in a state like Florida for decades. Puerto Ricans, however, including those displaced by Hurricane Maria have one major difference: They are American citizens and therefore have a legal right to register to vote.
For a state in which the last two presidential elections have been decided by approximately 1 point — Barack Obama won Florida in 2012 by less than 1 percent and Donald Trump won the state in 2016 by 1.2 percent — this citizenship advantage in a midterm year could give candidates a leg up on courting that demographic. But they’re still facing the challenges of educating voters on the issues.
ABC News’ Lissette Rodriguez and Joshua Hoyos report.
11:30 a.m. — Sun Belt showdowns: What to watch for in Tuesday’s primaries: ANALYSIS
Two big, diverse, and scorchingly hot states that were key to President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory highlight the last major multi-state day of voting in the 2018 primaries.
Voters in Arizona and Florida – plus Oklahoma, where there are a few scattered runoffs – will choose candidates for the midterms on Tuesday.
The late-summer races are likely to reinforce the trends of a colorful and surprising primary season – and lay out the stakes for November.
ABC News Political Director Rick Klein walks you through the key storylines to watch in Tuesday’s pivotal primary contests.
9 a.m. — Florida vote first test for Delaney Tarr and Parkland’s anti-gun violence activists
Five months ago, stepping onto the March For Our Lives stage this past spring in Washington, D.C., 17-year-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Delaney Tarr emerged from her four-minute speech as one of the most poised and vocal leaders in the reinvigorated culture war against gun violence.
“This is more than just a march,” she said at the podium, her cadence picking up. “This is more than just one day, one event. This is a movement. This is a movement reliant on the persistence and passion of its people.”
This summer, the students of Parkland have been crisscrossing America on a national tour, on the March For Our Lives ‘Road to Change,’ visiting over 80 communities in 24 states in 60 days to register young voters.
ABC News’ Kendall Karson reports on the first test of the anti-gun violence activists influence.
6 a.m. — The Note: Florida and Arizona primaries show lure of Trumpism
The moment belongs to Sen. John McCain. But the Republican Party still belongs to President Donald Trump.
Tuesday’s primaries, highlighted by voting in Arizona and Florida, figure to demonstrate the powerful lure of Trumpism, alongside the political hibernation of McCainism, ABC News Political Director Rick Klein writes in today’s Note.
ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks also highlights two key races to watch tonight: AZ-2 in Tucson and FL-27 outside Miami. Both are Republican-held districts, but ones where Hillary Clinton outperformed Trump. In both places, the Republican frontrunners are Latina women who are rather moderate on immigration and, you could say, little more than tolerant of the president.
