Primary elections begin today in Alaska, Florida, Wyoming: Watch these races

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago is now in full swing, but that’s not all that’s happening this week. Three states — Alaska, Florida and Wyoming — are holding their state primaries today, with voters poised to choose which candidates for national, statewide and local offices will advance to the general election.

Here are the races to watch for in the Aug. 20 state primaries. 

Alaska 

The last frontier’s single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is up for grabs during the state primary, with incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native person ever elected to Congress, defending her seat from nearly a dozen challengers. 

Peltola was first elected in a special election to fill Republican Congressman Don Young’s at-large seat after he died in March 2022. She beat out several rivals, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

The most prominent Republicans running for the seat this year are Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and business owner Nicholas Begich. There are also several independent candidates running for the seat.

Thanks to a 2020 ballot measure, Alaska holds a nonpartisan primary election, meaning all candidates appear on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and the four candidates with the most votes will advance to the general election.

The state also employs ranked-choice voting, meaning that if no candidate receives a majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated along with their first-preference votes. The counting then restarts and moves the second-preference votes to the first-preference, and this process repeats until one candidate secures a majority. 

More: What is ranked-choice voting? Here’s which states will use it in the 2024 election.

Florida 

The Sunshine State has several high-profile races coming up, with local and national implications for residents across Florida. Incumbent Republican Rick Scott is defending his Senate seat this year from two challengers within his own party: John Columbus, an actor, and attorney Keith Gross, who was kicked off the 2008 ballot in Georgia after a judge determined he was not eligible to represent the Atlanta-area state legislative seat for which he was running. 

More: ‘Unstoppable’: Sen. Rick Scott discuss bid for Republican conference leader, Donald Trump

Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is the Democratic frontrunner for the Senate seat. She was elected in 2018 and served one term in the House of Representatives as the first Ecuadorian American and South American-born woman elected to Congress. She faces business owners Stanley Campbell, Rod Joseph, and former state legislator Brian Rush in the Democratic primary.

One of former President Trump’s most outspoken allies is also fighting to keep his seat in the House of Representatives. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who introduced and passed a measure to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is running for his fifth term to represent Florida’s 1st Congressional District. He will face off against Republican challenger Aaron Dimmock, whose campaign has been backed by McCarthy and his political network. Whoever wins the Republican primary will face off against Democrat Jennifer Valimont, who is running unopposed in her party primary. 

In Florida’s 8th Congressional District, the only House race in the state without an incumbent candidate, outgoing Republican Rep. Bill Posey endorsed Mike Haridopolos, the former president of the Florida state Senate. Haridopolos will face business owner John Hearton in the Republican primary. Attorney Sandy Kennedy and business owner Daniel McDow will be facing off in the Democratic primary election. 

Wyoming

Voters in the Cowboy State will decide the political future of deep-red Wyoming and its increasingly split Republican party on Tuesday, with all of the state’s house seats and half of its senate seats up for grabs. Two camps within Wyoming’s Republican party, the further-right Freedom Caucus and the more moderate, establishment Wyoming Caucus will fight for control of the state legislature.

In the state’s capital, Cheyenne, and its surrounding districts hold several of the state’s hottest races.

State Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, with nearly two decades of experience under his belt, is hoping to fend off a spirited challenge from political newcomer and Freedom Caucus-endorsed Ann Lucas in House District 43. Nearby in House District 7, Kathy Russell, the Wyoming GOP executive director, will try to topple the more moderate representative Bob Nicholas. Senate District 6, just north of Cheyenne, features a heated, six-way race for control of outgoing senator Anthony Bouchard’s seat.

In a district race located at the foot of the Big Horn mountains in northern Wyoming, state representatives Barry Crago and Mark Jennings will square off against each other for a state senate seat. Crago is a rising star in the Wyoming Caucus-aligned camp, while Jennings has long been a further-right figure in Wyoming politics, helping found the State Freedom Caucus in 2015, a precursor to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

Out in Western Wyoming, current Speaker of the House Albert Sommers is looking to take control of the vacancy in Senate District 14. Sommers faces further challenges from retired Naval Officer Bill Winney and local rancher and school bus driver Laura Taliaferro Pearson.

On the federal level, Republican U.S. Senator John Barrasso and Representative Harriett Hageman face challengers, but both are expected to cruise to victory.