Voters in five states picked nominees for congressional seats on Tuesday. California and Texas voted in Senate primaries, and more than one-quarter of the seats in the House were up in primaries in those states plus Alabama, Arkansas and North Carolina.
Along with setting matchups for the battleground races that may decide control of Congress in November, the primaries also picked likely winners this fall in open seats that heavily favor one party or the other.
California’s primary system sends the top two finishers regardless of party to the November ballot. In Alabama, Arkansas and Texas, candidates in partisan primaries have to get more than 50 percent to secure nominations or the top two go to a runoff. In North Carolina, the threshold to avoid a runoff is more than 30 percent. Runoff dates are April 2 in Arkansas, April 16 in Alabama, May 14 in North Carolina and May 28 in Texas.
