Welcome to the Thursday, June 25, 2026, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Three U.S. House candidates that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed won their June 23 primaries
- Campaign submits signatures for Montana ballot measure to add the initiative and referendum process to the state’s Declaration of Rights
- Incumbent Shri Thanedar and Donavan McKinney running in Aug. 4 Democratic primary for Michigan's 13th Congressional District
Three U.S. House candidates that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed won their June 23 primaries
On June 23, two incumbent U.S. Representatives in New York, Daniel Goldman (D) and Adriano Espaillat (D), lost their primaries to challengers that New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) endorsed. Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated Goldman in the 10th Congressional District, and Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated Espaillat in the 13th Congressional District. In the open Democratic primary in the 7th Congressional District, Mamdani-endorsed state Rep. Claire Valdez defeated three other candidates.
Goldman and Espaillat are the fifth and sixth members of the U.S. House to lose a bid for re-election this year. Four Democratic members and two Republican members have lost in the primaries so far.
In the 12th Congressional District, Micah Lasher (D) won the Democratic primary to succeed retiring incumbent Jerrold Nadler. Nadler endorsed Lasher. Retiring House members are endorsing successors at a higher rate this year than in 2024 — 38% (22 of 58) compared to 31% (14 of 45). Of the 22 endorsed candidates this year, 15 have won their primaries, four lost, and three races have not yet taken place. In 2024, eight of those candidates won both the primary and general election, one won the primary and lost the general, and five lost in the primaries.
Twenty-two of the 58 (38%) U.S. House members who are retiring this year have endorsed a candidate in the primary for the election to succeed them. So far, 15 of those candidates have won their primaries, four have lost, and three primaries have not happened yet. In 2024, 14 of the 45 U.S. House members (31%) who retired endorsed a successor. Eight of those candidates won both the primary and general election, one won the primary and lost the general, and five lost in the primaries.
Satellite groups supported by AI companies spent millions in the 12th District primary. According to Fortune, a group funded by OpenAI investors spent $7.6 million on TV ads opposing candidate Alex Bores, while groups funded by Anthropic spent more than $10 million supporting Bores.
Six other candidates, including Lincoln Project cofounder George Conway, and writer Jack Schlossberg, who is also the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy (D), also ran.
Maryland and Utah also held primaries on June 23.
In Maryland’s 5th Congressional District, Adrian Boafo (D) defeated three other candidates in the Democratic primary to succeed retiring incumbent Steny Hoyer (D), who has been in office since 1981. Hoyer endorsed Boafo to succeed him. Major race forecasters have rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic.
In Maryland’s 6th District Democratic primary, incumbent April McClain Delaney (D), who was first elected in 2024, defeated former incumbent David Trone (D) and six others. Trone represented the District from 2019 to 2025. In 2024, he did not run for re-election and instead ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Trone endorsed McClain Delaney as his successor for the 6th District in 2024.
Utah’s primaries were the first to take place since a judge ordered the state to adopt a new U.S. House map.
In the 1st Congressional District, which Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales' Nathaniel Rakich said, "is now a Democratic-leaning seat that covers most of Salt Lake County," former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams defeated three other candidates in the Democratic primary.
The incumbents of Utah’s 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts both ran for different districts. Incumbent Blake Moore (R-1) defeated Karianne Lisonbee in the 2nd District Republican primary. Incumbent Celeste Maloy (R-2) defeated Phil Lyman in the 3rd District Republican primary.
Results for statewide offices
New York held one statewide primary on June 23 – the Democratic primary for Comptroller. Incumbent Thomas P. DiNapoli (D) defeated two challengers – Raj Goyle and Drew Warshaw. This was the first time since DiNapoli took office in 2007 that he had a primary opponent. DiNapoli, who received endorsements from Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Attorney General Letitia James (D), ran on his record. According to City and State New York’s Rebecca C. Lewis, “both insurgents attempted to paint their campaigns as the best progressive alternative to DiNapoli.” Goyle listed U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif) among his endorsements in Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey, and Warshaw listed endorsements from two Working Families Party-affiliated groups.
Meanwhile, both Maryland gubernatorial primaries were contested. On the Democratic side, incumbent Wes Moore defeated Eric Felber 88.6-11.4%. On the Republican side, Dan Cox defeated Ed Hale and seven others with 45.2% of the vote.
Utah’s only state executive primaries were for the state board of education. Eight of the 15 seats are up for election this year. There were three contested Republican primaries. All three seats are open this year. As of 2 p.m. ET on June 24, all three races were uncalled.
South Carolina held statewide primary runoffs.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson defeated Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette 68.4% to 31.6% in the Republican gubernatorial runoff. In the June 9 primary, Evette led Wilson 28.9% to 26.1%. President Donald Trump (R) initially endorsed Evette in the race, but in the days leading up to the runoff, he announced that he would endorse both candidates. Earlier in June, two of Trump’s other endorsed gubernatorial candidates, Georgia’s Burt Jones and Iowa’s Randy Feenstra, lost their respective elections (Jones lost the primary runoff, and Feenstra lost the primary).
This was not the first time Trump has endorsed two candidates running in the same primary this year. He endorsed Gina Swoboda and Jay Feely in the Republican primary for Arizona's 1st Congressional District and endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson and Andy Biggs in the Arizona gubernatorial Republican primary. But in those races, Swoboda and Robson ultimately withdrew.
South Carolina is one of four states with primary runoffs for governor so far this year, along with Georgia, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. In the nine gubernatorial primary runoffs that have happened since 2018, the same candidate who received more votes in the primary won the runoff five times. In four runoffs, the candidate who received fewer votes in the primary won the runoff.
Thirty-six states hold gubernatorial elections in midterm election years. In 2022, the last time this set of offices was up, only one primary – Alabama’s Democratic gubernatorial primary – advanced to a runoff. In 2018, there were five primary runoffs.
State legislative results
Among the most notable results from Tuesday’s state legislative races came from Utah, where Senate President Stuart Adams (R) lost to Stephanie Hollist (R) in the Republican primary for District 7. Adams was first elected to the state Senate in 2009 and has served as Senate President since 2019. This was the first time Adams faced a primary challenger.
According to Axios Salt Lake City, “Adams faced criticism after Utah's Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), which he chairs, pushed to advance a controversial data center development in Box Elder County.”
Two other incumbent Utah state legislators lost their bids for re-election. As of 3 p.m. on June 24, two races featuring incumbents were still uncalled.
In New York, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) endorsed state legislative candidates mirrored the success of Mamdani’s endorsees at the top of the ballot, with DSA-aligned candidates expected to gain at least six seats, according to the New York Focus.
As of 3 p.m. on June 24, six incumbents – two Senators and four Assembly members – lost to candidates with Working Families Party endorsements. One race featuring an incumbent was still uncalled. An average of four incumbents lost in New York’s state legislative primaries in years between 2010 and 2024.
Thirty-one incumbent state legislators in New York are retiring this year, the second-most since 2010. In 2020, 33 incumbents retired. Among the notable retirements this year are Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (D), Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D), and former Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay (R).
In Maryland, two incumbent state legislators lost their bids for re-election. As of 3 p.m. on June 24, 10 races featuring incumbents were still uncalled.
Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D) defeated Bobby LaPin, 56.6% to 43.4%. This was Ferguson’s smallest margin since he was first elected in 2010, defeating then-incumbent George Della in the Democratic primary 58.6% to 41.4%.
Click here to see our full results coverage from June 23.
Campaign submits signatures for Montana ballot measure to add the initiative and referendum process to the state’s Declaration of Rights
On June 18, Montanans Decide, the committee sponsoring a measure that would add the initiative and referendum power to the state's Declaration of Rights (Article II of the Montana Constitution), filed more than 100,000 signatures with county officials for placement on the Nov. 3 ballot. The proposed amendment, Constitutional Initiative 133, says that the "right guarantees impartial, predictable, transparent, and expeditious processes for proposing a ballot issue, qualifying a ballot issue for the ballot, and submitting a ballot issue to the qualified electors without interference from the government or the use of government resources to support or oppose the ballot issue."
The measure would also provide individuals the right to withdraw their signatures from a petition as long as they do so before the petition filing deadline. Six states — California, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington — allow individuals who have signed a petition to withdraw their signatures.
In 1906, Montana voters added the initiative and referendum power to the state’s constitution via a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment. Montana was the fifth state to adopt a ballot initiative process. Currently, Articles III, IV, and XIV of the Montana Constitution govern the initiative process in the state. Twenty-six states have a statewide initiative or referendum process.
To qualify an initiated constitutional amendment in Montana, petitioners need to submit 60,241 valid signatures, equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Montana also has a distribution requirement. Proponents must collect signatures equal to 10% of the qualified electors in each of two-fifths (40) of the state's 100 legislative districts. The deadline to submit signatures to county clerks was June 19. The deadline to submit signatures to the secretary of state is July 17.
Twelve initiatives were filed in Montana in this election cycle. Two other campaigns submitted signatures by the deadline. Constitutional Initiative 132 states that “Judicial elections shall remain nonpartisan.” Initiative 194 would prohibit nonprofits, trusts, partnerships, corporations, trade associations, or unincorporated associations, and all entities doing business in Montana, from contributing to campaigns, ballot measure elections, or political parties. The initiative classifies these entities as artificial persons and prohibits them from political spending. Violations of the law would result in forfeiting all privileges to do business in Montana.
In Montana, an average of 21 initiatives were filed each even-year cycle between 2010 and 2024, with an average of two initiatives certified for the ballot each cycle.
Click here to learn more about Initiative 133 and here to learn more about Montana’s 2026 ballot measures.
Incumbent Shri Thanedar and Donavan McKinney running in Aug. 4 Democratic primary for Michigan's 13th Congressional District
Incumbent Shri Thanedar (D) and Donavan McKinney (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Michigan's 13th Congressional District on Aug. 4.
Local radio station WDET's Russ McNamara said Thanedar is "facing a difficult primary opponent, State Representative Donavan McKinney. The progressive Democrat has already been endorsed by Black leaders in Detroit and other [progressives] like Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders." NBC News' Allan Smith said the primary "will also serve as another proxy fight over the war in Gaza as Thanedar, previously a critic of the Israeli government in the state Legislature, renounced his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, saying the DSA did not offer adequate condemnation of it."
Major election forecasters rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic. In the 2024 primary, Thanedar defeated Mary Waters (D) 54.9%–33.8%. In 2024, Thanedar defeated Martell Bivings (R) 68.6%–24.5%.
Thanedar was elected in 2022 and served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023. He previously worked as a chemist and entrepreneur. U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) endorsed Thanedar.
McKinney was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2022. He previously worked as a staffer in the Michigan House and an organizer with the Service Employees International Union. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed McKinney.
Click here to see our full coverage of the Democratic primary in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District.
