California and Iowa primaries top June 2 election battlegrounds

Voters in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota and New Mexico are casting ballots Tuesday in primaries that go far beyond local politics, with the sharpest signals coming from races that could test party strength, candidate quality and November momentum. Ballotpedia says it is tracking 4,827 elections across 26 states in June, but the contests drawing the most national attention are the ones that could reshape the battle for Congress and the next two years of President Donald Trump’s second term.

California is the biggest prize and the most unusual test. Under the state’s top-two system, the leading two vote-getters move on to November regardless of party, and Democrats are also choosing who will advance in five new Democratic-leaning congressional districts. The governor’s race alone has more than 60 candidates, a crowded field made more volatile by the decision of former Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Alex Padilla and Attorney General Rob Bonta not to run. Former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out after accusations of sexual misconduct, leaving the center of gravity to former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer. Republican Steve Hilton is running with Donald Trump’s endorsement.

The California ballot also carries a major House test in the state’s 4th Congressional District, where two Democrats, six Republicans and one independent are running. Incumbent Rep. Mike Thompson and Eric Jones have drawn much of the fundraising and local attention, turning the race into a contrast between Thompson’s long record and Jones’ younger, digitally focused pitch. In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass is seeking reelection while facing criticism over homelessness, city conditions and recovery from the most destructive wildfire in the city’s history. Reality television personality Spencer Pratt is among her challengers.

Iowa offers Democrats a different kind of read on the electorate: whether they can rebuild in a rural state that has repeatedly slipped away from them. Democrats are choosing a nominee in a key U.S. Senate race, while the Republican is already effectively set, and they still need four Senate seats nationally to win a majority. The governor’s race is also a major marker, because party strategists see it as Democrats’ first real chance in years to win the office. Iowa’s place on the map has long carried outsize weight, from the presidential nominating calendar it launched more than 50 years ago to its current role as a bellwether for rural turnout and crossover appeal.

The other June 2 primaries may be quieter, but they matter for the same reason. New Jersey Republicans are dealing with a congressional race complicated by a New Jersey congressman’s unexplained absence, a development that could matter in a state where the party’s House margin is already thin. Montana, South Dakota and New Mexico also have Senate and House contests on the ballot, and South Dakota’s Republican governor primary includes Larry Rhoden, Toby Doeden, Jon Hansen and Dusty Johnson. Taken together, Tuesday’s races offer the first broad national reading of which party can expand its map, hold its coalition together and carry the stronger bench into November.