The Final Primaries of 2024
On Sept. 10, Democrats are settling ideological battles in two states they control, Delaware and Rhode Island. And both parties will set up hotly contested general elections in New Hampshire.
It’s the final stop of the 2024 primaries: Three northeastern states head to the polls on Tuesday to decide their nominees for major downballot offices, from governor to legislature.
Here’s your Bolts primer on what to follow across Delaware, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
New Hampshire voters have been splitting their tickets lately: Democrats have held the entire congressional delegation since 2016, but the GOP is in full control of state government. In November, both parties will try to break the other’s advantage. But first, they’re settling their nominees in tense primaries for governor and Congress.
Meanwhile, Democrats are highly likely to continue governing Delaware and Rhode Island over the next two years, but the primaries will decide the balance of power within party factions. Frustrated at the party leadership, which in Rhode Island especially is notably conservative, progressives have made some major gains in the last few cycles’ legislative races; but these new incumbents now must defend their seats against challengers of their own.
Be sure to return to this page on election night: We’ll update this page with results.
And this guide is not exhaustive; it is Bolts’ selection of important races to monitor. For more information, explore the resources at Ballotpedia.
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Governors
| Delaware (Dem primary) |
|---|
| With the endorsements of outgoing governor John Carney and the state Democratic Party, Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long looked like the contender to beat in the Democratic primary. But she has been beset by a state report that found that she had violated campaign finance laws for years; the report follows earlier revelations about payments that rocked her campaign last fall. Hall-Long faces Matt Meyer, the executive of New Castle County who has dominated the race financially thanks to a large personal loan, and Collin O’Mara, the president of the National Wildlife Foundation who has the endorsement of the progressive Working Families Party. |
| Result: Matt Meyer wins. |
| New Hampshire (GOP primary) |
|---|
| Republican Governor Chris Sununu chose to retire this year, and former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte is the frontrunner in the GOP primary to replace him. She has drawn support from her party’s establishment, including Sununu, as well as from MAGA figures such as Don Bolduc. Still, she faces Chuck Morse, the former president of the state Senate; he’s making the case that he’ll be more consistently conservative and a lot more supportive of Donald Trump. |
| Result: Kelly Ayotte wins. |
| New Hampshire (Dem primary) |
|---|
| Democrats hope that Sununu’s retirement allows them to reclaim this governor’s mansion and break the GOP’s overall control of the state government. But they first have to settle a tense primary that’s been low on policy contrasts between former Manchester Joyce Craig and Cinde Warmington, a member of the state’s executive council, a five-member body with authority to review some of the governor’s decisions. This race lit up recently with Craig’s attacks on Warmington for lobbying work on behalf of a drug tied to the opioid crisis; some Warmington supporters have responded by faulting Craig for being resistant to harm reduction efforts while she was mayor. |
| Result: Joyce Craig wins. |
U.S. House
| DE-AL (Dem primary) |
|---|
| Sarah McBride is on track to become the first trans member of Congress. With Lisa Blunt Rochester leaving the seat to run for the U.S. Senate, McBride quickly consolidated her party’s support, and her chief rivals dropped out of the race this spring and summer. McBride must still beat two primary opponents, Earl Cooper and Elias Weir, who’ve both taken positions to her right, such as resistance to Delaware’s electric vehicle mandate, which McBride supports, and opposition to abortion rights, respectively. |
| Result: Sarah McBride wins. |
| NH-01 (GOP primary) |
|---|
| Gone are the days when some Republicans distanced themselves from Trump to win in New Hampshire. The GOP is trying to oust Democrat Chris Pappas in a district that leans slightly blue, but the leading candidates in this crowded primary are aligning themselves with Trumpian rhetoric. Joe Levasseur casts himself as the “America First” candidate. Hollie Noveletsky has suggested without evidence the IRS is targeting her with an audit because she is running for Congress. Russell Prescott, a former state senator, has unabashedly endorsed the former president. |
| Result: Too close to call |
| NH-02 (Dem primary) |
|---|
| The winner of this primary will be strongly favored to replace Annie Kuster, a moderate Democrat retiring after six terms. That helps explain why the primary has taken such a negative turn between the two contenders, in a race where contrasts revolve less on ideology than career paths. Colin Van Ostern, a former member of the state’s executive council, is backed by Kuster and touts his ties to New Hampshire. Maggie Goodlander, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Biden administration, has deep D.C. roots and support from figures like Hillary Clinton. |
| Result: Maggie Goodlander wins. |
Legislative Primaries
| Delaware | HD27 (Dem) |
|---|
| Eric Morrison ousted an anti-gay incumbent Democrat four years ago, in a major win for Delaware progressives. Now he faces a more centrist challenger, charter school leader Margie Lopez Waite. Two other progressives who in 2020 ousted incumbents alongside Morrison (Larry Lambert and Madinah Wilson-Anton), in what became a historic night for the state’s left, are each running unopposed this year. |
| Result: Eric Morrison wins. |
| Delaware | HD15 & 29 (Dem) |
|---|
| The Working Families Party, a progressive group that has helped efforts to move the legislature leftward in recent cycles, has endorsed two more political newcomers who are challenging Democratic incumbents this year: Kamela Smith, who now faces Speaker Valerie Longhurst in the 15th District, and Monica Shockley Porter, who faces incumbent Bill Bush in the 29th District. |
| Result: Kamela Smith and Bill Bush win. |
| New Hampshire | SD23 (GOP) |
|---|
| Just one state senator faces a challenge anywhere in New Hampshire: Republican Senator Bill Gannon is up against Emily Phillips, a state representative backed by libertarian groups such as Americans for Prosperity. NH Journal reports that the primary has become a proxy battle between the different Republican factions, with the state GOP’s robust libertarian wing wanting to take a stand out of frustration at the Senate leadership. |
| Result: Bill Gannon wins. |
| Rhode Island | SD 4 (Dem) |
|---|
| This is the third consecutive cycle in which Lenny Cioe is trying to oust state Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, who has been a consistent foil for state progressives. Cioe came within ten points of ousting Ruggerio in 2020, but lost by a wider margin in 2022. |
| Result: Dominick Ruggerio wins. |
| Rhode Island | HD 9 (Dem) |
|---|
| Enrique Sanchez’s win over incumbent Anastasia Williams was a rare bright spot for the Rhode Island left two years ago; Williams is now running for her old seat back in a rematch. The race has swarmed in last-minute controversies that are proving hard to investigate, the Rhode Island Current reports. |
| Result: Enrique Sanchez wins. |
| Rhode Island | HD 58 (Dem) |
|---|
| Incumbent Cherie Cruz is a formerly incarcerated advocate who has focused on issues of criminal justice reform and policing in her first term. This has led to tensions with the police in Pawtucket, after she faulted police in the aftermath of the arrest of an elderly Black man. She’s challenged by Elizabeth Moreira, who is running with the support of Pawtucket’s mayor, who says Cruz is too driven by her “ideological views.” |
| Result: Cherie Cruz wins. |