Another primary day tests parties’ strengths

Four states hold primaries Tuesday, and a bellwether special election in Ohio will help determine whether Democrats take back control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections. In Ohio, Democrats hope to flip Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi’s House seat and break a 30-year dry streak in that district. Tiberi resigned in January to take a job in Ohio after expressing frustrations with Republicans in Washington. Polls have shown the lead between the candidates flip-flopping between Democratic Franklin County Recorder Danny O’Connor and Republican state Sen. Troy Balderson, whom President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have endorsed.

Michigan voters will decide Tuesday their party picks for a U.S. Senate seat and 14 seats in the House. Currently, Republicans hold nine of the House seats. Voters will also decide who will face the Democratic nominee in November in the race to replace retiring Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. Attorney General Bill Schuette is leading the polls in the GOP race with Trump’s endorsement.

In Kansas, Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Republican who replaced former Gov. Sam Brownback when he assumed the role of U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, is running to hold on to the office. His top challenger in the GOP primary is Trump-endorsed Kris Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of state.

In Missouri, voters will pick their party nominees for eight House seats. In the Senate race, Republicans are fighting on Tuesday to face Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November.

And in Washington, 10 House seats are up for grabs. Planned Parenthood–endorsed Democrat Kim Schrier hopes to win the chance to take away retiring Republican Rep. David Reichert’s seat in the Seattle suburbs and will likely face the GOP front-runner, former state Sen. Dino Rossi, in November. The state’s U.S. Senate seat is expected to stay with incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell.