It’s a good thing too that these are the last primary hurrahs — because some states will begin early voting soon for the general election. The last three states to hold primaries in the 2022 midterm cycle opened their polls today, and all of them are on the East Coast — Delaware, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.

Delaware doesn’t offer much in the way of dramatics. In fact, it doesn’t have anything going today at all. at least of note in national politics, thanks to the cancellation of the primaries of both parties. Incumbent Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) was unopposed, as was her Republican challenger Lee Murphy after Christopher Hill failed to make the ballot.

Similarly, Rhode Island won’t generate much interest either. Its gubernatorial primaries are competitive; five Democrats are vying for the nomination, and polling shows a tight race between Daniel McKee and Nellie Gorbea. Polling apparently doesn’t exist for the GOP primary, where Ashley Kalus faces Jonathan Riccitelli, likely because the state is so reliably Democrat. In RI-01, the parties only had one candidate each, so incumbent House Dem David Cicilline will have Allen Waters as his GOP challenger. Republicans only have one candidate in RI-02, but Democrats have five candidates vying for the nomination after James Langevin’s retirement. This may only be interesting in an academic sense, as this seat has been firmly in Democratic hands for the last 30 years — but Cook rates it as only D+4. Hmmmm.

New Hampshire is far more dramatic, of course. Maggie Hassan faces a couple of Democrat challengers for her US Senate seat, but should sail to a win. Far more interesting is the GOP primary for that seat, in which Don Bolduc has led in polling over Chuck Morse by wide margins, but which has tightened of late. Bolduc is getting a lot of cash from Democrats trying to Akinize the GOP’s primary to get the endangered Hassan through the general election. Reason raised objections to this today, accusing Chuck Schumer of hypocrisy over his MAGA alerts:

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D–N.H.) is running for reelection after beating a Republican incumbent in 2016 by one-tenth of a percentage point. Among her 10 potential Republican rivals, national Republicans support Chuck Morse, a moderate who serves as the state’s Senate president.

But earlier this month, Senate Majority PAC, which is aligned with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.), funded an ad for one of Morse’s primary opponents: Don Bolduc, whom even allies call a “loose cannon.” Bolduc has proposed sending U.S. troops to fight in Ukraine, and described Gov. Chris Sununu as a “Chinese Communist sympathizer.” The ad refers to Morse as “another sleazy politician,” chosen by “Mitch McConnell’s Washington establishment.” The PAC spent over $3 million, more than five times what Bolduc has raised in campaign contributions.

They’re doing the same thing in NH-02, attempting to protect incumbent House Democrat Annie Kuster, who has no primary opponent tonight. Keene mayor George Hansel has Gov. Chris Sununu’s endorsement against former Trump delegate Robert Burns. Guess where Democrats’ money is going in this race? Oh, let’s not always see the same hands:

Similarly, Hansel is a moderate Republican mayor of a relatively liberal city. He says he would oppose gun control measures but he would also oppose federal bans on abortion, describing himself as pro-choice but feeling that it is an issue that should be left to the states. His main competition is Robert Burns, a 2016 delegate for former President Donald Trump. Burns supports a federal fetal heartbeat law, as well as a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

But in August, Politico reported on a sizable ad buy centering on Burns. Democrats Serve, a group that “backs Democratic candidates with public service backgrounds,” spent $94,000 on a late-August TV spot, nearly six times what Burns himself had spent on ads. It calls Burns “the ultra-conservative candidate for Congress” and says he “follows the Trump playbook on immigration, the border, and guns.” A Massachusetts-based political mail firm affiliated with Democrats sent out mailers in August with a similar message.

The ads may have taken different tacks, but all have the same emphasis: presenting moderate Republican candidates as less appealing to the party’s base.

Sununu’s running for governor again and should coast to victory tonight and in November, where polling has him in a commanding lead in the general election. Will the Democrats’ Akin strategy work in the other races? We’ll soon see. The race results will display live below, and polls should be closing shortly in all three states.

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