Seven primaries to watch in Colorado, Illinois, New York

Seven states are holding primaries and runoff elections on Tuesday, but the spotlight will focus on three states: Colorado, Illinois and New York.  

Democrats have sought to intervene in the top Republican primaries in Colorado and Illinois, hoping that GOP voters will choose conservative hard-liners who could prove easier to defeat in November. In New York, meanwhile, the biggest primary fights are unfolding on the Democratic side. 

Here are seven races to watch on Tuesday. 

Colorado GOP Senate primary 

State Rep. Ron Hanks and construction company owner Joe O’Dea are vying for the right to take on Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) in November, duking it out in a primary that has emerged as a contest between the GOP’s hard-right and more moderate wings. 

Democratic-linked groups have spent big in the primary to boost Hanks, who attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol and who has also echoed former President Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.  

O’Dea, meanwhile, has taken a more moderate tack in the primary, including on issues like abortion and the outcome of the 2020 election. His campaign released a statement earlier this month accusing “far-left dark money groups” of spending in order to “hijack the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.”