How to follow Tuesday’s primary election

By Rachel Janfaza, Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo, CNN

It’s election day again with primary races and runoffs taking place Tuesday in five states: Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas and Minnesota.

Senate primaries are taking place in Georgia — a key state in the fight for control of the chamber — as well as in Alabama and Arkansas. The three states are also hosting gubernatorial primaries that will be closely watched, while Texas holds primary runoffs in key races for state attorney general and the US House. And there are several other House primaries worth keeping an eye on, including races expected to be competitive in the fall; intraparty contests for seats seen as safe for either party; and a special primary election in Minnesota.

Here’s everything you need to know:

In Georgia, incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp faces a primary challenge from former US Sen. David Perdue. Former President Donald Trump, angry at Kemp’s role in certifying the 2020 election in the Peach State, is supporting Perdue, but recent polling has shown Kemp with a big lead. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who also earned Trump’s ire for defending the 2020 election results, faces several challengers, including Trump-backed US Rep. Jody Hice. Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker, a former football star, are expected to win their primaries Tuesday to face off in a key Senate contest this fall.

In Alabama, there’s a three-way race in the GOP primary to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Richard Shelby. Trump previously endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks but rescinded that endorsement in March. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey faces several primary challengers in her bid for a second full term.

In Arkansas, former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is expected to win the GOP nomination for governor and would be a big favorite in November to win the office previously held by her father, Mike Huckabee. The state’s senior senator, Republican John Boozman, also faces several primary challengers Tuesday.

In all three states, candidates need to win a majority of the vote to avoid runoffs.

There are also a number of primary runoff elections in Texas. Controversial state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton, who is seeking a third term, faces off against Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the grandson of former President George H. W. Bush. Paxton finished ahead of Bush, 43% to 23%, in the first round in March.

In South Texas, moderate Rep. Henry Cuellar, whose home and campaign office were searched by the FBI in January, was forced into a runoff by progressive immigration lawyer Jessica Cisneros, whom he narrowly defeated in a 2020 primary. Abortion rights have become a key issue in the race, with Cuellar the only House Democrat to vote against legislation that would codify abortion rights into federal law.

And in Minnesota, there’s a special primary election to fill the seat of the late Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn. The crowded field of candidates looking to serve the remainder of Hagedorn’s term include his widow and former chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, Jennifer Carnahan.

What time does CNN’s coverage start?

CNN’s special coverage of Tuesday’s primaries will begin at 7p.m. ET and go until 2 a.m. ET. It will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com and CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels” or CNNgo where available. Key highlights will also be available On Demand the day after the broadcast premiere to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps and Cable Operator Platforms.

You can also follow along with results on CNN.com. CNN’s decision desk will be monitoring results and will make projections accordingly.

What time do polls close?

In Georgia, polls close at 7 p.m. ET. Mail-in ballots must be returned by close of polls Tuesday.

In Alabama, polls close at 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. ET. Mail-in ballots must have been returned by hand by Monday or received by mail by noon Tuesday.

In Arkansas, polls close at 8:30 p.m. ET. Mail ballots must have been returned by hand by May 20 or by mail by close of polls Tuesday.

In Texas, polls close at 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. ET. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by 7 p.m. on Tuesday and returned by May 25 at 5 p.m.

In Minnesota, polls close at 9 p.m. ET. All ballots must be received by the county board of elections by close of polls on Tuesday, but ballots delivered by hand must be returned by 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Election resources

CNN Politics has numerous election-related resources available to readers.

• 7 things to watch in Georgia, Alabama and other primaries Tuesday: Primaries on Tuesday across the South could represent the clearest chance for Republican voters to break with former President Donald Trump.
• Here are the key House primaries to watch Tuesday: Nominees in several key US House contests, as well as competitive primaries in seats considered safe for either party, will be decided Tuesday.
• Election deniers want to control the 2024 election. And they’re getting closer: Proponents of Trump’s discredited lie about rampant fraud in 2020 are running for positions of authority over election administration in virtually every state expected to decide the 2024 presidential race.
• Three years after leaving Trump White House, Sarah Huckabee Sanders glides toward GOP nomination for Arkansas governor: A return to the governor’s mansion would be a homecoming for Sanders after she spent her teenage years in that residence as the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee.
• Pence says a vote for Kemp will send ‘deafening message’ that GOP is ‘party of the future’: Former Vice President Mike Pence’s appearance at a rally for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was an implicit rebuke of his former ticket mate.
• Stacey Abrams’ playbook faces a new test in second run for Georgia governor: Stacey Abrams is unopposed for the Democratic nomination as she makes her second bid for Georgia governor, but her status has changed since her name was last on the ballot.
• Georgia early voting is surging as voters deal with new laws: Early voting has surged in the Georgia primary elections, but voting activists say the spike is not showing the larger picture of the obstacles voters are enduring to get their vote counted this year.
• Brooks, without Trump’s backing, hopes to advance to a runoff in Alabama Senate race: Trump’s decision to withdraw his support from US Rep. Mo Brooks may have saved the congressman’s floundering campaign for US Senate.
• Cuellar, lone anti-abortion Democrat in House, faces third showdown with progressive Cisneros: The Democratic primary runoff between Rep. Henry Cuellar and Jessica Cisneros is the clearest test to date of whether the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade will push abortion rights to the forefront of the 2022 midterms.
• ‘She is our future’: A Democratic rising star seeks to make history in Georgia’s secretary of state race: Democrat Bee Nguyen is hoping to become the first Asian American elected to a statewide political post in Georgia.
• Republicans look to Georgia for a path beyond Trump’s 2020 grievances: Georgia Republicans on Tuesday could move the party — at least temporarily — out from under Trump’s shadow.
• How Herschel Walker united the right and has Democrats plotting for a fight: Former football star Herschel Walker is expected to cruise to victory in the Republican Senate primary, but the scrutiny on the rookie candidate is only bound to intensify after that.
• With strong lead over Perdue, Kemp shifts attention to Abrams in Georgia governor’s race: Kemp is already looking ahead to his general election rematch with presumptive Democratic nominee Abrams.
• ‘This conversation has really started to dominate on politics up and down the ballot’: How abortion rights has become the center of two Texas runoff races: Abortion rights was already top of mind for many Texas Democrats, but in the weeks since the leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion, the issue has become much more pressing.
• Competitive House primary pits two Georgia Democrats against each other: Democratic Reps. Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux, both viewed by many in the party as rising stars with promising political futures, are facing off in a contentious primary in suburban Atlanta.
• This working mom is Republicans’ best shot at unseating Marjorie Taylor Greene — if they want to: Jennifer Strahan is a first-time candidate and the most formidable of Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s primary opponents, but she has struggled to raise money and gain name recognition.
• Black faith leaders push back after elimination of Sunday voting in one Georgia county: Amid an ongoing fight over voting access, the Spalding County, Georgia, election board in April voted to eliminate Sunday voting. It is one of seven Georgia counties that had Sunday early voting in the 2020 election but will not have the option available for the midterms.
• The high-stakes Georgia primaries, by the numbers: Seven key numbers shape the contours of Tuesday’s battle in Georgia.

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