Primary elections will be held in five states today: Washington, Arizona, Missouri, Michigan, and Kansas.

Not all primaries are created equal. There are closed primaries, semi-closed primaries, and top-two primaries. Washington state, for example, has a top-two primary system. That means the top two candidates move forward to the General Election regardless of political party and voters don’t need to be registered with a party to participate. In other states, today’s primary will be used to determine what candidates each party will send forth to the November election. Closed primaries mean voters must be registered with a party to participate. Semi-closed primaries mean that previously unaffiliated voters can participate but must choose which party's primary contest to cast a ballot in.

Before we discuss what to watch for tonight as votes are counted, a reminder that [un]Divided will begin LIVE coverage and analysis at 8:30pm PT (about 15 minutes after the first ballots are counted in Washington state). You can watch in two ways:

On Locals: https://brandikruse.locals.com/post/2512355/live-election-night-coverage

Or on YouTube (video embedded in post). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L83BrV1OI-0&feature=youtu.be

If you want to join a live chat with fellow viewers and send Brandi questions in real time, YouTube is the best option.

Now, to the races on our radar.

The Trump effect:

Three House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump over the January 6th Capitol attack are on the ballot today – two in Washington state, one in Michigan. All three face pro-Trump challengers.

In Washington, Congressman Dan Newhouse (4th District) is being challenged by former gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp, who has promised to "send Newhouse to the outhouse" (see what he did there?). Culp has been endorsed by Trump but lags behind in fundraising.

In the state's 3rd Congressional District, Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler faces Joe Kent, who Trump stumped for just last week during a telephone town hall. Also keep an eye on the leading Democrat in the race, Marie Perez. While the district is in GOP hands, it has purple tendencies (after all, it's not too far from Portland).

In Michigan, Rep. Peter Meijer not only faces a pro-Trump challenger to keep his seat in that state's 3rd District, but his opponent John Gibbs is actually being propped up financially by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). You read that right. Democrats, who praised Republicans like Meijer for taking a stand against Trump, are dumping money into the campaigns of MAGA challengers across the country, hoping they'll be easier to beat in November. In an op-ed this week for the Common Sense Substack, Rep. Meijer called the tactic "nauseating."

There are also several other races tonight that will test Trump's hold of the GOP. In Arizona, Kari Lake, former-TV-anchor-turned-Trump-backed-candidate for governor, faces Mike Pence-backed candidate Karrin Taylor Robson. Ooooo, drama drama!

Red wave?:

While the GOP is hoping for a red wave this year, powered by an unpopular president and struggling economy, Washington state will be the litmus test. How will political newcomer Tiffany Smiley (R) perform against five-term Democratic Senator Patty Murray? It is virtually impossible to win a statewide election as a Republican in Washington state, but Murray has shown early signs of concern – spending big on TV ads and trying to leverage Smiley's pro-life position against her in the suburbs.

Swing seat showdown:

A couple weeks ago, we aired a special report on the race for Washington's 8th Congressional District. Why? Because I think it is the most consequential swing district in the nation. Long held by Republicans, it flipped in 2018 and has since been held by Democratic Congresswoman Kim Schrier. Will that change this year? The GOP sure thinks so, but first the Party needs to know who its General Election candidate will be. There are two strong contenders: Jesse Jensen (who ran for the seat in 2020 and lost by less than four percentage points) and Reagan Dunn (a King County councilman whose mom held the seat from 1993 to 2005). Jensen and Dunn have escalated attacks against each other in recent weeks, leading me to wonder whether they're doing damage to the winner's chances of beating Schrier.

Abortion on the ballot:

Kansas will face the first real test of abortion rights in our post-Roe world. Voters there will either approve or reject a Constitutional amendment that, if passed, would grant the state legislature power to restrict or expand access to abortions. If the amendment is rejected, it will leave in place current legal precedent (Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt) that gives women the right to abortion through the Kansas Bill of Rights.

Don't forget to join us for LIVE coverage of all these races and more, starting at 8:30pm PT. And remember: In Washington, ballots can be dropped in an official drop box until 8pm or postmarked by today's date. VOTE VOTE VOTE!