Oklahoma begins choosing a new US senator and governor in crowded primary – US politics live

Kirstin Garriss in Washington

There’s a transplant from Mar-a-Lago at the center of DCs mayoral primary race on Tuesday, but his name is nowhere on the ballot.

For the first time in more than a decade, Washington DC will have a new mayor this year as the city faces concerns about how to address public safety, housing affordability, and increased federal immigration enforcement in the district. How the next mayor handles Donald Trump is also key question on residents’ minds, with many closely watching to see if any of the president’s supporters are pouring money into the race, as well as the primaries for the city’s congressional delegate.

Two frontrunners, DC councilmember Janeese Lewis George and former councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, both Democrats, are vying to succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser, who led the city during both of Trump’s terms in office. In a Democratic stronghold, whoever wins the primary is likely to win the election in November.

Lewis George, a democratic socialist and two-term city councilmember, has been campaigning on what she calls a “people-first platform”, promising to lower childcare costs and utility bills, stabilize rent for tenants, and prioritize downpayment assistance for homebuyers.

McDuffie, a former at-large city councilmember and former prosecutor, has garnered support from much of Washington’s business community, including restaurants and realtors, while promising to expand affordable housing, improve public safety, and diversify the local economy.

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Races for the Senate and governor in Oklahoma in primary elections begins today, as Donald Trump’s iron grip on the Republican party faces its next test.

Ahead of November’s midterms, president Trump has given his early backing to Kevin Hern in the seat previously held by Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin in the deeply conservative state.

Hern has kept other potential big challengers at bay in Oklahoma, which hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 1990, reports AP.

But a bigger test of Trump’s influence - which has usually proved potent in Republican primaries this year - may come in a crowded race to succeed outgoing governor Kevin Stitt.