South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, 71, died after a sudden illness. A special primary will be held within 30 days to decide a new nominee, and if no candidate gets a majority, a runoff will be held.

Starting soon: Join us over on the official DDHQ Discord server (discord.gg/ddhq) at 8pm ET for a conversation with @geoffreyskelley.com and Eric Cunningham , where we'll be taking all of your questions.

Democratic nominee Graham Platner has officially withdrawn from the Maine Senate race ahead of the Monday deadline. x.com/grahamformai...

TONIGHT: Join us over on the official DDHQ Discord server (discord.gg/ddhq) at 8pm ET for a conversation with @geoffreyvs and Eric Cunningham, where we'll be taking all of your questions.

What's next in #MESen now that Graham Platner is (nearly) out? DDHQ spoke with @bangordailynews.bsky.social politics editor Michael Shepherd. The new Maine Dem nominee will have 2 big challenges: Party unity post-Platner + winning over the Biden-Collins voters likely needed to flip the seat.

Decision Desk HQ projects Victor Marx wins the CO Governor Republican Primary #DecisionMade: 9:33 PM EDT

3 losing Dems from Maine's gubernatorial race look to replace Platner: -Ex-state Sen. Troy Jackson has filed with FEC -Sec. of State Shenna Bellows "will seriously consider" -Fmr state CDC head Nirav Shah discussing it Each won 20%+ 1st-choice votes. votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/2026-0...

Join us over on Discord (discord.gg/ddhq) on Friday, July 10th at 8pm ET for a conversation with @geoffreyskelley.com and Eric Cunningham where we'll be taking all of your questions. Should be fun!

A source told @bangordailynews.bsky.social that another negative Platner story could come out soon. #MESen In today's newsletter, DDHQ noted that Collins's numbers have already trended upward in the last month. She went from trailing Platner by ~5 pts to leading by 1 in DDHQ's average.

NEW: Our Texas Senate polling average is live! 🔵 James Talarico -- 45.8% 🔴 Ken Paxton -- 44.9% votes.decisiondeskhq.com/polls/genera...

What happened last night? DDHQ has a roundup of all the big results in Colorado. The top story: The Left kept up its momentum in Colorado's 1st, where democratic socialist Melat Kiros ousted Rep. Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary. Read more:

DDHQ Race Update (est. 89% in): Colorado Governor Republican Primary Barb Kirkmeyer (R): 186,274 (39.9%) Victor Marx (R): 184,918 (39.6%) Scott Bottoms (R): 95,208 (20.4%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283849

Decision Desk HQ projects Dwayne Romero wins the CO US House 3 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 11:20 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects John Hickenlooper wins the CO US Senate Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 10:59 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects Melat Kiros wins the CO US House 1 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 10:31 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects Phil Weiser wins the CO Governor Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 10:24 PM EDT

🚨Check out our Discord server for continuing LIVE coverage of tonight's primaries across Colorado: discord.gg/ddhq

Decision Desk HQ projects Jessica Killin wins the CO US House 5 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 9:34 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects Manny Rutinel wins the CO US House 8 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 9:33 PM EDT

DDHQ Race Update (est. 5% in): Colorado US House 3 Democratic Primary Dwayne Romero (D): 2,238 (55.1%) Alex Kelloff (D): 1,822 (44.9%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283834

Join our live coverage of the Colorado Primaries with Geoffrey Skelley, Chuck Todd, and Chris Cilizza! www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8cU...

DDHQ Race Update (est. 21% in): Colorado US House 8 Democratic Primary Manny Rutinel (D): 9,403 (59.1%) Shannon Bird (D): 5,704 (35.9%) Evan Munsing (D): 798 (5.0%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283839

DDHQ Race Update (est. 2% in): Colorado Governor Republican Primary Barb Kirkmeyer (R): 6,804 (52.4%) Victor Marx (R): 3,875 (29.8%) Scott Bottoms (R): 2,314 (17.8%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283849

DDHQ Race Update (est. 12% in): Colorado US Senate Democratic Primary John Hickenlooper (D): 49,479 (50.4%) Julie Gonzales (D): 48,727 (49.6%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283830

DDHQ Race Update (est. 12% in): Colorado Governor Democratic Primary Phil Weiser (D): 63,301 (65.3%) Michael Bennet (D): 33,574 (34.7%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283848

DDHQ Race Update (est. 69% in): Colorado US House 1 Democratic Primary Melat Kiros (D): 46,012 (47.5%) Diana DeGette (D): 43,743 (45.2%) Wanda James (D): 7,131 (7.4%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283832

Ahead of Colorado's results, read DDHQ's preview of the key races. The top race is #CO01, where democratic socialist Melat Kiros is primarying longtime Rep. Diana DeGette (D) from the left. This is just the latest left-vs.-establishment clash for Dems.

ELECTION NIGHT: State and federal primaries in Colorado, and state local races in Arkansas and South Carolina. Polls close at 7:00 PM EDT in South Carolina, 8:50 PM EDT in Arkansas, and 9:00 eastern in Colorado.

DDHQ previews Colorado's June 30 primaries: Can the Left keep winning? (link in reply) In #CO01, democratic socialist Melat Kiros is challenging Rep. Diana DeGette (D). Poll from pro-Kiros group found her up 41%-36%. DeGette's allies have spent most of $2.4 mil in race's final 2 weeks.

Decision Desk HQ projects Joseph Cao wins the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education 1 Republican Runoff #DecisionMade: 10:36 PM EDT

With the exception of narrow leads in East Baton Rouge and Orleans Parishes, Fleming's support in the primary has come almost exclusively from his old congressional district.

Decision Desk HQ projects Julia Letlow wins the Louisiana US Senate Republican Runoff #DecisionMade: 9:40 PM EDT

DDHQ Race Update (est. 11% in): Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education 1 Republican Runoff Joseph Cao (R): 3,353 (59.3%) Ellie Schroder (R): 2,306 (40.8%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/704352

Decision Desk HQ projects Jamie Davis wins the Louisiana US Senate Democratic Runoff #DecisionMade: 9:06 PM EDT

DDHQ Race Update (est. 3% in): Louisiana US Senate Democratic Runoff Jamie Davis (D): 4,503 (80.1%) Gary Crockett (D): 1,116 (19.9%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/700523

DDHQ Race Update (est. 3% in): Louisiana US Senate Republican Runoff Julia Letlow (R): 4,713 (50.4%) John Fleming (R): 4,643 (49.6%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/700556

ELECTION NIGHT: Runoffs for federal, state, and local primaries and elections in Louisiana, and a local election in Texas. Polls close at 8:00 PM EDT in Texas and 9:00 PM EDT in Louisiana.

In this week's polling memo, DDHQ took a look at Ohio's Senate race. In our polling average, ex-Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) holds a 49%-45% edge over appointed Sen. Jon Husted (R). This could be a must-win for Democrats if they want a majority. Read the memo: decisiondeskhq.substack.com/p/sherrod-br...

Decision Desk HQ projects April McClain Delaney wins the MD US House 6 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 1:42 PM EDT

This week's DDHQ Podcast was a listener mailbag! Check out the link in the replies. How long could it take some states to count their votes in November? There's a scenario in which Senate control rests on the outcome in Alaska, but it takes days to know the result.

Check out DDHQ's roundup of what happened in the June 23 primaries. The big story: Zohran Mamdani went 3-0 endorsing in U.S. House primaries. #NY07: Valdez beat Reynoso #NY10: Lander ousted Goldman #NY13: Avila Chevalier ousted Espaillat decisiondeskhq.substack.com/p/mamdani-ne...

Decision Desk HQ projects Dan Cox wins the MD Governor Republican Primary #DecisionMade: 10:34 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects Blake Moore wins the UT US House 2 Republican Primary #DecisionMade: 10:25 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects Celeste Maloy wins the Utah US House 3 Republican Primary #DecisionMade: 10:20 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects Ben McAdams wins the UT US House 1 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 10:10 PM EDT

DDHQ Race Update (est. 32% in): Utah US House 3 Republican Primary Celeste Maloy (R): 24,092 (70.6%) Phil Lyman (R): 10,045 (29.4%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283806

DDHQ Race Update (est. 11% in): Utah US House 2 Republican Primary Blake Moore (R): 7,236 (59.9%) Karianne Lisonbee (R): 4,852 (40.1%) Follow more results here: votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/283805

Decision Desk HQ projects Micah Lasher wins the NY US House 12 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 9:58 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects Darializa Chevalier wins the NY US House 13 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 9:49 PM EDT

Decision Desk HQ projects Cait Conley wins the NY US House 17 Democratic Primary #DecisionMade: 9:38 PM EDT