Democratic win in New York signals power of abortion issue in Nov. midterm vote

Voters in New York and Florida have picked candidates for the US Congress and other offices in primaries and special elections on Tuesday that will help gauge the roles that abortion rights and inflation will play in the Nov. 8 midterms.

Democrats came out the winners in Tuesday's contest to fill a vacant seat in a US House of Representatives district north of New York City, as local county executive Pat Ryan won a special election against a Republican counterpart, Marc Molinaro.

The count was widely seen as a bellwether of whether voters across the country will be swayed in November by Democrats' support for abortion rights or by the Republican promise to control inflation.

The race for the Hudson Valley swing district was considered the tightest since June's US Supreme Court ruling that ended the constitutional right to abortion.

Ryan and Molinaro are also competing on Tuesday in party nomination contests for November's general election but they are seeking different House seats in that race following a redrawing of district boundaries for next year's Congress.

US Representative Jerrold Nadler defeated fellow Representative Carolyn Maloney in a closely-watched race that pitted the two long-time politicians against each other.

A new congressional map ordered by a state judge had merged their former districts.

While Maloney outspent Nadler, using her personal fortune to lend her campaign $900,000 in May, Nadler won endorsements from party power brokers like US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

US Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, a mainstream Democrat who heads his party's main House fundraising group, won the primary for the Democratic nomination to the state's newly drawn 17th congressional district north of New York City.

He fended off a challenge from New York state Senator Alessandra Biaggi, a progressive who was endorsed by US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

US Representative Charlie Crist beat Nikki Fried, the state agricultural commissioner, to win his party's nomination for the Florida governor race.

Crist, a former Republican governor who changed parties in 2012 and lost the gubernatorial race as a Democrat to Rick Scott in 2014, will challenge Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican seen as potentially vulnerable in November despite his high approval ratings and rising national profile.

US Representative Val Demings, a former police chief of Orlando, won her party's nomination to challenge incumbent Republican US Senator Marco Rubio.

Rubio is seen as potentially vulnerable, with recent polls pointing to a tight race between him and Demings.

(By Reuters)

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk