WASHINGTON -- Two of Congress' staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist challengers to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday -- even as the party's voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi.
In Colorado, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert easily defeated her primary challenger, state Sen. Don Coram, a rancher and hemp farmer, who slams what he calls her extremism.
In Colorado Springs, eight-term Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn staved off a challenge from the right from state Rep. Dave Williams, who failed to get the phrase "Let's Go Brandon" added to his official name on the ballot.
State Rep. Ron Hanks, who attended the Jan. 6 rally and claimed President Joe Biden was not properly elected, lost his bid for the GOP's U.S. Senate nomination to Joe O'Dea, a businessman backed by Washington and Colorado establishment Republicans.
O'Dea will face Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in November.
Meanwhile, four Republican candidates are competing to face state Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the only Democrat running in the primary. Heidi Ganahl, the lone statewide elected Republican as a member of the University of Colorado's board of regents, won the GOP nomination to face Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
Illinois races
In Illinois, conservatives selected state senator and farmer Darren Bailey, who gained Trump's endorsement, over Richard Irvin, the first Black mayor of Aurora, to challenge Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and was backed heavily by Republican donors.
Speaking at his victory party, Bailey said he was standing up for "regular people" and vowed to outwork Pritzker and win in November.
Other than the governor's race primary, Illinois also features two, rare incumbent vs. incumbent congressional primaries as a result of House districts being redrawn during last year's redistricting.
Democratic Rep. Sean Casten beat progressive Rep. Marie Newman for a seat in suburban Chicago both competed for after a declining population cost the state a House seat.
Republican Rep. Mary Miller, who called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a "historic victory for white life" during a weekend rally with Trump, has defeated fellow incumbent Rep. Rodney Davis. A spokesman said she meant to say "right to life."
Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, emerged from a field of more than 20 Democrats vying to replace 15-term Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, the only lawmaker who has ever beaten Barack Obama in a race. Obama challenged Rush in a 2000 U.S. House primary and lost.
The heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District that Jackson will now run in November to represent was redrawn after the 2020 census and now stretches from Chicago's South Side to Kankakee.
Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos also is not seeking reelection in the 17th Congressional District in northwestern Illinois.
Republican Esther Joy King won the GOP nomination after leading her primary rivals in fundraising. The Democratic field includes former meteorologist Eric Sorensen, Rockford City Council member Jonathan Logemann and educator Angie Normoyle.
Other elections
Beyond Colorado and Illinois, elections were being held in Oklahoma, Utah, New York, Nebraska, Mississippi and South Carolina.
In Mississippi, Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo, a six-term incumbent, was defeated by Sheriff Mike Ezell. Rep. Michael Guest, a Republican who bucked Trump to vote for an independent Jan. 6 commission, beat back a challenge from Michael Cassidy, a former Navy pilot.
In Oklahoma, Sen. James Lankford, won Tuesday's GOP primary outright in his race for reelection to another six-year term in the U.S. Senate, while Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former House Speaker T.W. Shannon advanced to a runoff in Oklahoma's other U.S. Senate race.
Meanwhile, two Republican Trump critics unsuccessfully targeted Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. He now faces independent conservative Evan McMullin, who ran for president as an alternative to Trump in 2016.
In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who became the state's chief executive last fall when Andrew Cuomo resigned during a sexual harassment scandal, fought off primary challenges. Hochul faces Rep. Lee Zeldin, who won the Republican Party's nomination. Zeldin is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
Nebraska state Sen. Mike Flood won a special election Tuesday to replace former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a fellow Republican who was sentenced to two years of probation earlier in the day for a conviction on charges that he lied to federal agents.
Flood beat Democratic state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks in the state's Republican-leaning 1st District.
Information for this article was contributed by Nicholas Riccardi, Sara Burnett, Claire Savage, Will Weissert, Grant Schulte, Brian Melley, Michelle L. Price, Michael R. Sisak and Sean Murphy of The Associated Press.
Gov. JB Pritzker waves while leaving Manny's Deli in Chicago, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Illinois Republicans on Tuesday will choose a nominee to take on Pritzker, a billionaire who has spent millions trying to get the rival he wants and increase his already sizable advantage in the state this fall. (Kevin Tanaka /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
A precinct worker hands "I Voted" stickers to two young girls at the St. Luke's United Methodist Church during the state's primary election, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Oklahoma City. (Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman via AP)
Election judges look over ballots in the Denver Elections Division headquarters Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
FILE - Joe O'Dea, a candidate for the Republican nomination to run against Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., talks during a campaign appearance at a brew pub in south suburban Littleton, Colo., June 9, 2022. O'Dea has spoken publicly about his support for abortion rights and faces state Rep. Ron Hanks in the Republican primary on Tuesday, June 28. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Election judge Adam Ballinger accepts a ballot from a motorist passing through a drive-up polling location outside the Denver Elections Division headquarters Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)