There isn't a single state that is starting their primary election process today, but there are a quartet of states that are closing out that process later this evening.
Three states (Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina) are holding runoffs to settle a handful of nominations that were not clinched in the first round of balloting. Meanwhile, Utah holds its primary election, but that process only takes place after the field was winnowed down by state conventions held several weeks ago.
While holding nowhere near the high profile of either the May 18 or June 8t primaries, there are nevertheless a couple of high-profile races to keep an eye on tonight. The fight card includes the resolution of a primary for a potential race-to-watch in November on the Senate side, and quite possibly the next incumbent to feel the axe in this topsy-turvy election cycle.
MISSISSIPPI (MS-02): The quietest state tonight will no doubt be the Magnolia State, where a runoff to determine the challenger in the most lopsided district in the state is the sole feature on the ballot. In MS-02, the district held for years by longtime Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, it is a battle of the teabaggers, with the only variance apparently being ethnicity. Richard Cook, the 2008 nominee, takes on perennial candidate Bill Marcy, an African-American devotee of the Tea Party movement (the district is heavily Dem, but also heavily African-American). Their first round of balloting, amazingly enough, was a virtual tie (PDF file). Only a single vote, out of roughly 6,000 cast, separated the two.
NORTH CAROLINA (NC-Sen, NC-08): The Tarheel State has a pair of runoffs that will merit following, especially since a near-eternity has elapsed (seven weeks!) since the primary.
On the Democratic side, the Blue team will decide who takes on potentially vulnerable (if you believe his meager polling) Republican Senator Richard Burr. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall led after the first round of balloting, and earned the endorsement last week of MoveOn. Former state legislator Cal Cunningham has the quiet (but unambiguous) support of the DSCC. This race has been surprisingly under-polled: The most recent poll was a month ago, and had the runoff election tied.
Meanwhile, the GOP has a classic battle on their hands in NC-08, where the runoff will determine the challenger to freshman Democrat Larry Kissell. Harold Johnson is the near-unanimous choice of national Republicans, apparently because even the national GOP concedes that Tim D'Annunzio, the other Republican in the runoff, is somewhere along the spectrum of batshit crazy. Polls have shown that Johnson could make the general election close, but that Kissell would wipe the floor with D'Annunzio. Johnson had a 10-point primary lead, according to PPP (PDF File).
SOUTH CAROLINA (SC-Gov, SC-01, SC-03, SC-04, SC-06): The Palmetto State does have a statewide runoff today, but nobody expects hard-right Congressman Gresham Barrett to deny frontrunner Nikki Haley of the GOP gubernatorial nomination she nearly won two weeks ago in the first round of balloting (she earned 48.8% of the vote, just shy of the majority). Even though it is also likely a fait accompli, there is reason to tune into the SC-04 runoff. Republican incumbent Bob Inglis is almost certain to be out of a job by tomorrow. After all, Inglis trailed Trey Gowdy 39-27 in round one, and it is inconceivable that an incumbent who could only log 27 percent of the vote in a primary will be able to double his support in just two weeks' time.
In SC-01, an interesting dynamic is present for the Republican runoff between African-American state legislator Tim Scott and legacy Republican Paul Thurmond (the son of Strom). The winner of that runoff becomes the overwhelming favorite in November, as Democrat Robert Burton fell to little-funded Ben Frasier in a primary upset only slightly less shocking than the Greene-Rawl kerfluffle for the U.S. Senate. There are also runoffs in SC-03 and SC-06, but both of those districts seem, at the moment, locked in for November (SC-03 to the GOP, SC-06 to Democrat Jim Clyburn).
UTAH (UT-Sen, UT-02): Most of the nominations in the Beehive State were determined by state conventions held in early May. But there are a pair of major contests that moved on to tonight's primary. On the GOP side, the two men who vanquished incumbent Senator Bob Bennett will go head-to-head in a primary that seems to be close. Two polls released in the last week confirm the narrow nature of the race--an internal poll for attorney and gubernatorial aide Mike Lee showed him up nine, but a public poll by Dan Jones and Associates released over the weekend had his opponent, businessman Tim Bridgewater, up by the same nine-point margin. Bridgewater earned the endorsement of the outgoing Senator, while UT-02 Republican nominee and former party executive Morgan Philpott went the other way, endorsing Lee.
Speaking of UT-02, there is an improbable primary challenge there as well, as longtime Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson failed to lock down his nomination at the convention. As a result, Matheson must defeat retired teacher and activist Claudia Wright. A weekend poll from Dan Jones showed Matheson ahead by a 52-33 margin, a decisive-yet-underwhelming margin.
After this election night, things will get awfully quiet, with only three primaries of any note in July: the Alabama runoffs on July 13, Georgia on July 20, and Oklahoma on July 27.