Hill Heat will be at Netroots Nation June 4 to 6 in Philadelphia. We’re co-sponsoring the Netroots Climate Happy Hour on Friday at 5 pm at City Tap House. Drop us a line if you’re going to be there.

As tennis players faint from heat exhaustion at the French Open, drought deepens across the country, and resistance to the big brutal boxes of data centers and detention centers builds, the primary season is now in full swing.

There are 140 House primaries, nine Senate primaries, and six House runoffs in June.

Tuesday, June 2nd is something of a Super Tuesday of primaries (79), with California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota. The next Tuesday, June 9th, sees primaries in Maine, North Dakota, Nevada, and South Carolina. Oklahoma’s and the District of Columbia’s primaries, the Georgia and Alabama runoffs, and the special primary for California’s 14th are June 16th. Maryland and New York primaries are Tuesday, June 23rd, and Colorado holds its primaries on June 30th.

State-by-State Overview for all of June

June 2nd

• California is Jane Fonda Climate PAC’s (JanePAC) home territory. They’re investing in several of California’s jungle primaries, but are especially concerned with California’s 22nd, where climate hawk Randy Villegas is up against corporatist Democrat Jasmeet Bains, who is backed by the official campaign arm of the House Democrats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

• Three of Iowa’s four Republican House members are potentially vulnerable; none of the expected Democratic challengers are progressives. State Rep. Josh Turek is considered the better general-election candidate to fill the open Senate seat.

• Montana’s 1st will go to Democrats in a wave election; Sam Forstag is the progressive choice in the primary, and could be a surprise climate hawk.

• The most interesting race in New Jersey’s primaries is the 7th, where progressive Adam Hamawy is vying to succeed the retiring Bonnie Watson Coleman; the Democratic primary to challenge the self-abducted Tom Kean Jr. in the 12th is being roiled by a GOP dark-money operation.

• New Mexico’s primaries are unexciting, but incumbent Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-1st) has been a climate-hawk standout. South Dakota is solidly Republican.

June 9

• Maine features the Graham Platner challenge to incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, of course, but also a competitive primary in the 2nd District, a Trump-friendly district held by retiring conserva-Dem Jared Golden.

• North Dakota is fully controlled by fossil fascists.

• Nevada’s 1st has a crowded field of anti-data-center, anti-AIPAC Democrats hoping for a blue wave to flip a very red seat.

• South Carolina’s gerrymandered districts are not getting even more gerrymandered. Navy admiral Nancy Lacore has a long-shot chance at flipping the open 1st District.

June 16

Several states, but only a few seats; like North Dakota, Oklahoma is solidly controlled by fossil fascists. In the District of Columbia race to succeed Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the progressive Robert White is expected to easily beat the pseudo-Republican Brooke Pinto. Republicans will almost definitely easily defeat the winners of the Democratic runoffs in Alabama and Georgia. The special-election jungle primary for Eric Swalwell’s seat (Calif.-16) is likely to be won by the anti-climate progressive Aisha Wahab.

June 23

• In Maryland, there is a very crowded field to succeed Steny Hoyer in the 5th District, though his former campaign manager and a reliable climate ally, Del. Adrian Boafo, is the frontrunner.

• New York’s Republican and Democratic incumbents are vulnerable from the left this cycle. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has avoided supporting progressive challenges against most of New York’s powerbrokers, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, AIPAC frontman Ritchie Torres, and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. He is, however, supporting his ally Brad Lander against Dan Goldman in N.Y.’s 11th and Darializa Avila Chevalier against Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in N.Y.’s 13th, both of whom are backed by the Sunrise Movement. He is also backing Claire Valdez over Rep. Nydia Velásquez’s preferred successor in N.Y.’s 7th.

June 30

• The former fracking engineer Sen. John Hickenlooper (D) is unfortunately expected to beat back his progressive challenger. If November turns out to be a Democratic wave, some of Colorado’s Republicans may go down. Former climate activist Manny Rutinel in Colorado’s 8th is the only viable progressive in those districts.

Detailed Race Preview for June 2nd and 9th

June 2nd

California’s 3rd

Open (Kiley)
Rating: Safe D flip

Heidi Hall, endorsed by JanePAC, would be an upgrade from Rep. Ami Bera (Calif.-6) who is hoping to represent the redrawn district. At their convention, California Dems made no endorsement in the race, a sign of trouble for Bera.

California’s 7th

Incumbent: Doris Matsui
Rating: Safe D

Rep. Doris Matsui will be 82 this fall, but has a pretty good voting record. Nonetheless, WFP, Our Revolution, ACCE, etc. have endorsed Mai Vang and she’s raised enough money to be viable. 

California’s 11th

Open (Pelosi)
Rating: Safe D

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is retiring from this San Francisco district. The race to fill her seat is hotly competitive, with the Working Families Party-backed progressive San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, the moderate (by the district’s standards) state Sen. Scott Wiener, and the tech millionaire and former Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti. Sen. Wiener is a prominent climate hawk who successfully passed the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act in 2023. Chakrabarti is touting his credentials for helping author the Green New Deal, and has picked up a Sunrise endorsement. Chakrabarti’s campaign is being run by his friend and former Sanders staffer Zack Exley, a longtime progressive techno-optimist. Together, they run the AI-assisted “think tank” New Consensus, which envisions an effective-altruist, nuclear-abundant, fossil-free future.

California’s 22nd

Incumbent: David Valadao (R)
Rating: Toss-up

This race features a progressive climate hawk, Randy Villegas, against a corporatist Democrat. Jasmeet Bains is one of California’s most notorious Oil Dems. And yet she’s endorsed by the “climate” PAC 314 Action! It’s almost like they don’t actually care about the climate. The California Democratic Party state convention was split on their race. In one of their most egregious moves, the DCCC decided to put their weight behind the oily Bains, who is also backed by heavy spending from DMFI, the oil-Israel superPAC aligned with AIPAC.

Iowa Senate

Open (Ernst)
Rating: Likely R

This is a major potential Democratic pickup with two strong Democratic candidates. State Rep. Josh Turek hosted a climate-and-insurance roundtable with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in April. However, State Sen. Zack Wahls has, frankly, similar positions.

Montana’s 1st

Open (Zinke)
Cook Report Rating: Likely R

This congressional district has potential between the terrible record of Ryan Zinke and the inclusion of several college towns. Monica Tranel had some vaguely pro-climate messaging in her previous two runs, but 2022 and 2024 weren't the sort of cycles where this district can be in play. Sam Forstag is a smokejumper who was DOGEd from the U.S. Forest Service. He opposes logging-first forest management (though be on the lookout for his upcoming interview with the Our Public Lands Podcast for more details) and has been endorsed by Bernie Sanders and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

New Jersey’s 7th

Incumbent: Tom Kean Jr. (R)
Rating: Toss-up (and trending D)

An Republican front group is attacking Navy veteran Rebecca Bennett in her primary to take on vulnerable Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who has not appeared in public in months. New Dems and the sham science advocacy org 314 Action are supporting Dr. Tina Shah, while more progressive organizations seem to favor Brian Varela. Numerous Biden administration officials who pushed progressive climate and economic policies have endorsed Michael Roth.

New Jersey’s 12th

Open (Coleman)
Rating: Safe D

In the crowded field to replace retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Sue Altman, the former state director of Working Families Party, is not the preferred candidate of the left and climate movement. Various Super PACs are making a late push to back the “pro-Israel” Altman over Adam Hamawy, a doctor backed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, AOC, Bernie Sanders, and many others. Hamawy has received assistance from a pro-Palestinian Super PAC intended to counter AIPAC’s impact in congressional primaries.

June 9th

Maine Senate

Incumbent: Susan Collins (R)
Rating: Toss-up

Collins continues to be “concerned” about her decades of loyalty to Team Fascist Climate Destruction. Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee after Chuck Schumer’s recruit, the unloved Gov. Janet Mills, bowed out, recently released an energy-climate plan that combines smart policies (oil windfall profits taxes that finance national clean-energy infrastructure) with dangerously stupid ones (ending gas taxes). Shay Stewart-Bouley has an extended essay on Platner engaging with Black Mainers that’s worth reading.

Maine’s 2nd

Open (Golden)
Rating: Likely R flip

Maine’s 2nd District is one of the most Trump-friendly with a Democratic incumbent (Trump +10). Unsurprisingly, Jared Golden is bowing out. The former Gov. Paul LePage, a Trump wannabe, will be the Republican candidate. The Democratic primary features state auditor Matt Dunlap (backed by Our Revolution and Rep. Ro Khanna), the DCCC’s pick, state Sen. Joe Baldacci, and former Congressional staffer Jordan Wood of the notorious scam-PAC spam-text Mothership Strategies. Wood has raised an eye-popping $5 million but Dunlap and Baldacci are the frontrunners. One of the major issues in Maine is skyrocketing utility rates, which led to the failed attempt to pass the Pine Tree Power initiative several years ago. Baldacci allowed the Pine Tree Power initiative to go to the ballot, although his brother, former governor John Baldacci, has ties to Maine’s monopoly utility. 

A detailed preview of the June 26th, June 23rd, and June 30th primaries is next.