The Latest: Iowa’s Steve King Loses GOP Renomination Fight

Associated Press

The Latest on Tuesday's primary elections (all times EDT):

12:10 a.m.

Controversial Iowa Republican congressman Steve King has lost his bid to be nominated for a 10th term.

The 71-year-old Iowa native faced four challengers in Tuesday’s Iowa primary. Topping the field is a well-funded state senator, Randy Feenstra, who offered support for President Donald Trump, hardline immigration policies and other conservative views without King’s baggage.

Provocative statements piling up over the years have been a drag on King’s latest campaign. He has compared immigrants crossing the border illegally to cattle, made light of rape and incest in defending his anti-abortion views, and wondered aloud when the term “white supremacist” became offensive.

Last year House Republicans stripped King of his committee assignments after his remarks seeming to defend white nationalism appeared in The New York Times. King said they were taken out of context.

Critics in both parties have charged that King is no longer an effective representative for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District on agriculture and other local issues. Worse for King, even his supporters worried that he could lose the seat to a Democratic challenger if he were nominated again.

10:45 p.m.

Joe Biden has scored a clean sweep of the seven states conducting Democratic presidential primaries on Tuesday, not at all a surprise given that the presumptive Democratic nominee has no active opposition.

Yet the delegate haul is important to Biden’s goal of gaining enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination before the party’s summer convention. Tuesday’s results may leave Biden just short of the 1,991 delegates he needs, but primaries next week in Georgia and West Virginia could put him over the top.

Of Tuesday’s elections, Pennsylvania’s could add the most delegates to Biden’s count. He also won contests in Maryland, Indiana, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota.

Also choosing a nominee Tuesday are voters in the District of Columbia. Those results are pending.

10:44 p.m.

Dozens of Maryland primary voters are waiting in line to vote two hours after polls were scheduled to close.

At one location in Baltimore, roughly 100 people were still waiting to cast their ballots around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Another location had about 50 people in line.

The voting was being slowed by the limited number of people allowed inside the polling stations because of the coronavirus pandemic. Most voting took place by mail because of the virus.

However, elections officials allowed six in-person voting centers in Baltimore over concerns that ballots were not arriving in the mail as scheduled.

The highest-profile contest on the ballot is the Baltimore mayoral election. Voters are looking for a leader who can get violent crime under control, address deep-rooted poverty and restore trust in local government after years of scandal and dysfunction.

10:19 p.m.

Joe Biden has won the Montana presidential primary as he advances toward the goal of earning enough delegates to claim the Democratic Party nomination before the summer convention.

The primary in Montana was conducted by mail in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Biden has also won Tuesday contests in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, Rhode Island, New Mexico and South Dakota.

With no active opposition, Biden is already the party’s presumed nominee. But the former vice president’s haul of delegates from Tuesday’s voting pushes him closer to the 1,911 delegates he needs to claim the Democratic presidential nomination.

Voters in several states and the District of Columbia have participated in primary elections Tuesday. They coincide with a time of crisis across the country. Voters have had to navigate both health concerns over the coronavirus and protests against racism and police brutality.

9:30 p.m.

Democrat Joe Biden has won the New Mexico presidential primary, his latest victory in Tuesday’s voting as he marches toward earning enough delegates to claim the party nomination before the summer convention.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has pledged to help Biden connect with racial- and ethnic-minority voters in the state. She has also been talked about as a possible Biden running mate.

Biden has also won Tuesday contests in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, Rhode Island and South Dakota.

Voters in several states and the District of Columbia are participating in primary elections. They coincide with a time of crisis across the country. Voters have had to navigate both health concerns over the coronavirus and protests against racism and police brutality.

9:13 p.m.

Democrat Joe Biden has won the South Dakota presidential primary, racking up another victory in Tuesday’s voting as he marches toward earning enough delegates to claim the party nomination before the summer convention.

The secretary of state’s office sent absentee ballot applications to all registered voters in South Dakota in late April amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden has also won primaries in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Indiana.

8:55 p.m.

Joe Biden has won Maryland’s Democratic presidential primary.

Biden was declared the winner of Tuesday’s primary on a night when six other states and the District of Columbia are voting in the presidential nomination contest. The result has been expected because Biden’s rivals have already dropped out of the race.

Voters in Maryland were strongly urged to vote by mail because of concerns about further spread of the coronavirus.

Biden’s haul of delegates from his Maryland win and victories in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Indianan push him closer to the 1,911 delegates he needs to capture the Democratic presidential nomination.

8:40 p.m.

Democrat Joe Biden has won Pennsylvania’s presidential primary, which promises the biggest haul of delegates among the seven states choosing their presidential nominees on Tuesday.

Biden has also won the Democratic primaries in Rhode Island and Indiana.

Voters in several states are participating in primary elections. They coincide with a time of crisis across the country. Voters have had to navigate both health concerns over the coronavirus and protests against racism and police brutality.

7:05 p.m.

Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump have won Indiana’s presidential primary.

Indiana is among the states and the District of Columbia with primaries on Tuesday. Pennsylvania offers the day’s biggest trove of presidential delegates.

The Democratic result in Indiana was expected because Biden’s rivals have already dropped out of the race.

The former vice president's haul of delegates from the Indiana victory pushes him closer to the 1,911 delegates he needs to capture the Democratic presidential nomination.

The state’s primary was delayed by four weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak.

4:40 p.m.

Voters in nine states and the District of Columbia are participating in primaries Tuesday.

The states voting are Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Dakota.

Indiana polls are scheduled to close first, at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Pennsylvania offers the day’s biggest trove of delegates. Joe Biden is already the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, but he needs to win 89% of all delegates at stake Tuesday to formally clinch the nomination. If he doesn’t reach the requisite number on Tuesday, he has more opportunities to do so later this month.

Voters are navigating coronavirus concerns and curfews in place amid protests of George Floyd’s killing by police. In-person voting is down in every state, as many voters were encouraged to vote by mail because of the pandemic.