A big primary day for Congress
By Matt Loffman, @mattloff
Politics producer

Primary voters head to the polls in Kentucky, New York and Virginia on Tuesday in what will be one of the bigger tests this election cycle of the divides inside the Democratic Party.

In New York’s House races, several Democratic incumbents are facing challenges from the left. Both Kentucky and New York are voting after previously postponing elections because of the pandemic. Virginia will be holding congressional primaries, while Mississippi and North Carolina hold run-off elections for House seats, including one to fill now-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ seat.

Here are some of the big races to watch.

Kentucky Democratic Senate primary

Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot who lost a widely covered House race in 2018 by less than 10,000 votes, was once seen as the inevitable Democratic candidate to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell because of her national name recognition and record-breaking fundraising. But she is now facing a serious challenger in the primary.

In recent weeks, state Rep. Charles Booker has gained momentum coming from the left, getting endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ocasio-Cortez. In a recent Data for Progress poll, Booker held an 8-point lead over McGrath.

Booker, who is black, currently represents Louisville, and in the weeks since Breonna Taylor was killed there by police, he has been very vocal at protests, raising his profile in the final stretch of the primary.

NY-16

Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel, backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, is being challenged from the left by Jamaal Bowman, a school principal who has been backed by Warren and Ocasio-Cortez, among others.

Engel has served in Congress for more than 30 years but has been criticized lately for not doing enough for his district. At a racial justice rally earlier this year, Engel, who represents a diverse district that includes part of the Bronx, was reportedly overheard saying: “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care.”

NY-14

While Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quickly became one of the most publicly visible members of the House after her primary upset in 2018, she has also faced some criticism about her priorities — whether she focuses too much on raising her national profile and not enough on representing her district. Ocasio-Cortez, who won her seat by challenging an incumbent Democrat, is being challenged now by former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. While Ocasio-Cortez is expected to win — she’s raised more than $10 million versus Caruso-Cabrera’s nearly $2 million — her vote margins will offer a telling sign of how her constituents feel about the job she’s been doing in the Capitol.

VA-2

First-term Rep. Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran, doesn’t know which of the three Republicans in Tuesday’s primary she’ll face in November, but one thing is certain: the GOP nominee will be a Navy veteran, too. Former Rep. Scott Taylor, who served one term before Luria beat him in 2018 by less than 3 points, is hoping for a rematch in November. In the Republican primary, he’s facing Jarome Bell and Ben Layola, a Cuban-born small business owner who previously lost a state Senate race against now-Gov. Ralph Northam. Trump won this district in 2016 by just more than 3 points.

VA-5

Republicans ousted incumbent Rep. Denver Riggleman in a party convention last week, instead choosing Bob Good, former associate athletic director at Liberty University.

The Democratic primary for this seat features four candidates, including: Roger Dean Huffstetler, a Marine veteran who deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and now leads a technology startup; John Lesinski, a Marine veteran and commercial real estate developer who’s held local elected office; Claire Russo, a Marine veteran who deployed to Iraq and later volunteered with the Army in Afghanistan; and Cameron Webb, a doctor, lawyer, and former White House fellow in the Obama administration.

For more races to watch tonight, and to read Matt’s full story, click here.  Follow him on Twitter @MattLoff.

FIVE OVERLOOKED POLITICAL STORIES FROM THE PAST WEEK
By Ian Couzens, @iancouzenz
Politics production assistant

Nebraska governor says he’ll withhold federal money from counties that require masks -- June 18. Local governments in Nebraska can encourage people to wear masks, but the governor does not believe people should be denied access to government buildings for failure to wear a mask, and said any locality requiring them will not receive funds from the CARES Act meant to help fight the coronavirus. Why it matters: The mandate means counties are reluctantly dropping mask requirements meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19. -- The Los Angeles Times

Trump campaign makes pitch for fourth debate with Biden amid declining poll numbers -- June 18. Just months ago Trump threatened not to participate in any of the three previously scheduled debates. Why it matters: The Trump campaign believes the best way to ding Biden’s strong poll numbers is to get him to make more public appearances. -- The Washington Post

How the White House agenda for managing space traffic got jammed up -- June 19. Space Policy Directive-3, signed by the president in 2018, was meant to improve U.S. tracking of objects in space, reassigning that responsibility from the Department of Defense to the Commerce Department. But Commerce has not yet been given full authority nor resources, and has no budget for the mission in fiscal year 2020. Why it matters: As access to space becomes easier and less expensive, orbits are becoming crowded, creating the need for more space traffic management to prevent major accidents such as satellite collisions. -- Politico 

California judge blocks Betsy DeVos from withholding relief money from undocumented students -- June 17.  DeVos tried to implement restrictions on which college students could receive emergency coroanvirus relief money, limiting it only to those who qualified for normal federal financial aid and excluding undocumented and foreign students, as well as those with poor grades, defaulted student loans or small drug convictions. Why it matters: DeVos’ directive would exclude hundreds of thousands of students from accessing funds Congress chose not to restrict, and while the rulings in California and Washington apply only to those states, the policy is on shaky ground nationally. -- The Washington Post

U.S. senators unveil bill to curb foreign espionage, influence on campuses -- June 18. The “Safeguarding American Innovation Act” is meant to give the U.S. State Department more authority to deny visas to foreign nationals seeking access to sensitive information and technologies related to national and economic security. Why it matters: The bipartisan group of senators behind the bill say it will help prevent foreign governments from accessing research and vital intellectual property developed at universities. -- Reuters  

#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Kate Grumke, @KGrumke
Politics producer

On this day in 1947, Congress overrode a veto by President Harry Truman to enact the Taft-Hartley Act, a law restricting the power of labor unions. It’s relatively rare for Congress to overrule a veto — it has only happened 111 times out of more than 2,500 presidential vetoes. Truman and President Gerald Ford are tied in second place for the most overridden vetoes. 

Our question: Which U.S. president had the most vetoes overridden by Congress?

Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shoutout next week.

Last week, we asked: On this day in 1858, President Abraham Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” speech. Four years earlier, his Senate opponent, Stephen A. Douglas, had introduced legislation that was one of the main drivers in the formation of the Republican Party. What was the 1854 act Douglas introduced?

Answer: The Kansas-Nebraska Act

The 1858 midterm election was hyper-focused on the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed settlers of new territory to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery, overturning the Missouri Compromise. The nascent Republican Party had widespread success in the midterms, but Lincoln was not part of that success. His debates with Douglas won him widespread fame, but he lost the race for Douglas’ Senate seat. Lincoln was elected president two years after that loss.

Congratulations to our winner: Tim Smith!!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.