Voters in South Carolina, Maine, Nevada and North Dakota headed to the polls on June 9 in primary elections that will help shape the 2026 midterm battlefield. The races on the ballot included contests for governor, Congress, statewide offices and state legislatures, with poll closings staggered through the night in the four states.
South Carolina closed first at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Maine at 8 p.m. ET. Nevada’s polls closed at 10 p.m. ET, while North Dakota’s counties closed between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. That left the night centered on live June 9 primary results updates as campaigns and party leaders waited for the first race calls.
South Carolina’s marquee contest was the crowded Republican gubernatorial primary, and a runoff was widely expected if no candidate won a majority on Election Day. In Maine, the Democratic gubernatorial primary could remain unsettled on election night because the state uses ranked-choice voting, which can push the final count beyond Tuesday.
The Maine Democratic Senate race carried its own complications. Graham Platner had been viewed as the all-but-certain nominee after two-term Gov. Janet Mills dropped out earlier this spring, leaving him to face two long-shot rivals. Platner was seeking to become the Democratic nominee to challenge Susan Collins later this year, but his campaign had been buffeted by scrutiny over sexually explicit messages, offensive social media posts, a Nazi-linked tattoo and staff upheaval.
Mills’ name remained on the ballot despite her exit, underscoring how primary ballots can lag behind campaign reality. Platner posted on X on Tuesday that meeting voters had been “the honor of a lifetime,” a line that fit a campaign still trying to turn a presumed advantage into an actual nomination.
By late Tuesday, the main question was not just who had won, but which races would still be unresolved when the polls closed in each state. South Carolina could be headed to a runoff, and Maine’s ranked-choice process could carry one or more contests deeper into the week.
