WASHINGTON (AP) – Voters cast ballots Tuesday in primary elections in Florida, Arizona and Vermont. Highlights:
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TOP OF THE TICKET
Democrats in Florida are considering whether they want a former Republican as their nominee for governor.
Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist is looking to get his old job back. Crist, who was Florida’s governor from 2007 until 2011, is favored in his primary against former state Sen. Nan Rich. Crist has mostly ignored Rich and instead focused on his likely rival, Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
Crist was a Republican politician for decades and unsuccessfully sought a U.S. Senate seat in 2010. Crist lost the primary to Marco Rubio and then left the GOP and sought the seat as an independent.
He later endorsed President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election bid and became a Democrat.
Scott faces two political unknowns in the Republican primary.
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SIX-WAY RACE IN ARIZONA
Six Republicans are vying for the party’s nomination to replace outgoing Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith and state Treasurer Doug Ducey are considered the front-runners and have spent recent weeks trying to win over independent voters, who are the state’s largest voting bloc and can request either party’s primary ballot.
Smith has cast himself as a pragmatic Republican like Brewer, one of the most popular politicians in the state. Brewer is backing Smith and campaigned with him in the lead-up to the primary.
Ducey is the former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, an ice cream chain. He ran for state treasurer in 2010 and easily topped the Democratic nominee by more than 10 points.
The other candidates include former Internet executive Christine Jones, Secretary of State Ken Bennett, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and former U.S. Rep. Frank Riggs.
The GOP victor will face former Board of Regents member Fred DuVal.
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WRITE-INS FOR VERMONT
In Vermont, Democrats are set to decide whether a write-in candidate from the Progressive Party should be their nominee to face the only statewide Republican office holder.
Democrats did not offer a candidate and Progressive Dean Corren wants to carry their banner in November’s race against two-term Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott. If Corren gets 250 write-in votes, he will be on the ballots this fall.
The Libertarian Party’s Dan Feliciano is also mounting a write-in bid, although his is a bit trickier. Feliciano’s bid for governor as a Republican runs up against three candidates whose names are on Tuesday’s ballots. Scott Milne is seen as the favorite candidate for the GOP nomination and has the backing of the party establishment. He faces rivals Steve Berry and Emily Peyton.
Voters also are set to consider a Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Peter Welch, who is seeking a fifth term in Vermont’s lone seat in the U.S. House.
Three Republicans are competing in the primary for a chance to face Welch in November: Mark Donka, Donald Nolte and Donald Russell. Welch won his 2012 re-election big against Donka with 72 percent in the reliably liberal state.
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UP NEXT
Voters in Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island have the next primaries, on Sept. 9. Massachusetts follows on Sept. 16.
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