Tuesday Primary Preview

Today brings primaries and runoffs in four different states, as voters in Mississippi, South Carolina, Utah and North Carolina head to the polls, with several races sure to make some headlines in the Wednesday morning papers.

The most high profile election today is certainly in South Carolina, where Republicans will decide on their nominee for Governor.

The race pits State Rep. Nikki Haley against U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett.  Haley almost got 50% of the vote two weeks ago in the primary and is the heavy favorite against Barrett, who has been running campaign ads that emphasize words like “Christian”, which is seen as an attack on Haley, who is of Indian Sikh heritage.

There is one big race for a Congressional incumbent in the Palmetto State, as in District 4, Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) is trying to hold onto his seat in the House.  But he’s a big underdog in the GOP runoff against Spartanburg County Solicitor Trey Gowdy.

Inglis is not the only incumbent Congressman in some trouble tonight, as out in Utah, we’ll see if Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT) can block out the anti-incumbent vibes in that state.

Matheson got a clear message that he could be in trouble back in early May, when opponent Claudia Wright received 45% of the vote at the state nominating convention.

Remember, Utah Republicans already ousted one of their Senators, Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT), so a Matheson upset is not out of the question.

The two other members of Congress from Utah, who are both Republicans, face no primary opposition today.

In North Carolina and Mississippi, the focus tonight is on runoff elections for the November election ballot, with the biggest prize being the Democratic nomination for Senate in the Tar Heel State, as Secretary of State Elaine Marshall takes on former state Senator Cal Cunningham.

One more runoff needs to be noted for the political irony involved, and that is back in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional district.

There is a runoff in SC1 on the GOP side between state Rep. Tim Scott and Paul Thurmond.  Yes, Thurmond is the son of the legendary Sen. Strom Thurmond, as the younger Thurmond has been paying his dues and trying to move up the political ladder in his state.

Scott is the only black Republican lawmaker in the state legislature in South Carolina.  I probably don’t need to go into a history lesson here to note the political irony if Thurmond were to lose this race.

Let’s just say that 1948 is a long time ago.

Drop by tonight on Twitter @jamiedupree for the latest results on Election 2010.