By Richard Cowan
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Voting closed in most of Florida on Tuesday to select Republican and Democratic nominees to run in November's midterm elections that will decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
Early results were not due to be announced until after after polling stations in Florida's western Panhandle closed an hour later at 8 p.m. ET (0000 GMT Wednesday).
Voters in Alaska were taking part in an unusual nonpartisan U.S. Senate primary. In addition to Democratic
challenger Mary Peltola, incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan faced a Republican candidate with an almost identical name, Dan J. Sullivan, who remains on the ballot despite attempts to dislodge him.
Polls close in most of Alaska at 8 p.m. (0400 GMT).
Democrats, who are seeking to pick up at least four seats from Republicans to win control of the 100-seat Senate, see the Alaska race as one of their strongest opportunities.
The race has drawn the interest of President Donald Trump, who urged voters on social media to "be careful. VOTE FOR THE REAL DAN SULLIVAN TODAY," and called challenger Dan J. Sullivan an "imposter."
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Dan J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher, entered the race to confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent, according to a source familiar with the probe. He has told other news outlets that it is not his aim.
FLORIDA’S NEW MAP
Florida's primary election, by contrast, is likely to bolster Republicans' chances of maintaining control of the House, as it will be the first election since the state approved a new district map that is expected to net them up to four seats.
Florida's new map, pushed through by the Republican-controlled legislature this spring, could leave the state with a House delegation of 24 Republicans and only four Democrats, in a state that Republican President Donald Trump won by 13 percentage points in 2024.
States usually redraw their congressional maps only at the beginning of every decade, to reflect census results. But several have redistricted over the past year at Trump's urging to shore up the Republican majority, prompting some Democratic-led states to redraw their own maps in response.
The reshuffle has forced some incumbent Democrats to scramble for new footing.
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat first elected to Congress in 2004, is running for a new seat in Florida's 20th congressional district, centered in Broward County, after her existing seat was redrawn to favor Republicans.
She has faced some criticism for running in the historically Black district from activists who are already worried about losing Black representation in Congress following a Supreme Court decision that weakened a landmark civil rights law.
She faces several Black candidates, including rapper Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell, who found fame with the 1989 hit "Me So Horny," and former Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who faces criminal charges of stealing $5 million in disaster relief funds. Cherfilus-McCormick, who has denied wrongdoing, resigned from Congress in April ahead of a possible expulsion.
Another incumbent Democrat, Representative Jared Moskowitz, has also been forced to run in a new seat.
Oliver Larkin, a political activist endorsed by the left-wing Democratic Socialists of America, is running for the party's nomination for the 25th congressional district, which runs along the Atlantic Coast from Miami Beach to Delray Beach. The Republican primary contest features five candidates, including former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer.
Elsewhere in the state, seven Republicans, including entrepreneur Michael Carbonara and university executive Belinda Keiser, are running for their party's nomination in the 22nd district, which has been redrawn to favor their party. Two candidates, Pia Dandiya and Kaysia Earley, are running for the Democratic nomination.
In the Tampa Bay area, eight Republican candidates are running for the right to take on Democratic Representative Kathy Castor, whose 14th district has likewise been redrawn with a Republican tilt.
In the north-central part of the state, Republican Representative Cory Mills will try to fend off three challengers, including former TV anchor Ryan Elijah, as he faces an investigation in Congress for alleged violations of campaign finance law and sexual misconduct. He denies wrongdoing.
Democrats see the seat as potentially winnable if Mills survives his primary.
SHOWDOWN IN THE NORTH
In the Alaska Senate race, some opinion polls show Democratic candidate Peltola, a moderate who formerly held the state's sole House seat, leading Sullivan — an unusual result for a state that typically backs Republican candidates.
The top four candidates in the nonpartisan primary advance to the November election, which could cause further headaches for Senator Dan S. Sullivan if challenger Dan J. Sullivan makes the cut. Peltola also stands to benefit from the state's ranked-choice voting system, which could allow her to consolidate support among independents.
In the House of Representatives, incumbent Republican Representative Nick Begich III is facing a challenge from former school administrator Bill Hill, who is listed as an independent but has donated to Democratic candidates in the past. Thirteen other candidates are also on the ballot.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington, additional reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Michael Learmonth, Matthew Lewis and Cynthia Osterman)
