Five things to watch in Tuesday's primaries as New York races take center stage

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (R) welcomes US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during the "Our Team, Our Year" Get Out The Vote (GOTV) rally at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, on June 18, 2026. Kena Betancur | AFP | Getty Images Voters in New York , Maryland , Utah and South Carolina head to the polls Tuesday in primaries that will test the power of outside money, party establishment and the political figures trying to bend both to their side. The marquee race is in New York's 12th District, where Democrats are choosing a nominee to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in one of the safest blue seats in the country. The crowded Manhattan primary includes Assemblymen Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, along with Jack Schlossberg , a grandson of President John F. Kennedy . Bores' record on artificial intelligence regulation — and the outside money around it — has turned the race into a national proxy fight over how aggressively Democrats should regulate one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy. Elsewhere in New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is trying to prove his democratic socialist political movement can outlast his own campaign and reshape Congress. Upstate, the Republican primary to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik will test whether President Donald Trump's endorsement can overpower the local GOP establishment. In Maryland, Democrats are choosing a successor to former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer , while Rep. …