Tuesday is a big primary day. Here are key races to watch

An "I Voted" sign points to a Vote Center on June 1, 2026 in Los Angeles. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

Six states, California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota and New Mexico, hold elections on Tuesday. Most of the attention is on California and Iowa, where there are competitive primaries for governor. In both states, the Democratic Party also sees a road map to control of Congress in the fall.

In California's unique primary system, voters send the top two vote-getters to November's general election, regardless of candidates' political parties. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is term limited, and California voters will also pick who should move on to the general election in five new Democratic leaning congressional districts.

In Iowa, Democratic voters will choose a candidate in a key Senate race — the Republican in the race is already the de facto nominee. In order to win a majority in the Senate, Democrats must pick up four seats, forcing the party to win in Republican-leaning states like Iowa. For governor, the race is the first good chance Democrats have to win the office in years, but Republicans still need to select their nominee.

California governor | California U.S. House | Iowa governor | Iowa U.S. Senate | New Jersey and Montana

You can also check out June 2 voter resources from the NPR network .

It's been a chaotic scramble to pick the next leader of the country's largest state. After three prominent Democrats, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Alex Padilla and state Attorney General Rob Bonta decided not to run, Democratic voters haven't had a clear frontrunner for the first time in decades. Voters have more than 60 candidates to choose from, but only a fraction of those are considered serious contenders. Only the top two vote-getters will move on to the general election in November.

California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra hugs a supporter at the Long Beach Arena on May 31 in Long Beach, Calif. Apu Gomes/Getty Images hide caption