Factbox-Five U.S. midterm races to watch in New York, Florida

[August 23, 2022]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in New York and Florida will pick candidates for the U.S. Congress and other offices in primaries and special elections on Tuesday that will help gauge the roles that abortion rights and inflation will play in the Nov. 8 midterms.

Following are five key races:

NEW YORK 19TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, SPECIAL ELECTION

Tuesday's contest to fill a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives district north of New York City will be an early test of whether voters across the country will be swayed in November by Democrats' support for abortion rights or by the Republican promise to control inflation.

The race for the Hudson Valley swing district could be the tightest special election since June's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended the constitutional right to abortion. Like other Democrats nationwide, Pat Ryan's congressional campaign has made abortion rights a central theme. And like fellow Republicans nationwide, Marc Molinaro has accused Democratic President Joe Biden and the Democrat-controlled Congress of fueling inflation with public spending. Ryan and Molinaro are also competing on Tuesday in nomination contests for November's general election but they are seeking different House seats in that race following a redrawing of district boundaries for next year's Congress.
 

NEW YORK 12TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

A new congressional map ordered by a state judge has pitted two veteran Democratic incumbents against one another. The map merged the New York City districts of U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, who have each served in the House for more than two decades.

While Maloney has outspent Nadler, using her personal fortune to lend her campaign $900,000 in May, Nadler has won endorsements from party power brokers like U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He had a nine-percentage-point lead over Maloney in an early August poll by Emerson College. The poll found guns, crime and abortion were the dominant issues for the district's voters, who live in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

Florida gubernatorial candidate and congressman Charlie Crist (D) speaks during the gala event of the Florida Democratic Party Leadership Blue 2022 convention in Tampa, Florida, U.S. July 16, 2022. REUTERS/Octavio Jones/File Photo

NEW YORK 17TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, a mainstream Democrat who heads his party's main House fundraising group, is facing a primary challenger for the state's newly drawn 17th congressional district north of New York City. U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed progressive New York state Senator Alessandra Biaggi's bid to unseat Maloney, who raised about five times as much money as Biaggi through Aug. 3.

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR FLORIDA GOVERNOR

Democrats Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried appear closely matched in the party nomination contest to challenge Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican seen as potentially vulnerable in November despite his high approval ratings and rising national profile. Crist, a U.S. representative and former state governor, has led Fried, the state agriculture commissioner, in most public opinion polls. But University of North Florida pollsters recently released a survey conducted Aug. 8-12 showing Fried with a modest lead.

FLORIDA U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

U.S. Representative Val Demings is expected to be her party's candidate to challenge Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio is seen as potentially vulnerable, with recent polls pointing to a tight race between him and Demings.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)

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