Key primary races to watch

CBS News political reporter Zak Hudak joins us now with more on this. All right, so Zak, this House race in Kentucky is getting a lot of attention because of the President's input here. Tell us why he's so invested in this race. Shanelle, he's invested in this race because Tom Massie is a member of Congress who often breaks with the Republican Party. And in this current House of Representatives, the President sort of functions as the unofficial whip, the person who gets members in line to vote with the party, to vote for the party's agenda. That's not to mention that the President very much has been setting the GOP agenda for several years here. So this rift really goes back to 2020, when the President was trying to pass COVID legislation. And Massie, a libertarian who's often very concerned about overspending, was slowing that legislation down. I think that it's compounded over the years. Massie endorsed Ron DeSantis for President in 2024, and President Trump has been not shy about voicing how angry he was about DeSantis running and feeling betrayed about that. Even recently, Tom Massie worked together with a Democrat, with Ro Khanna of California, to push forth Epstein legislation at a time when the White House was still opposing the further release of those documents. So he's someone who's been a thorn in the president's side, but he does have a pitch that he's making to his voters in his district. Ed O'Keefe was there with him yesterday and asked him about it. Here's what he had to say. He knows I'm not a fool. He knows I'm tough, too. He calls me a tough cookie when we talk on the phone, because he knows I don't crumble. I vote with the Republican 90% of the time, with the Republican Party in DC. And the other 10% of the cases, I'm upholding the principles. That's a very similar sentiment to what I was hearing from some voters a few weeks ago when I was in Bucks County, where Brian Fitzpatrick has been very critical of the President, when the President was being critical himself of the Pope. These battleground counties or places where sometimes voters like to have their member break from the party. So I point that out only because over the weekend, we saw Senator Cassidy lose his primary in Louisiana. I don't know that it's the exact same formula in Northern Kentucky, where these are folks who have repeatedly elected a libertarian guy who breaks from his party. Yeah. And I guess, Zak, that's what matters. So far, anyone President Trump has criticized has lost their primary. If Massie shows some staying power, that might reveal a crack in Trump's MAGA base. What is at stake for both parties today and what is the specific thing you're looking out for? What I'm looking out for is just what you mentioned, how much of a hold President Trump has on these voters, but specifically an election where he is not on the ballot. So we're watching closely Kentucky Senate. In that race, we have Congressman Andy Barr, who is President Trump's choice, facing off against David Cameron, who is the former attorney general of the state. That is Mitch McConnell's former seat. So the result of that race will really determine if the Senate is being tugged a little bit to the left or a little bit to the right. The more MAGA choice is clearly Andy Barr there. And then in Georgia Senate for the opportunity to face off against Senator Jon Ossoff, we're watching closely. Mike Collins is a very MAGA candidate. But then you have Derek Dooley, a former college football coach who is backed by Brian Kemp, the current governor of the state, who is termed out. We're also watching really closely that race for Brian Kemp's current seat. In that race, you have Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State of the state. That's someone who has had issues with President Trump since 2020, and he's facing off against a Trump aligned candidate. So we're watching all of this very closely to see if President Trump still has clout for these folks when he's not at the top of the ballot.

All right, Zak Hudak, thank you. Thank you, Zak. We're also tracking some big races in Pennsylvania today, where at least one Democratic primary is drawing national attention. We've got CBS News Congressional Reporter Taurean Small there. He's in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Good morning, Taurean. We don't usually talk about the seventh congressional district there. So tell us why today it's drawing so much national attention. Yeah, good morning, Errol. The seventh congressional district is one that Democrats nationally see as an opportunity to help shift the balance of power in Congress, which is why we saw the DCCC looking at the first term Republican incumbent, Ryan McKenzie, as potentially vulnerable. And they also backed one candidate, that's retired firefighter and union leader Bob Brooks, in this hotly contested race, that decision drawing quite a bit of controversy. We talked to several of the candidates, including Brooks, about that endorsement. This is what they had to say. They came with me was a huge boost and a huge help to me personally, and it really helped us finish out this race and get to the finish line here on Tuesday. So I know everybody else wanted that. I got it. I'm very happy and pleased that I got it. One thing that I learned from living here over two decades is that people here are independent thinkers. They don't want to be told what to do. These are the same DC insiders that have cost us elections. And so they're not going to decide this race. We're at a polling place, as you said, in Montgomery County, where we're expecting the governor, Josh Shapiro, to come by and cast his vote today. He also endorsed Brooks in this race. This would be the first true test for him in the strength of his coattails, as he's rumored to be considering a 2028 presidential run himself. And, Taurean, what are you hearing from voters there on the ground? Yeah, so we talked to voters this weekend at the festival on Hamilton event. It's one of the largest Latino gatherings in a largely Latino district. This was one that helped supported President Trump's 2024 bid. We asked whether or not they believe the same sentiment exists today among Latino voters as they did back then. This is what they had to say to us. I hope people have woken up and seen kind of who was for them and who isn't. People are tired. He's not doing nothing for the American people. He's putting everything in his pockets. He's stealing from us, is what he's doing. What has he done for us since he came in? He didn't even lower the price of eggs. I think a lot of Latinos were kind of misled. And then once he got into office, they realized what he stood for. So we're expecting a total change. Governor Shapiro also weighed in on that presumed support or lingering support of Latino voters. He believes things have changed, and he thinks it will work out in Democrats' favor, not just in November, but also in 2028.

All right. He's staying optimistic. We'll see. Taurean Small, thank you.