Florida redistricting, Alaska Senate race and Lakers ownership dispute dominate Tuesday primaries
Tuesday's primaries feature Florida GOP redistricting challenges, an Alaska Senate contest between two candidates named Dan Sullivan, and a legal dispute over the Los Angeles Lakers ownership stake.
Voters in Florida, Alaska and Wyoming went to the polls Tuesday for a series of primaries that could reshape congressional representation and local politics. In Florida, the Republican-controlled legislature’s new congressional map, drawn to add up to four seats for the party, places several Democratic incumbents in newly competitive districts ahead of the 2026 midterms. The race to succeed term-limited Governor Ron DeSantis also drew attention, with Rep. Byron Donalds, who has backing from President Donald Trump and major Republican donors, emerging as the leading candidate.
Alaska’s all-party primary featured an unusual matchup: incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan faced a challenger who shares his name, also Dan Sullivan. A court battle over the challenger’s ballot placement was resolved, allowing both names to remain on the ticket. Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola also qualified, and under Alaska’s top-four primary system the four highest vote-getters will move on to the general election.
In a separate development, Jeanie Buss, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, denied reports that her family is selling its remaining 17.8% stake in the franchise. A letter from Buss’s attorney to the lawyers of her siblings contradicted an earlier ESPN report that said the Buss family intended to sell the stake to investors Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. The clarification comes after majority owner Mark Walter announced his own plan to sell his share to the same investors.
Other items on the ballot included a primary in California’s 14th district to replace former Rep. Eric Swalwell and a Wyoming contest that received less national focus.
"We have not agreed to sell our remaining stake in the Lakers," Jeanie Buss’s lawyer wrote in the letter to the court.
Separately, authorities in South Carolina confirmed the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, noting that emergency responders found her in cardiac arrest and that an autopsy showed no signs of trauma. The cause of death remains under investigation.
In foreign policy news, President Donald Trump told Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst he would "bomb the s--- out of" Oman if the country interfered with a potential deal over the Strait of Hormuz, a statement made amid ongoing negotiations between Oman and Iran.
The day’s coverage also included a review by the House Ethics Committee of allegations of sexual misconduct against Rep. Jimmy Gomez and a temporary pause by the administration on a border wall project in Texas’s Big Bend National Park.