Mills, Platner shape Maine among 4-state June 9 Primary Results Updates
Voters in South Carolina, Maine, Nevada and North Dakota cast ballots on June 9 in june 9 primary results updates that put races for governor, Congress, statewide offices and state legislatures on the map. South Carolina closed first, and Maine, Nevada and North Dakota followed later in the evening.
The day carried immediate weight in South Carolina’s crowded Republican gubernatorial primary, where a runoff was widely expected if no candidate won a majority. In Maine, ranked-choice voting meant the Democratic gubernatorial primary could stay unsettled on election night.
South Carolina and Maine
South Carolina’s marquee contest was the crowded Republican gubernatorial primary. Polls closed there at 7 p.m. ET, the first of the four states to wrap voting, and the field was broad enough that a runoff was widely expected if nobody cleared a majority on Election Day.
Maine closed polls at 8 p.m. ET. The state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary used ranked-choice voting, a count that could stretch beyond election night and delay a final result.
Platner’s Maine Senate race
Graham Platner, the Maine Democratic Senate candidate, asked voters for their support on Tuesday and posted, “Meeting all of you has been the honor of a lifetime.” He was treated as the all-but-certain Democratic nominee after Janet Mills dropped out of the race earlier this spring.
Platner was facing two long-shot rivals in the primary and a campaign clouded by scrutiny over sexually explicit messages, offensive social media posts, a Nazi-linked tattoo and staff upheaval. Mills’ name remained on the ballot, and a source in her wider political orbit said she was getting calls urging her to return to the race. There was no active campaign effort on her behalf.
Nevada and North Dakota
Nevada’s polls closed at 10 p.m. ET, and North Dakota’s closed between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET depending on the county. The four-state primary day covered key races that also included statewide offices and state legislatures.
For voters and campaigns, the practical split was simple: some races could produce same-night clarity, while others were built to keep counting after polls closed. Maine’s ranked-choice system and South Carolina’s possible runoff both left open the possibility that election night would not end the story.
Platner remained the central figure to watch in Maine’s Senate race as he sought the Democratic nomination to challenge Susan Collins later this year, while South Carolina’s governor’s race and the remaining contests kept the focus on how much of the 2026 midterm map was taking shape on one June night.
