Daily Kos Elections Maine, Nevada & South Carolina primary preview (plus Arkansas runoff preview)

Voters in five states'Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia'go to the polls to select candidates in primaries today. In addition, Arkansas is conducting runoffs in two congressional districts because no candidate got more than 50 percent of the vote in the May 22 primary. (Also, voters in Arizona's 8th Congressional District are choosing a replacement for ex-Rep. Gabby Giffords.) Below is our roundup of key primaries and runoffs in these states.

Interactive map of Arkansas' new congressional districts ' AR-01 (D): The first of two Arkansas runoffs features prosecutor Scott Ellington versus state Rep. Clark Hall. Ellington very nearly avoided a runoff altogether, pulling in 49.5 percent in the first round versus 39 percent for Hall. In third place was Gary Latanich, a local professor, who took 12 percent but refused to endorse either of the top two finishers. In pre-runoff FEC reports, Hall outraised Ellington $43K to $20K, but Hall had a wide fundraising advantage ahead of the primary which didn't translate into a lead on election night. Given how close Ellington came the first time, you've gotta figure he has the edge. The winner will take on GOP freshman Rick Crawford in the fall.

' AR-04 (D): Unlike in the 1st District, here the third-place finisher did decide to endorse: D.C. Morrison, who won 21 percent of the vote, got behind state Sen. Gene Jeffress, who took 43 percent. But attorney Q. Byrum Hurst raised a healthy $77K in the pre-runoff period, while Jeffress pulled in only $9K'and for the third time this campaign, received a letter from the FEC about his failure to actually file a required fundraising report. Given how much of a non-campaign Jeffress has run (check out what is apparently his website), it's remarkable he's come this far, but thanks to his evident name rec, I wouldn't write him off as a possible winner tonight. The nominee, who will attempt to hold this open seat for Democrats, will take on Republican Tom Cotton in November.

Head below the fold to see the rest of our writeups.