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MADISON, Wis. – For a second straight week, the progressive left-wing won a high-stakes Senate primary battle over the establishment in what is seen as a setback for longtime Democratic Senate Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer.
But the biggest ballot-box face-off between the far left and the center in the ongoing fight for the ideological future of the Democratic Party ended with a narrow victory for the establishment, as Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley defeated democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary.
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ generational showdown claimed another longtime member of Congress.
And it was a split decision for President Donald Trump’s endorsements in statewide Republican nomination contests, as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Vermont, South Carolina and Alabama held primaries on Tuesday.
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Upper Midwest showdowns
“I know we don’t have the final results right now but I do know we are ready to keep fighting,” Democratic gubernatorial candidate state Rep. Francesca Hong told supporters at a primary night event in Wisconsin’s capital city before the race was called.
Hong, a former chef and single parent who is a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member, narrowly lost to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who consolidated support from more mainstream Democrats and was backed by retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Crowley will face Rep. Tom Tiffany, who cruised to the GOP nomination. Tiffany is a hard-right member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who was backed by Trump in the primary. The general election winner will succeed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who decided against seeking a third term in office.
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Hong was backed by top nationally known progressives, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ro Khanna of California, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender. But two champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, didn’t endorse in the race.
Hong ran on a platform that includes guaranteed paid leave, boosting the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $20 per hour, and a one-year moratorium in Wisconsin on building AI data centers. Hong has faced scrutiny over years-old social media posts calling for defunding and abolishing the police. But she says she no longer supports cutting police budgets or abolishing police departments.
She also made national headlines over the past two weeks for a resurfaced social media post from 2020 where she argued that the country should “cancel Thanksgiving” in order to “stop celebrating colonialism.”
Hong walked back her Thanksgiving comments, amid backlash, and now says that Thanksgiving is her “favorite holiday.”
The Democratic primary was rocked this summer, as Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, two of the major contenders for the gubernatorial nomination, exited the race. And Crowley, who earlier suspended his campaign and backed Rodriguez, re-entered the contest.
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Crowley was backed by Evers, who joined him on the campaign trail in the closing stretch leading up to the primary, as they both questioned Hong’s electability and warned that a victory by her would help Tiffany in the general election. Meanwhile, pro-GOP super PACs, including one aligned with the Republican Governors Association, shelled out millions of dollars to boost Hong in the primary, because they view her as the weakest Democratic candidate.
The final pre-primary polls indicated Hong with a healthy double-digit lead. But the polls were off again, as they were a week ago when left-wing Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed narrowly edged more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens for the party’s Senate nomination in Michigan, which along with Wisconsin is a key Midwestern battleground.
While his margin was razor-thin, El-Sayed’s win boosted the left. Fast-forward to this week, and progressives scored another victory, as Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan downed moderate Rep. Angie Craig by roughly 20 points to capture the Democratic Senate nomination.
Flanagan, who was backed by top progressives including Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, will now face off with GOP nominee Michele Tafoya, a former longtime NBC Sports reporter, in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.
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It’s been 24 years since a Republican won a U.S. Senate election in Minnesota. But Flanagan’s victory may boost the GOP hopes of flipping the seat in a left-leaning but competitive state.
Craig was supported by Democratic establishment leaders including Schumer. Craig’s defeat is the second major setback for Schumer in a week, following El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan. And Flanagan has said that if elected in November, she wouldn’t support Schumer remaining as Democratic leader in the Senate.
Democrats’ generational battle
Rep. John Larson of Connecticut became the seventh House Democrat ousted so far this primary season.
Larson, who’s been in Congress for nearly three decades, was defeated by double digits in the Democratic primary in Connecticut’s solidly-blue 1st Congressional District by former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.
With both candidates touting their progressive credentials, this race was less about ideology and more about generational change in the party, which was fueled two years ago by then-81-year-old President Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race amid questions over his physical and mental stamina following a disastrous debate performance against Trump.
The 47-year-old Bronin is three decades younger than the 78-year-old Larson, who became the latest political victim of a push by Democratic voters to sweep out older incumbents and replace them with younger leaders.
“John Larson is a good man, but he’s been in Congress since the 90s. The stakes are just too high to keep doing the same thing,” Bronin, a retired Naval intelligence officer, argued in one of his campaign ads.
Larson countered by touting his experience and his record as a fighter in Congress.
“We are a country in absolute crisis. We need our toughest fighters. I’ve taken on Trump, DOGE, and ICE, and won,” Larson wrote in a social media post.
Larson joined Reps. Al Green of Texas, Diana DeGette of Colorado, Adriano Espaillat of New York and Shri Thanedar of Michigan, who also fell to younger primary challengers.
The generational battle will likely play out on a larger stage in a couple of weeks, as 47-year-old Rep. Seth Moulton challenges 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey, a progressive leader, in the party’s Senate primary in Democrat-dominated Massachusetts.
Split decision for Trump
Backed by Trump, appointed Sen. Darline Graham captured the most votes in Tuesday’s special Republican Senate primary in South Carolina, in the race to succeed her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
But with no candidate topping 50% of the vote, Graham will face off in a runoff in two weeks with Rep. Ralph Norman, who came in second. Rep. Russell Fry and former Gov. and former Rep. Mark Sanford, as well as other contenders, fell short in the special primary, which was held one month to the day after the longtime senator suddenly died at age 71.
“I want to thank President Trump, his steadfast support and his complete and total endorsement means so much to me. He knows that I will stand with him and fight for his agenda, just like Lindsey did,” Graham said at her primary night event.
Norman, who unsuccessfully campaigned this year for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the race to succeed term-limited South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, is a Trump ally in the House and also showcased his support for the president in his Senate campaign.
Trump’s sway over the GOP remains immense, and the power of his endorsements in Republican primaries faced another test in South Carolina, which the president passed.
But the Trump endorsement hasn’t proven to be a sure bet this cycle in solidly-red South Carolina.
Trump backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette for the GOP gubernatorial nomination — in the race to succeed the term-limited McMaster — ahead of the state’s early June primary.
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Evette was the top vote-getter in the primary but lost the ensuing runoff election against South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson in a landslide. And Trump, ever hungry for a victory, endorsed Wilson in addition to Evette days before the runoff.
The big question going forward is whether Graham will suffer the same fate as Evette.
The winner of the Senate runoff election in two weeks will be considered the clear front-runner in the solidly red state in the midterms against Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a pediatrician.
Meanwhile, Trump suffered a rare endorsement setback in Minnesota.
Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and former CEO who is a close Trump ally who joined the president in denying former President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 White House race, had Trump’s backing. But Lindell lost the Minnesota Republican gubernatorial primary to state House Speaker Lisa Demuth.
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