Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of the progressive “squad,” survived a surprisingly close contest for her Minneapolis House seat. In Vermont, state Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint is on track to become the first. woman to represent the state in Congress. And in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont and Sen. Richard Blumenthal swept their GOP rivals in re-election races they are expected to win in November.
Here are four takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries:
Trump wins as Wisconsin Republican establishment falls
Former President Donald Trump again demonstrated his influence over the Republican Party on Tuesday as Trump-backed construction company owner Tim Michels defeated former Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary .
Michels’ victory is the end of an era in Wisconsin: Kleefisch had the support of former Gov. Scott Walker, who built the political machine that won three gubernatorial races, including recall elections.
He also received support from former Vice President Mike Pence, who has tried in recent months to distance the GOP from Trump’s electoral denialism. The race was a repeat of gubernatorial primaries with similar dynamics in recent weeks. In Arizona, a Trump-backed candidate who has spouted his lies about voter fraud defeated an establishment favorite backed by Pence last week. And in Georgia, Pence-backed Gov. Brian Kemp, who had rejected Trump’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election, championed a Trump-aligned challenger.
Michels is now the latest Republican to at least partially embrace Trump’s electoral denialism to win a statewide primary in one of the most competitive states on the map.
In a debate, Michels left the door open to an attempt to decertify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Wisconsin, saying “everything is on the table.” Kleefisch had falsely called the 2020 election “rigged,” but also acknowledged that it is not possible to undo state certification of its results.
Michels will now face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in what is expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the November midterm elections.
Vermont Democrats pick Balint for House seat
State Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint’s victory in the Democratic primary for Vermont’s lone House seat, according to a CNN projection, puts her on track to become the first woman who represents the state in Congress.
Balint, who was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, defeated Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, a more moderate candidate backed by retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy.
The House seat opened as a result of Leahy’s retirement. Rep. Peter Welch, who has held the seat since 2007, won the Democratic Senate primary for Leahy’s seat, CNN projected.
Balint will enter the November general election as the overwhelming favorite to win the seat.
A former school teacher, Balint had the support of other major progressive and political groups. Gray attracted support from more moderate state leaders, including Leahy, who stopped short of issuing a formal endorsement but said he voted for her. The Former Governors of Vermont. Howard Dean and Madeleine Kunin also supported Gray.
But in a contest that provided few notable political distinctions between the main candidates, Balint’s success in claiming the progressive mantle — she was also endorsed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of neighboring Massachusetts — likely helped her among voters in primaries, which tend to lean even further to the left than even the average Vermont Democrat.
The Wisconsin Senate race is set
The general election for the Wisconsin Senate has been playing out subtly for weeks. But on Tuesday night, it really began.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson easily won his primary for re-election, while Democratic Senate candidate and Wisconsin Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes won his bid to unseat the Republican.
The race unofficially began two weeks ago when the three top Democrats facing Barnes dropped out of the race and endorsed the lieutenant governor.
The Johnson vs. Barnes race will likely be one of the most watched campaigns of the 2022 cycle. It pits a Republican who has drawn the ire of Democrats for his ties to former President Donald Trump and his espousal of a series of conspiracy theories with a Democrat who holds several progressive positions that Republicans believe put him out of sync with most Wisconsin voters.
Although Johnson and Barnes are political opposites, they have already begun using strikingly similar language to define the other, calling each other “out of touch,” extreme and someone out of line with the state’s voters.
Wisconsin is one of two Senate seats this cycle currently held by Republicans in a state President Joe Biden won in 2020. The state has been a political flashpoint since 2011 fights over union bargaining rights , leading the electorate of the state. polarized long before Trump’s 2016 election.
Omar survives a surprising nail biter
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar survived a primary challenge Tuesday, CNN predicted, but just barely, and the narrow result could embolden critics of the progressive member of the “team” to try again in two years. Omar, who is running for a third term in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, fended off a primary challenge from former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels and three other Democratic candidates in the primary.
Samuels had presented himself as a pro-police critic of Omar’s calls to “defund the police”. Samuels and his wife successfully sued the city of Minneapolis to force it to increase police staffing levels to the 741 officers required by the city’s charter.
The momentum behind what had been widely seen as a long-running challenge built after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey endorsed Samuels last week. He also had the support of construction unions, several suburban mayors and more moderate leaders of the DFL. His close call could inspire another effort to oust Omar in 2024.
Omar’s victory comes a week after two other liberal members of the “squad,” Missouri Rep. Cori Bush and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, also overcame primary challenges.
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