“Tim Michels, a wealthy businessman endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary for Wisconsin governor on Tuesday… Michels defeated former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who was endorsed by former Vice President Mike Pence and had backing from establishment Republicans, including ex-Gov. Scott Walker… [also] in Wisconsin, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes won the Democratic nomination to face Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, one of Trump’s most vocal supporters.” AP News
“Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of the progressive Squad, eked out a closer-than-expected Democratic primary victory Tuesday against a centrist challenger who questioned the incumbent’s support for the ‘defund the police’ movement.” AP News
Here are the results from Tuesday’s key races. New York Times
The right worries that Democrats appear to be gaining ground before the midterms.
“In some places Democratic turnout seems stronger than anticipated. On Tuesday Minnesota had a special election to replace the late GOP Rep. Jim Hagedorn. Republican Brad Finstad won as expected, but by only four points. This is a rural district along the Iowa border, where Mr. Trump won by 10 points. Republicans also won a special House election in Nebraska this summer more narrowly than expected. Part of this trend might be Democratic fervor to protect abortion rights after the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade…
“The GOP should be making the midterms a referendum on Mr. Biden’s first two years. Democrats would prefer to talk until November—really, until the end of time—about Mr. Trump. Characteristically, so would Mr. Trump, and he has ensured GOP nominees who agree. The lesson of recent primaries is that this election is far from won, even in the House.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“The ground still favors Republicans. Yet shrinking, fragile Joe Biden isn’t on the ballot this time, and there is no clear and present legislative threat like Obamacare in 2010. Yes, people are furious over the direction of the country, and GOP candidates seem poised to reap the votes of millions of Hispanics fed up with Democrats’ cultural extremism. But Dobbs has still given Democrats fresh motivation and money…
“After all their declarations of a red wave, it’s very possible the GOP overshot their limits in the Senate this cycle. A rising Republican tide that covers up a multitude of defects — automatically lifting weak, damaged candidates with less money to spend after fractious primaries to victory in November — seems increasingly less likely. Democrat enthusiasm is real, the fundraising gap is likely to increase, and the red wave is not happening in a vacuum.”
Ben Domenech, Spectator World
In Minnesota, “The results show that basically half of [Ilhan] Omar’s own party in Minneapolis was willing to vote against her. Of course, that doesn’t mean that all of those people will suddenly be willing to vote for a Republican, but some of them might. And many others obviously aren’t going to be as enthusiastic about showing up for her in November…
“[Minneapolis] was among the hardest hit by the ‘defund the police’ movement. Their depleted police force is still nowhere near back to full staffing and crime rates remain far above pre-pandemic levels. The city’s population has been declining as people flee to seek safer places to live, leaving the city with a smaller tax base to deal with these challenges. The stage may be set for an upset…
“If a Squad member can be defeated in a significantly blue city, that would certainly take some of the wind out of [the Progressive Caucus’s sails]. It could also wake up some other Democrats and make them realize that they need to restore order in this country or they too might be shown the door.”
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
The left is optimistic that progressive Democrats such as Mandela Barnes can succeed in the midterms.
The left is optimistic that progressive Democrats such as Mandela Barnes can succeed in the midterms.
“[In Wisconsin] Trump-endorsed businessman Tim Michels beat the early favorite… But Trump’s late effort to unseat state House Speaker Robin Vos (R) over Vos’s insufficient support for overturning Wisconsin’s election results failed. Vos narrowly led underfunded challenger Adam Steen and declared victory. At the same time, the fact that a figure of Vos’s stature in the state GOP was so close to losing to such a challenger shows Trump’s influence… a message has certainly been sent: Failing to sufficiently toe the Trump line on overturning elections on false pretenses will create problems for you.”
Aaron Blake, Washington Post
Meanwhile, “Mandela Barnes may be the best recruit Democrats have this cycle. Fresh-faced in a year voters consistently have said they want change, he is politically nimble enough to avoid splitting his Democratic Party in two, and he’s drawn high-profile pals to come join him on the trail like Sens. Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren. The drag of Biden hasn’t rendered him politically paralyzed. He is, by training, a community organizer so he knows how to build a campaign that can move hearts…
“And in recent weeks, he managed the unthinkable—clearing the field of his primary opponents, earning their endorsements and, in one case, almost $600,000 of their remaining ad time. The result is stronger support for Barnes among Democrats than Johnson enjoys with his fellow Republicans.”
Philip Elliott, Time
“Barnes is just 35 years old, and if elected could be only the second senator born in the 1980s… The idea that the state can’t stomach a politician as progressive as Mr. Barnes is pure fiction. Liberal candidates have won 10 of the last 11 statewide elections. Like Mr. Barnes, Senator Tammy Baldwin was also accused of being too far left for Wisconsin when she first ran for statewide office a decade ago, and in 2018, she was re-elected by an almost 11-point margin…
“If Mr. Barnes can deliver a new kind of message that both speaks to the anxieties of younger generations and harnesses their hope, he has a fighting chance.”
Dan Shafer, New York Times
“For decades, the Republican Party has largely owned and exploited the language of individual liberty and freedom… [But there’s also] The freedom to make one’s own decisions about reproduction and health. The freedom to vote. The freedom to choose one’s dating and life partners. The freedom to hold elections without worrying about an authoritarian putsch. The freedom to send one’s kids to school without fear of a madman armed with an AR-15…
“These are all rights that the vast majority of Americans cherish, and the radicalized G.O.P. of Alito, Thomas, Trump, and Masters is threatening them. Freedom is a many-sided thing, and no political party has a monopoly on it. Democrats should stake their claim now.”
John Cassidy, New Yorker