Progressives in the House of Representatives scored a long-awaited victory on Tuesday night when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) won, one week after fellow Squad member Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) lost her primary election.
Unlike the primaries of President Bush and the recently ousted Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Omar’s campaign did not involve the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) despite her being a vocal critic of Israel’s handling of the Gaza war, but it was still a test of the strength of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s final major Senate race and at least one notable House race have also been decided.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s primary election.
Omar brings his team a much-needed win
A group of progressive congresswomen known as “the Squad” gave Omar a much-needed victory after she beat the same primary challenger for the second consecutive time.
Two years ago, Omar nearly lost in a shock upset to former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels, trailing him by 2,500 votes despite raising significantly more money and having greater name recognition than Samuels.
Samuels decided to take on Omar again because progressives are coming under increased scrutiny for their criticism of Israel’s war response following the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, and Omar seemed to be in a potentially vulnerable position.
He attacked her for being too divisive and not focused on serving her district, while arguing she could operate more effectively in the House of Representatives.
But there were several factors that worked in Omar’s favor this time around. She again significantly outraised Samuels, but this time she also outspent him. This was a clear admission that she would have to work to avoid an upset. Just as importantly, AIPAC did not interfere in her primary.
While progressives may breathe a sigh of relief over her win, Samuels still won about 43% of the vote — a big margin for a primary challenger who was badly outfundraised and outreach-sponsored.
Final selection for senatorial elections decided
The final Senate primary contest this fall was made official Tuesday in Wisconsin when businessman Eric Hovde formally won the Republican nomination, setting him up to face off against Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
Hovde handily defeated two minor opponents in the primary to win the nomination. He had the backing of former President Trump, several key Republican figures and the Senate Republican campaign. The race will be especially important for Democrats if they want a chance to maintain their slim Senate majority.
Hovde faces a challenge from Baldwin, a popular two-term incumbent who has twice won by large margins in swing states. One advantage Hovde has in the race is the personal wealth he has earned from his career as a banker.
He has already loaned $13 million to the campaign.
But Democrats tried to attack him because of his wealth and ties to California, where he owned a bank. The Senate Democratic campaign organization said: call Shortly after winning the nomination, he was called “the jerk from California.”
Meanwhile, Hovde and Republicans have linked Baldwin to the Biden administration, particularly on issues like inflation and immigration.
Democrats win big in Wisconsin
Wisconsin voters rejected two ballot proposals put forward by the Republican-led Legislature that would have limited the Democratic governor’s power over fiscal matters.
One of the bills would prohibit the state legislature from delegating the power to allocate funds to other governing bodies, and the other would require the governor to get approval from the legislature before allocating any federal funds made available to the state.
The state legislature passed the bill twice before putting it to voters, as required by the state constitution. The bill came as the state received millions of dollars in funding to be spent by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republicans have argued that Congress should have oversight over how the funds are being spent, but Democrats, including Evers, have blasted the measure as an attempt to grab power from Congress.
The measure was also criticized for adding an extra step to the funding process, at a time when federal funding is often provided to deal with natural disasters and other emergencies.
Voters ultimately rejected both bills by wide margins, with 57% voting no as of this writing. The bills were the latest development in a long-running battle between Governor Evers and the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Trump-backed candidate narrowly wins
A candidate backed by former President Trump narrowly won a primary to fill an open seat in a Republican-dominated congressional district.
Former Congressman Mike Gallagher (R) represented Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District for seven years but decided not to run for reelection, resigning in April to take a job in private practice. Gallagher’s resignation led to a special election to fill the remainder of Gallagher’s term, coinciding with the general election and the primary to determine who would fill Gallagher’s seat for the next term.
Trump has endorsed businessman and former gas station owner Tony Weed, as have Reps. Byron Donald (R-Fla.) and Kevin Hahn (R-Okla.), but two other major candidates also garnered notable support in the primary.
Former Wisconsin Senate President Roger Ross has received endorsements from former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R-Wis.), Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.) and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while State Senator Andre Jacques has received endorsements from Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
But Waid out-funded and out-resourced his two opponents, allowing him to narrowly defeat Ross in a special primary for the remainder of Gallagher’s term and a regular primary for the next term.
Moderate Democrats challenge Van Alden
The Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District pits a new battle between moderates and progressives against Rep. Derrick Van Alden (R-Wis.).
Rebecca Cook, a business owner, narrowly defeated state Rep. Katrina Shankland, who had the backing of centrists like Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and the Blue Dog Coalition, while Shankland had the backing of progressive groups and labor unions like MoveOn and the Wisconsin AFL-CIO.
Cook will face off against Van Alden, a Trump aide who won the Republican nomination unopposed and was in his first term and attended a Trump rally ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Decision Desk HQ and the Cook Political Report both see the seat as Republican-controlled, but Democrats are hoping to defeat Van Orden as part of their efforts to retake the House majority. Former Rep. Ron Kind, a moderate Democrat, represented the district for decades before retiring ahead of Van Orden’s 2022 election.
