Donald Trump once again showed his control over the GOP’s open primaries on Tuesday, as the former presidential nominee won Wisconsin’s Republican primary for governor over a rival backed by former Vice President Mike Pence and set the party on the battlefield .
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, a member of the Progressive “squad”, Rep. Ilhan Omar, escaped surprisingly close competition for the Minneapolis-based House seat.
In Vermont, state senate president pro tempore Becca Balint is on her way to becoming the first woman to represent the state in Congress.
And in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont and Sen. Richard Blumenthal found their GOP challengers in a re-election race they expect to win in November.
Trump wins as Wisconsin’s GOP establishment collapses
Former President Donald Trump demonstrated his influence on the Republican Party again on Tuesday as Tim Michels, the owner of a Trump-backed construction company, defeated former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Klefisk in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary.
Mitchell’s victory marks the end of an era in Wisconsin: Klefisk was supported by former Governor Scott Walker, who built the political machine that won three gubernatorial races, including a recall election.
She was also backed by former Vice President Mike Pence, who in recent months has attempted to distance the GOP from Trump’s election denial.
The race was a replay of the governor’s primary in recent weeks with similar dynamism. In Arizona, a Trump-backed candidate who parroted his lies about election fraud defeated a Pence-backed establishment last week. And in Georgia, Pence-backed Gov. Brian Kemp, who dismissed Trump’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election, defended a Trump-aligned challenger.
Mitchell is now the latest Republican to have at least partially embraced Trump’s electoral refusal to win the primary for statewide office in one of the most competitive states on the map.
In a debate, Michel left the door open for an effort to testify to President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Wisconsin, saying “everything is on the table.” Clayfish called the 2020 election falsely “rigged” but also acknowledged that it was not possible to undo the state’s authentication of its results.
Mitchell is now set to take on Democratic Governor Tony Evers in what is expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in November’s midterm elections.
Vermont Dams pick Ballint for House seat
State Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Becca Balint’s victory in Vermont’s lone House seat in the Democratic primary sets her on her way to becoming the first woman to represent the state in Congress, according to a CNN projection.
Ballint, supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders, defeated Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray, a more moderate candidate, supported by retired Sen. Patrick Leahy.
The House seat opened up as a result of Lehi’s retirement. Representative Peter Welch, who has held the seat since 2007, won the Democratic Senate primary for Lehi’s seat, CNN estimated.
Balint will enter November’s general election as a strong contender to win the seat.
A former schoolteacher, Balint was supported by other major progressive groups and politicians. Gray drew support from more liberal state leaders, including Leahy, who refrained from issuing formal endorsements but said they voted for him. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Madeleine Kunin also supported Grey.
But in a contest that provided some notable policy differences between the leading candidates, Ballint’s success in claiming the Progressive Mantra—also endorsed by censor Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of neighboring Massachusetts—possibly helped him in the primary electorate, who tend to lean more to the left than the average Vermont Democrat.