The ideological and generational battles reshaping the Democratic Party were on full display in Tuesday’s primaries, as progressive candidates scored major victories while establishment Democrats managed to hold the line in a key gubernatorial contest.
This content is supported by your donations.
Give today.
From Fox News:
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.
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.
Flanagan’s victory follows another significant progressive win just one week earlier in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens for the Democratic Senate nomination. Together, the results represent consecutive setbacks for longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who supported more moderate candidates in both contests.
Wisconsin, however, produced a different result. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeated Democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Hong, a Democratic Socialists of America member backed by progressive figures including Rep. Ilhan Omar, had advocated raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage to $20 per hour and imposing a one-year moratorium on new AI data centers. She had also faced scrutiny over past statements supporting defunding or abolishing police departments and a 2020 social media post calling to “cancel Thanksgiving.”
Another trend is emerging alongside the ideological fight: Democratic voters are replacing several longtime members of Congress with younger challengers. In Connecticut, former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin defeated 78-year-old Rep. John Larson, who has served in Congress since 1999. According to Fox News, Larson became the seventh House Democrat ousted during this year’s primary season. Similar generational tensions are expected in Massachusetts, where Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, is challenging 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey.
Republicans faced consequential primaries of their own. In South Carolina, President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate, appointed Sen. Darline Graham, finished first in the special Republican Senate primary to succeed her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham. Because no candidate received a majority, she will face Rep. Ralph Norman in a runoff. In Minnesota, however, Trump-endorsed Mike Lindell lost the Republican gubernatorial nomination to state House Speaker Lisa Demuth.
These contests offer an important glimpse into the political coalitions taking shape ahead of November’s midterm elections. The progressive wing of the Democratic Party is demonstrating its ability to defeat establishment-backed candidates in major statewide contests, even as races such as Wisconsin’s show that the party’s ideological direction remains unsettled.
As November approaches, let’s pray for discernment among voters and that those elected to office would govern with wisdom, integrity, and respect for the principles that have sustained our nation.
What are you praying as America approaches the midterm elections? Share your prayers and scriptures below.
(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Phil Roeder from Des Moines, IA, USA – Election Day 2020, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95815457)
