Tuesday night's primary elections featured closely watched federal races from sunny South Florida to the frigid Alaskan tundra and two states in between, all of which will help decide whether Republicans maintain control of Congress, or whether Democrats overtake them.
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Democrats → feature → them
Three states also featured critical gubernatorial primary elections.
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states → feature → elections
Observers are already using the race results as bellwethers to gauge Trump's grip over the GOP and the power of the emergent socialist movement.
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Observers → use → movement
Here's what stood out:
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what → stand → ?
Sunshine State socialist scores shocking Senate upset despite being heavily outspent
A socialist will have a chance to unseat a sitting Republican senator after upsetting a heavily favored opponent who outspent her nine-to-one.
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who → score → one
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member and Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon scored a massive upset in the state's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
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Nixon → score → Senate
Nixon ran against retired Air Force Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a prominent critic of Trump who played a central role in the left's failed 2019 impeachment attempt, who was expected to emerge victorious.
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who → run → attempt
She defeated Vindman by almost 12 points, despite his $16.3 million war chest, compared to hers of only about $1 million.
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She → defeat → million
As of July, Vindman had spent about $9 million on the race, while Nixon had spent just over $700,000.
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Nixon → spend → 700,000
Nixon will square off in a statewide race against Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla.
Trump has a hit-or-miss endorsement night
Florida
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Trump → square → night
Across the country, some of Trump's endorsed candidates won their respective races, while others struggled.
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others → endorse → races
Trump-endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., won the Sunshine State's Republican gubernatorial primary against a field that included Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and outsider James Fishback.
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that → endorse → Collins
Donalds won 47%, compared with 25% for Collins and 10.5% for Fishback.
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Donalds → win → Fishback
Donalds will face former Florida Republican congressman-turned-Democrat David Jolly, who won the nod for the job on the Democratic side.
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who → face → side
Likewise, Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, herself a Trump endorsee, took home a victory in a special Senate primary election to finish the remainder of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate term, which ends in 2028.
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which → take → 2028
Moody was appointed to the seat last year after Rubio joined the Trump administration.
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Rubio → appoint → administration
Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida's 6th Congressional District, also endorsed by Trump, easily won his reelection bid.
However, it wasn't all smiles for Team Trump.
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it → endorse → Trump
Scandal-plagued incumbent Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who represents the state's 7th Congressional District, lost his race to challenger and former TV anchor Ryan Elijah.
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who → plague → challenger
Trump endorsed Mills in February, but the congressman is facing a wide-ranging House Ethics Committee investigation into possible campaign finance violations, allegations of assault against a romantic partner and allegations of improperly received or solicited gifts.
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congressman → endorse → gifts
Mills has denied wrongdoing.
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Mills → deny → wrongdoing
The 7th District leans red, meaning Elijah should have an edge come November.
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Elijah → lean → edge
Meanwhile, Catalina Lauf, who scored an 11th-hour endorsement from Trump last week, lost her bid to fill Donalds' seat in Florida's 19th Congressional District in a race that featured several unusual political twists.
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that → score → twists
Media executive Jim Schwartzel won the five-way race with 29.1% of the vote, while Lauf earned 22%.
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Lauf → win → %
Businessman Jim Oberweis placed third with 15.7% of the vote.
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Oberweis → place → vote
Lauf and Oberweis are familiar rivals, having squared off in a crowded midwestern Republican primary years ago.
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Lauf → square → primary
Both ran in Illinois' 14th Congressional District back in 2020.
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Both → run → 2020
Oberweis won that round, but lost to a Democrat in the general election.
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Oberweis → win → election
Two years later, Lauf ran unsuccessfully in Illinois' 11th Congressional District, though that race did not feature Oberweis.
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race → run → Oberweis
The fourth-place finisher in Tuesday night's 19th Congressional District race in Florida was former Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who was defeated in 2022 amid scandal and after attempting to change districts.
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who → defeat → districts
Schwartzel is all but certain to win his November general election in the deep red district.
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Schwartzel → win → district
A similar story played out in the western U.S.
In Wyoming's U.S. Senate primary, Trump-endorsed Rep. Harriet Hageman, who serves as the state's at-large congresswoman, won in a landslide.
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who → play → landslide
She defeated cattle rancher Sam Mead.
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She → defeat → Mead
With 80% of the votes counted, Hageman held a 62% to 28% lead over Mead, with three others lagging well behind.
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others → count → Mead
However, in Wyoming's gubernatorial primary, Republican voters spurned Trump's choice, electing state Sen. Eric Barlow over Megan Degenfelder, the state's superintendent of public instruction.
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voters → spurn → instruction
Barlow, too, won decidedly, holding a lead of 50% to Degenfelder's 29.7% with three quarters of the votes counted.
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quarters → win → votes
Both races were called shortly after polls closed.
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polls → call → ?
Wyoming's Secretary of State Chuck Gray won a competitive five-way primary, garnering 25% of the vote.
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Gray → win → vote
Businessman Steve Freiss earned 20.7% of the vote.
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Freiss → earn → vote
Army veteran Kevin Christensen won 17.8% of the vote.
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Christensen → win → vote
The state hasn't elected a Democrat in a statewide race since 2006, and that trend is likely to continue in November.
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trend → elect → November
…and 38 more, not listed.
The Aporia
