Primaries attract high turnouts
WASHINGTON: Voter engagement in the 2018 midterm races in the United States remains feverish, primaries in notable swing states Wisconsin and Minnesota showed yesterday.
Both states showed dramatic increases in participation as voters picked candidates for Congress, Senate and governor, with Minnesota’s turnout surpassing a twodecade high and Wisconsin’s hitting levels not seen for a state primary since at least 2002.
Democrats are hoping to replicate successes of the past 18 months in local and state special elections, where high levels of enthusiasm have propelled them to victories in races from Alabama’s Senate seat in December to a southwest Pennsylvania Congressional district in March.
The party is desperately seek ing to flip control of both Congress and state houses across the nation, as Republicans have control of both houses of Congress and the majority of state legislatures.
In Minnesota, about 875,000 people turned out to vote in a state known for high levels of voter engagement, according to unofficial state figures. That equals a turnout rate of roughly 22%, according to Minnesota’s secretary of state.
It was also the highest for state primary nominating contests since 1994, not including presidential primaries, according to state data. More than 560,000 people voted on the Democratic side.
‘‘Competitive races for open seats, and partisan enthusiasm for many of the candidates in a highly polarised climate, fuelled the high turnout,’’ Kathryn Pearson, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, said.
In Wisconsin, about 950,000 voters cast ballots, or about 21% of the votingage population, surpassing the 14% rate of both 2016 and 2014, according to state data.
Democrats picked Tony Evers to challenge Governor Scott Walker, who is seeking a third term, while Republicans chose Leah Vukmir as their opponent to Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin. Early polls have shown the race to be close.
Democrats are trying to recapture at least one house of Congress to stall President Donald Trump’s agenda and have promised additional oversight of the president.