Primary night: Democrats celebrate a series of firsts
GOP stands firm with Trump-supported choices
MADISON, Wis. — Democrats embraced diversity in a new night of firsts while Republicans rejected a face of the GOP’s old guard on Tuesday as the turbulent 2018 primary season lurched toward its finale.
In Vermont, Democrats rallied behind the nation’s first transgender nominee for governor. Minnesota Democrats backed a woman who could become the first Somali-American member of Congress. And in Connecticut, the party nominated a congressional candidate who could become the first African-American to represent a New England state in Washington.
On the other side, Donald Trump tightened his grip on the modern-day Republican Party.
The president’s pick for Kansas governor, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, scored a delayed victory against Jeff Colyer, who became the first incumbent governor to be defeated this season. Elsewhere in the Midwest, Republican County Commissioner Jeff Johnson defeated former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who once called Trump “unhinged and unfit” and was hoping to regain his old post. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker won the right to seek a third term.
Meanwhile, accusations of domestic violence involving the Democratic National Committee’s second-in-command threatened to undermine Democratic enthusiasm, particularly in Minnesota, a state where women dominated on Tuesday.
Vermont, Connecticut, Minnesota and Wisconsin all held primaries Tuesday. Kansas’ gubernatorial primary, which was held last week, was finalized when Colyer conceded defeat.
All but 10 states will have picked their candidates for November’s general election by the time the day’s final votes are counted.
In Vermont, Democrat Christine Hallquist won the Democratic nomination in her quest to become the nation’s first transgender governor. The former chief executive of Vermont Electric Cooperative bested a field of four Democrats that included a 14-year-old.
Hallquist will face a tough fight in November: Republican incumbent Phil Scott remains more popular with Democrats than members of his own party in the solidly liberal state.
Vermont Democrats also nominated Sen. Bernie Sanders, who hasn’t ruled out a second presidential run in 2020, for a third term in the Senate. The 76-year-old democratic socialist won the Democratic nomination, but he is expected to turn it down and run as an independent.
Democrats appeared particularly motivated in Wisconsin, where eight candidates lined up for the chance to take on Walker.
Walker’s strong anti-union policies made him a villain to Democrats long before Trump’s rise. State schools chief Tony Evers, who has clashed with Walker at times, won the Democratic nomination and will take on Walker this fall.
A new scandal threatened to roil Minnesota politics.
Rep. Keith Ellison, the Democratic National Committee’s deputy chairman, captured his party’s nomination in the race to become the state’s attorney general. That’s after Ellison’s candidacy was rocked by allegations over the weekend of domestic violence amid a broader national outcry against sexual misconduct by powerful men in business, entertainment and politics.
Ellison has denied a former girlfriend’s allegations that he dragged her off a bed while screaming obscenities during a 2016 relationship she said was plagued by “narcissistic abuse.”
Pawlenty, a former two-term governor, might have been the biggest name on Minnesota’s ballot.
He’s the leading Republican candidate in the high-profile race to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. Having lost his own short-lived bid for president in 2012, Pawlenty spent much of the past six years as a corporate lobbyist.