Midwest primaries likely to test Trump’s appeal against ‘blue wave’
Democrats MADISON, WIS. — are trying to win back Republican gains across the Midwest as the 2018 primary season continues through Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Tuesday’s primary contests for governor, the U.S. Senate and the House will measure the strength of President Donald Trump’s coalition against the energy of the Democratic resistance. At the same time, accusations of domestic violence involving the Democratic National Committee’s second-in-command could undermine any blue wave in Minnesota.
In all, four states hosted elections Tuesday as the 2018 primary season neared its final chapter. All but 10 states will have picked their candidates for November’s general election by the time all votes are counted in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Connecticut.
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, predicted that Tuesday would offer fresh evidence of a blue wave that would sweep Democrats into power this November.
“Trump has managed to alienate every form of human life on the planet,” Inslee said when asked about his party’s appeal among white working-class voters. “They’re tired of this chaos.”
Democrats appear particularly motivated in Wisconsin, where eight candidates have lined up for the chance to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a two-term incumbent who has warned his party about the prospect of Democratic gains.
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, entered the primary as the best-known of the Democratic challengers.
Once a target of Trump criticism, Walker gained the president’s endorsement in a tweet Monday night. But Trump’s persistent attacks on Wisconsin-based motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson put Republican candidates on their heels in recent days, Walker among them.
Trump tweeted Sunday that it was “great” that many Harley owners planned to boycott the Milwaukee company if its manufacturing moves overseas, continuing a monthslong tariff dispute.
Walker said Monday he opposed the Harley boycott.
His Democratic opponents embraced the fight.
“By attacking Wisconsin workers to cover for failed economic policy, President Trump took a page right out of Scott Walker’s playbook,” said Mahlon Mitchell, one of the candidates and the head of the state firefighters union.
Trump also stars, informally at least, in Wisconsin’s Senate primaries as Republicans try to deny Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin a second term.
The GOP primary features fervent Trump supporters: former Marine Kevin Nicholson, running as an outsider, and longtime state lawmaker Leah Vukmir, who is backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan. Neither candidate was an early Trump supporter, and Vukmir has struggled to explain footage unearthed from 2016 in which she calls Trump “offensive to everyone.”
Minnesota voters will pick candidates in competitive races for governor, the Senate and the House. But a down-ballot race for state attorney general may overshadow them all.
Rep. Keith Ellison, the Democratic National Committee’s deputy chairman, was expected to capture his party’s nomination in the race to become the state’s top law enforcement official. That was before Ellison’s candidacy was rocked by allegations over the weekend of domestic violence amid a broader national outcry against sexual misconduct by powerful men.
Ellison denied a former girlfriend’s allegations that he dragged her off a bed while screaming obscenities during a 2016 relationship.
Feelings about misconduct are still fresh in Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Al Franken resigned in December after multiple allegations.