Dems go for diversity; GOP for Trump choices
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 AfricanAmerican to represent a New England state in Washington.
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.
Vermont, Connecticut, Minnesota and Wisconsin all held primaries Tuesday.
All but 10 states will have picked their candidates for November’s general election by the time the day’s final votes are counted. While the full political battlefield isn’t quite set, the stakes are clear: Democrats are working to topple Republican control of Congress and governors’ offices across the nation.
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 with 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-yearold is expected to turn it down and run as an independent.
Walker’s strong antiunion 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.
Once a target of Trump criticism, Walker gained the president’s endorsement in a tweet Monday night calling him “a tremendous Governor who has done incredible things for that Great State.”
Trump also stars, informally at least, in Wisconsin’s Senate primaries as Republicans try to deny Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin a second term.
Longtime state lawmaker Leah Vukmir, who was backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, won the Republican primary, even after struggling to explain footage recently unearthed from 2016 in which she called Trump “offensive to everyone.”
Two women won Democratic Senate nominations in Minnesota: Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Tina Smith, who had been appointed to replace disgraced Democratic Sen. Al Franken.
Also in Minnesota, Democrat Ilhan Omar, the nation’s first Somali-American legislator, won his party’s congressional primary in the race to replace Keith Ellison. Ellison, whose candidacy was rocked by allegations over the weekend of domestic violence, captured his party’s nomination in the race to become the state’s attorney general.