Meanwhile, in House primaries across the country, Republicans largely retained their incumbents, rejecting the challenges of candidates who sought to align themselves more closely with former President Donald Trump.
California was the largest state to vote Tuesday. But in many close races the final results will not be known for days or weeks, as the postal ballots – the way most votes are recorded in the state – will be counted until the day marked by election day. Over the weekend, voters who have encountered problems with signature matching on ballots are given time to “cure” those problems.
Preliminary matches were also held Tuesday in Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New Jersey and South Dakota.
Here are six takeaways from that day’s races:
Poutin’s loss against the progressive lawyer movement
The recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin may not have had national repercussions – local issues and voter sentiment will vary from city to city – but this loss is a clear sign against the progressive lawyer movement that helped drive Boudin’s 2019 victory.
The way voters in liberal strongholds feel about their cities – especially the rise of the homeless – is a warning to National Democrats that this is more instructive of how they vote than actual crime rates and data.
Against the backdrop of concerns about police misconduct, criminal justice reform and mass imprisonment, Boudin’s success three years ago marked a high point in selecting more progressive lawyers for top jobs. But his tenure was limited by the corona virus epidemic and crime among San Francisco residents, especially property crime, was not a priority for the district attorney and was out of control.
Voters on Tuesday handed down a speedy verdict on Boudin, indicating that his lax approach to certain types of crimes is unacceptable.
However, the loss is far from certain for liberal cities that choose progressive lawyers. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krosner won re-election and former New York State and federal attorney Alvin Brock became Manhattan District Attorney in 2021 – both winning for the progressive bar movement.
Republican incumbents often retain challenges from the right
The House Republicans faced primaries from the right – mostly from those in office accused of not being supportive enough of Trump – who could have won or survived Tuesday’s race.
South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson has blocked the challenge of state representative Toffee Howard, who criticized his vote to testify in the 2020 election and accepted Trump’s lies about voter fraud.
New Jersey Representative Chris Smith has set up a challenging panel that includes Conservative speech radio presenter Mike Crispy, backed by Trump allies, including moderate Republicans who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Roger Stone and Rudy Giuliani.
In the California Open primaries, regardless of party affiliation, the first two places to go in the November general election were won by deputies David Valadao and Young Kim – two Republicans who won the hard-fought race – both ahead of the Trump loyalists’ challenge. , Even though there are still more votes to count.
A bet to see a House Primary in Montana. Faced with questions about Ryan Zinke, a former congressman who resigned for a corrupt post as Trump’s interior secretary, and his residence, he narrowly guided former state Senator Al Olzewski when the ballots were counted Wednesday morning.
A Mississippi Republican is facing an insurgency
Representative. Steven Palazzo failed to get the majority needed to avoid a run in the primary for his seat on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.
It is not yet clear who Palazzo will face on June 28, with Jackson County Sheriff Mike Esel pushing Hancock County businessman Clay Wagner into second place early Wednesday. Danger.
He may have misused campaign and congressional funds, sent staff for personal missions, and tried to use his office to help his brother rejoin the Navy.
He decided to sign a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who aims to end the proxy vote in Congress. Issue: Palazzo made good use of this practice, which led to hypocritical accusations from his rivals.
Capper arrived late during the campaign, begging from a candidate forum, quoting “meetings dealing with national security” – and being undermined by posting pictures online of himself eating with his son at a local restaurant during the event.
The Los Angeles mayoral race advanced to second place
The race for the next mayor of Los Angeles will not be decided until November, with neither businessman Rick Caruso nor Rep. Karen Boss able to win more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday night.
Caruso and Bass both ran on the need to deal with homelessness and crime, but they approached issues with different solutions and styles that could define their campaigns until November.
Caruso, a real estate developer who has worked for years to gain private power in Los Angeles, argued that the city was “in a state of emergency”, with “widespread homelessness” and “people living in fear for their safety.” Caruso promised to increase the size of the Los Angeles police force, which is working against the “withdrawal of police” effort.
Pass, a longtime congressional woman and former member of the California State Legislature, ran more and more as a progressive, highlighting her relationship with the city and her service in representing it.
But Caruso’s strong view on Tuesday will serve as a warning to the traditional Democrats running on their records, especially if most of that time had been spent in Congress, where Democrats and Republicans are now seen as less of the same.
The Democratic establishment rules New Jersey. Again.
It was a disgusting night for progressive outsiders at Democratic primaries in New Jersey, where party heavyweights – and the machines that defend their influence – enjoyed a series of victories.
In the 10th congressional district, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. defeated Imani Oakley, former New Jersey Assembly Director of Working Families, as a left-wing challenger. Oagley raised money on a better clip than expected, but Payne benefited from the reinforcements of the establishment partners – a back-up that Oakley did not receive from the progressives.
Payne’s low profile on Capitol Hill, where he took a spot from his late father a decade ago, could have attracted the North Jersey district to progressive groups if he had shown signs of weakness on Tuesday. But his magnificent renaming will help prevent another, better-organized challenge in two years.
New Jersey Sen. Such a bad story for the progressives in the nearby 8th Congress district who crushed Bob Menendez’s son Robert Menendez Jr., David Ocambo Grozels and Anne Rosbero-Eberhardt.
Menendez Jr., who is out of office, is on track to replace retired representative Albio Cyrus, who – with the veneration of local authority brokers – initially endorsed the young Menendez, effectively predicting any chance of a competitive race.
A rising star is burning in Iowa
In 2018, Abby Finkenawer rode the nationwide blue wave as a member of Congress and a rising star in Iowa’s Democrats.
Four years later and after two losses, Finkenauer burned everything.
He lost to former Congresswoman Mike Frank in the Senate Democratic primary on Tuesday, setting the stage for a race between retired Navy Admiral and Republican Sen. Chuck Crosley, his eighth longtime running for law. But the primary story of the Democrats is how a candidate for a candidacy attack wasted his chance.
Democrats have long doubted that if Grossley contests, he will be ousted by either Finkenawar or any Democrat in Iowa. But when he announced last year, Finkenauer was seen as an obvious favorite – a former member of Congress with deep ties to President Joe Biden, who won the pro-Republican district in 2018, but lost close rivalry two years later.
Then came the campaign crashes, most importantly the Finkenauer campaign drastically reducing the number of signatures needed to get on the primary ballot, opening the door to a challenge to his appearance. The Democrats qualified only after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in April that he could appear, overturning a lower court ruling.
The loss of Finkenauer is another example of how quickly someone who rises in a party can fall.
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