Voters in several states went to the polls Tuesday, weighing in on key races in Oregon, Georgia, Kentucky and Idaho.
The November encounters solidified into a series of closely watched House races, as President Biden and former President Trump won their respective party primaries in Kentucky and Oregon.
At the same time, voters in California picked Republican Vince Fong is running in a special election to finish the remainder of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R) term in the House of Representatives.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday night’s competitions:
Protest votes highlight frustration with Biden and Trump
Both presidential candidates won more delegates in their respective primaries in Kentucky and Oregon, but there were also protest votes that underscored Americans’ dissatisfaction with the upcoming rematch in November.
Trump’s victory in the red line Kentucky The race was dampened by persistent protests for his former rival Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race in March.
Haley received about 6 percent of the vote in the Bluegrass State primary. At the time of publication, the results were available in 99 percent of the electoral districts. Another 4 percent voted “undecided.”
The numbers follow notable Haley numbers in other states and signal continued frustration with the former president among some members of the Republican Party. Haley received around 20 percent of the votes in last week’s primary elections in Maryland and Nebraska and nearly 10 percent in West Virginia.
A “non-binding” initiative also hit Biden Kentucky victory, losing about 18 percent of the Democratic primary vote at the time of publication. A total of 11 percent went to Biden’s long-term challengers Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.), who has dropped out of the race.
Biden has experienced “non-binding” protests several states while progressives express frustration with the administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. “Uncommitted” has so far won 28 delegates, according to DDHQ’s trackera number dwarfed by Biden’s numbers, but notable nonetheless.
Organizers over in Oregon, where “non-binding” is also not a formal option on the ballot pushed so that voters can register “without obligation”.
I wish the incumbents a good night
Tuesday was a good night for the incumbents in several critical races.
In Kentucky, Republican Representative Thomas Massie fended off the main opponents for his seat in the state’s 4th Congressional District, even after a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) worked to unseat him.
Over in Georgia, Rep. Lucy McBath (D) beat out two main competitors for her seat in the Peach State’s 6th Congressional District.
Meanwhile, Fani Willis, Fulton County district attorney and lead investigators into former President Trump’s efforts to influence Georgia’s 2020 election results, won her primary on Tuesday, and the judge in charge of the case also secured his re-election.
Willis best lawyer Christian Wise Smith in her first election since her high-profile investigation began. She will face a Republican competitor in the fall.
At the same time, Scott McAfee, Fulton County Superior Court Judge fended off a challenge to keep his placeto avoid the complications that would have arisen in Trump’s case if his caseload had been passed on to a successor.
And Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson also won re-election, fending off a challenge from former Democratic Rep. John Barrow, who had tried to focus on the issue of abortion.
Establishment Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief in Oregon
The Democratic Party’s candidate for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District won a closely contested primary Tuesday, raising hopes the party can capture the seat in November.
Democratic Rep. Janelle Bynum, backed by the party’s campaign arm in the House, defeated Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the party’s unsuccessful 2022 candidate.
Last cycle, McLeod-Skinner defeated centrist former Rep. Kurt Schrader (D) in the primary, only to narrowly lose to her Republican rival, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
The seat, which the nonpartisan political handicapper Cook Political Report classifies as a toss-up, is now seen as one of several that could support decide control of Congress in the fall.
The party establishment had rallied around Bynum, who was widely seen as the stronger candidate. Bynum received support from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) and from EMILY’s List, a group that endorsed McLeod-Skinner two years ago. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) included Bynum in its coveted “Red to Blue” program, boasting that the Democrat had defeated Chavez-DeRemer in previous state legislative races.
A well-funded candidate beats one with name recognition
In another closely watched race in Oregon, Oregon State Rep. Maxine Dexter (D) emerged as the winner a competitive Democratic primary for outgoing Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)’s House seat.
Dexter ran against Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal. the older sister by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wa.) and six other Democrats for the open seat.
Although Jayapal had made headlines early on, thanks in part to her progressive sister’s name, Dexter had raised immense sums of money in the final months of the race, including from pro-Israel donors.
Not even the support of Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) were enough to pull Jayapal across the finish line, as progressives suffered one of the few notable defeats in the Beaver State.
Dexter is the favorite to succeed Blumenauer in November in the all-blue district.
A warning to Democrats about crime
The other gigantic loss for Progressives came in Portland-based Multnomah County, which left Progressive District Attorney Mike Schmidt behind lagged behind in his main opponentalthough the race had not yet been called at the time of publication.
Schmidt faces a challenge in his own office: Nathan Vasquez, an assistant district attorney, ran as a tough candidate in a race that has highlighted growing tensions in the public safety and criminal justice systems.
The DA race comes at a time when Oregon is seeing growing concerns Efforts to Decriminalize Drugs And increasingly Homelessness. Schmidt, who took office in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd sparked protests in Portland, has focused on progressive criminal justice reforms.
And while Vasquez has the support of six law enforcement unions in Multnomah County, Schmidt has the support of Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and former Gov. Kate Brown (D), as reported by (*5*)Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Should Schmidt ultimately lose re-election, the race will likely be seen as a cautionary tale for Democrats about how to handle the crime issue, which Republicans tried to focus on before November, in the same way they did Democrats have tried to emphasize the issue of abortion.
