Trump ally loses, mixed results for progressives: takeaways from primaries in Minnesota, Wisconsin and beyond
A series of primary elections on Tuesday shaped the future of both the Democratic and Republican parties, pitting newcomers against established candidates and testing name recognition.
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, South Carolina, Vermont and Connecticut held elections, with a gubernatorial race in Wisconsin capturing nationwide attention.
That election, in which progressive challenger Francesca Hong faced David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, was seen as another key test of the left wing of the Democratic party in a swing state.
Despite polls suggesting she was on course for victory, the progressive state lawmaker Francesca Hong was narrowly beaten in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor by David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive.
The result amounts to a stunning upset after a messy campaign, during which Crowley exited the race, only to re-enter it – and promptly received the endorsement of Tony Evers, the outgoing Democratic governor.
It comes after a wave of leftwing candidates won prominent Democratic primaries in recent months, including Abdul El-Sayed, running for US Senate in Michigan, last week. Hong had pointed to Crowley’s return in the campaign as evidence of panic by the Democratic establishment, although Crowley insisted he was “far from” the establishment.
2. The fight for a new generation of Democrats prevails in Connecticut
Luke Bronin, the former mayor of Hartford, ousted the incumbent congressman John Larson in Connecticut’s first congressional district, the AP projects.
Larson, 78, has represented the district since 1999. Bronin, 47, talked to the Guardian last year about Democrats challenging older members of Congress in the aftermath of Joe Biden’s 2024 exit from the presidential race over age and mental fitness concerns.
At the time, Bronin said Democrats needed to be “relentless and clear” about the ways Donald Trump is making life worse for Americans, and “equally relentless and clear” about the Democratic party’s vision for improving their daily lives.
In a statement on Tuesday, Bronin said: “Tonight, voters sent a message that if we are going to fix this mess we’re in, we need to build a Democratic Party that’s bringing a whole new energy to this fight. It’s time to be courageous, bold, and clear about who we’re fighting for and what we’re fighting for.”
3. Alabama voters cast ballots again in redrawn district that dilutes Black voting power
Some Alabama voters took to the polls for the second time this primary season after the state’s Republican-controlled legislature reconfigured four of the seven districts.
The redrawn district map came after the US supreme court dismantled a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and several southern states moved to redistrict and consolidate Republican power. In June, the supreme court ruled that Alabama could use a redrawn congressional map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts in this year’s midterm elections.
The new map poses steep challenges for Shomari Figures, the Democratic representative who was first elected in 2024 after the creation of a new district that included the mostly Black cities of Mobile and Montgomery. But the district no longer includes Mobile, Figures’s home town. Rhett Marques, a Republican state representative and small-business owner who became part of the new district, won the primary to challenge Figures in November.
4. Darline Graham, Lindsey Graham’s sister, advances to runoff in South Carolina Republican primary
Interim US senator Darline Graham advanced to a runoff in South Carolina’s special Republican primary to replace her brother, Lindsey Graham, in the Senate one month after his sudden death.
She will face Congressman Ralph Norman, an ultraconservative Freedom Caucus member, on 25 August. The winner of that contest will run against Annie Andrews, the Democratic nominee and a pediatrician, in the November general election.
Trump-backed Graham was appointed to the Senate after Lindsey Graham died one month ago. A political outsider, she has sought to cast herself as focused on affordability, not national security like her brother.
5. Trump ally Mike Lindell loses significantly in Minnesota governor primary
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and a staunch Trump ally lost decisively to Lisa Demuth, the Republican speaker of the Minnesota house of representatives.
Minnesota has not elected a Republican governor in decades, but the primary was still a test of Trump’s strength among his party in the state. Lindell’s loss could be attributed to the weakness of his campaign, but also a sign of Trump’s waning support amid low approval ratings. The known election denier did not concede when the race was called for his opponent.
Demuth became speaker last year in an evenly divided house, becoming the first Black person in the role.
6. The impact of Trump’s immigration agenda weighed heavily over Minnesota
Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, won decisively on Tuesday after a campaign that attacked Angie Craig, a US representative, on her immigration record.
At the center of the attack was Craig’s vote for the Laken Riley Act, which requires immigration detention for undocumented immigrants accused of local crimes, and Craig has since expressed regret for voting for it.
The role of immigration enforcement served as a major issue in the primary after the state experienced devastation, including the deaths of two residents and hundreds of deportations, when the Trump administration sent in thousands of immigration officers in early 2026 as part of Operation Metro Surge.
Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.
