“Alaska’s House and Senate contests are set for November’s general election, after the results in the state’s nonpartisan top-four primary put fringe candidates on the ballot, including one who shares the same name as the incumbent and a felon serving a 20-year prison sentence in New York,” CBS News reports.
Tonight’s Primary Results
“Tuesday’s Democratic primaries in Massachusetts are likely to determine who will represent the state in Washington next year,” the New York Times reports.
“The state is so Democratic that its primaries are usually more consequential than general elections in congressional races. The state’s last Republican House members left office after the 1996 elections. Scott Brown, who won a special election in 2010 after the death of Edward Kennedy, was the only Massachusetts Republican to serve in the Senate since 1979.”
Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
Leave your reactions in the comments as the results come in.
Trump Hits Back at GOP Congressman
“President Donald Trump took aim at Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) on Wednesday, declaring the congressman ‘ruined his career’ by endorsing former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) over him in the 2024 Republican presidential primary,” Mediaite reports.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Florida is known for hurricanes and so the DSA is a disaster area in Florida — and there’s no federal reimbursement coming to help these people.”
— Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), quoted by Politico.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz Wins Primary in Black District
“Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was projected to win a competitive Democratic primary in a historically Black district in Florida, likely securing her return to the House of Representatives in January,” NOTUS reports.
Cory Mills Loses GOP Primary
“Rep. Cory Mills was defeated by a Republican challenger Tuesday in a Florida primary that tested voters’ tolerance of several serious controversies the lawmaker faces, including claims involving sexual misconduct and domestic violence,” the Washington Post reports.
Subpoenas Issued in Dueling Dan Sullivans’ Race
“The federal investigation related to the dueling Republican Senate candidates in Alaska with the same name has entered a new phase,” NBC News reports.
“A grand jury last week issued subpoenas to compel information from witnesses linked to the campaign of Dan J. Sullivan.”
“The former schoolteacher who recently registered as a Republican is under investigation for potentially being part of a conspiracy to confuse voters and steal votes away from the incumbent, Dan S. Sullivan, who has been in office since 2015.”
Florida Primary Underscores State’s New Identity
“Tuesday’s primary punctuates just how much Florida, once the nation’s largest swing state, has been transformed into a solidly Republican bastion,” the New York Times reports.
“Florida’s electoral contests are no longer the nail-biters that led to past recounts and countless late-night jokes. Its politics now reflect how Republicans have consolidated power in President Trump’s adopted home state, which has become a proving ground for the next generation of ambitious Republican politicians.”
New York Times: Florida primary underscores state’s new identity as a Republican juggernaut.
Cory Mills Is Running in His Primary Under an Ethical Cloud
“Embattled GOP Rep. Cory Mills is running for reelection Tuesday in a Florida primary that will test voters’ tolerance of serious controversy, including claims involving sexual misconduct and domestic violence,” the Washington Post reports.
”If Mills, 46, wins his race, Democrats believe the scandal-laden Republican’s victory could make the reliably red seat vulnerable to an upset in November.”
Trump Votes by Mail Again in Florida
“President Trump voted by mail ahead of Florida’s Republican primary on Tuesday, participating for at least the third time in a practice that he has railed against for years and has equated to cheating,” the New York Times reports.
Trump Keeps His Distance from Cory Mills
“President Donald Trump spent last week handing out coveted endorsements ahead of Florida’s Tuesday primaries. But amid the parade of thumbs-ups on Truth Social, one House Republican incumbent was conspicuously absent: Rep. Cory Mills,” Puck reports.
“Trump endorsed Mills earlier in the cycle, but his recent omission offers the clearest evidence yet of the campaign that House Republicans have been waging behind the scenes to ensure that the scandal-plagued congressman loses his primary.”
Midwest Red States Are Back in Play for Democrats
Ron Brownstein: “Democrats this year are seriously contesting more races for governor and senator across the industrial Midwest and Farm Belt than at any point since the early years of Barack Obama’s presidency.”
“The party still faces substantial skepticism from many heartland voters, especially on cultural issues, but frustration over the high cost of living has loosened the GOP’s grip on the middle of the country. The two parties are locked in competitive governor and/or Senate races not only in traditional battlegrounds such as Michigan and Wisconsin, but also in states that moved solidly red since Obama’s era — including Ohio, Iowa, and maybe even Nebraska and Kansas.”
Republicans in Congress Face Mountain of To-Dos
“Congress is on break for several weeks, but you can hardly blame Republicans if they spend most of it vexing over a lengthy to-do list for when they’re back in Washington,” Bloomberg reports.
“The House has just 16 legislative days left, and the Senate 14, before the November elections. That means Republicans in both chambers will need to jockey for coveted floor votes on their pet projects in September and October.”
“With scant time, many lawmakers will inevitably be disappointed.”
Bloomberg: Lame duck Congress will struggle to get much done.
Primary Upsets Scramble the Fight for Control of Congress
“The final stretch of primary season has scrambled the battle for Congress, as scandals, insurgent victories and voters’ rejection of party leaders’ preferred candidates reshape a small but critical set of races,” the Washington Post reports.
A Former Trump Critic Shifts Toward Election Skepticism
“In the chaotic aftermath of the 2020 election, as President Trump refused to accept defeat and pumped out false claims about voter fraud, Mike Rogers was a clear and consistent voice of reproach,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Rogers, a former Republican representative from Michigan, denounced Mr. Trump’s efforts to undermine the election as ’cause for both concern and alarm.’ He ripped the president’s pressure on Georgia’s top election official ‘as more gangster than presidential.’ As for Mr. Trump’s role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Rogers declared, ‘You’re damn right you had responsibility for this.'”
“But as he aims to return to Washington, in a Senate race considered key to control of that chamber, Mr. Rogers has become an election skeptic.”
Ed Case Fends Off Challenge From the Left
“Rep. Ed Case (D-HI), a moderate Democrat, fended off a younger challenger from the left in the primary for the state’s 1st Congressional District,” the Washington Post reports.
”Case, 73, returned to the House in 2019 after representing Hawaii in Congress in the early 2000s. He overcame a lively challenge from 42-year-old Jarrett Keohokalole, who campaigned on a message of generational change and criticized Case’s conservative voting record.”
Author of DNC’s 2024 ‘Autopsy’ Says Gaza War Hurt Harris
“The author of the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 election ‘autopsy’ confirmed that he concluded the war in Gaza hurt Kamala Harris politically — and that he’d privately shared that assessment with a pro-Palestinian group,” Axios reports.
“He said he drafted that finding late last year but never submitted it to party leadership.”
Andy Ogles Faces Well-Funded Opposition in Primary
“Representative Andy Ogles, Republican of Tennessee, faces a more competitive race than expected in the state’s primary election on Thursday, after a last-minute influx of outside political spending and a surprise endorsement for his rival,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Ogles, a two-term congressman, has President Trump’s endorsement but also carries some political baggage. He has been criticized for inflammatory anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant comments, and investigated for campaign finance issues.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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