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Takeaways from the 2018 primary season
By BILL BARROW, Associated Press
The stage is set for a November brawl that could loosen President Donald Trump’s grip on Washington.
Elections in New York Thursday marked the end of a long, dramatic and sometimes tumultuous primary season that reshaped both parties going into the midterm elections.
Democrats have a younger, more liberal, and more diverse slate of candi- dates they believe can flip control of the House and reclaim several governor’s offices. Republicans, meanwhile, have doubled down on being the party of Trump.
Here are some takeaways from prima- ry season as the focus shifts to the Nov. 6 general election.
DEMOCRATS ARE ENERGIZED, BUT THE GOP BASE ISN’T ASLEEP
An avowed democratic socialist upset a House Democratic leader in New York. A self-styled progressive knocked off a former congressman in a Nebraska swing district. An unabashed liberal won the Democratic nomination for governor in Georgia and is a serious contender for the fall race.
Single-payer health insurance advo- cates came out on top and are aiming for House seats from West Virginia to California and in governor’s races in Maryland and Florida. Elsewhere, Dem- ocrats opted for more centrist candi- dates — but many of them still further left than the old Blue Dog Democrats booted from Congress during President Barack Obama’s two terms.
And in a series of House special
elections in more conservative districts, Democrats managed much narrower margins than usual even in defeat, with raw vote totals much closer to their typ- ical presidential election turnout than what Republicans produced.
In short: The political left has explod- ed since Trump’s election. If all these trends hold nationwide in November, Democrats would benefit.
Yet it’s not accurate to say the Repub- lican base is depressed. The president’s approval rating among self-identi-
fied Republicans typically exceeds 90 percent. Democrats set primary turn- out records this year in Florida and Texas — only to watch Republicans do the same. In perennial battleground Florida, for example, there were at least 100,000 more GOP ballots despite both parties having competitive primaries for governor.
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