Key takeaways from horserace primary elections in Michigan, Missouri and Kansas
As Tuesday night became Wednesday morning, Michigan’s closely watched Democratic Senate primary remained uncalled, with progressive Abdul El-Sayed holding a narrow lead over Rep.Haley Stevens and seemingly on track to secure the nomination.
Elsewhere in the Midwest, voters rejected sweeping and transformative ballot measures, while Republicans once again overwhelmingly backed candidates endorsed by President Trump. Here are five key takeaways from primary night in Michigan, Missouri and Kansas. Before Wolverine Staters went to the polls Tuesday, many pundits were predicting an easy victory for El-Sayed over Stevens after no fewer than five surveys taken in the last month showed the former Detroit public health official up double-digits.And then the results started coming in.With 95% of the expected vote counted as of 7 a.m.ET, El-Sayed led Stevens by fewer than 20,000 votes out of more than 1.5 million cast, an unexpectedly close outcome whose effects could linger into the fall general election against the Republican nominee, former Rep.
Mike Rogers.While Stevens easily won rural areas and held her own in Detroit and its suburbs, El-Sayed ran up massive margins in the college town of Ann Arbor as well as the growing city of Grand Rapids, home of the young, white and college-educated voters who have flocked to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) elsewhere.El-Sayed championed radical left-wing economic and social reforms, including “Medicare for all,” abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), hiking taxes and ending US aid to IsraelStevens, meanwhile, ran on a more pragmatic, centrist platform focused on protecting American manufacturing, lowering the cost of healthcare and boosting federal funding for education and infrastructure.The “dueling Democratic visions” dynamic played out in a pair of key House races as well.
In the 7th District, centered around the state capital of Lansing, moderates Bridget Brink — a former US ambassador...