Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.In today’s edition, we explore one Democratic primary where a progressive challenger was rejected last night.Plus, Andrea Mitchell dives into the clash between President Donald Trump and Jeanine Pirro.
Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.— Adam WollnerProgressives had another big primary night — with a notable exceptionLast night’s primaries brought more success for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.Former public health official Abdul El-Sayed defeated Rep.Haley Stevens in Michigan’s high-profile Democratic Senate contest.
Activist William Lawrence won the party’s nomination in Michigan’s battleground 7th District.State Rep.
Donavan McKinney unseated Rep.Shri Thanedar in the state’s 13th District.
And in Kansas’ Democratic gubernatorial primary, state Sen.Cindy Holscher beat state Sen.
Ethan Corson, who was backed by outgoing Gov.Laura Kelly.
But that trend notably did not not extend to a key House race in Missouri.In the Democratic primary in the 1st District, Rep.
Wesley Bell fended off a challenge from former Rep.Cori Bush in a rematch of their 2024 clash.
As Sahil Kapur and Brennan Leach report from St.Louis, Bush ran on a platform of cutting off U.S.
funding for Israel and taking a more combative approach to push Democratic leaders to the left — causes that have powered other successful challengers against incumbents in solidly blue districts.Still, Bell managed to pull off a 22-point victory thanks to two key factors.First, Democratic voters broadly saw him as a workhorse who is focused on results and more interested in delivering locally than garnering national headlines.
One voter who flipped their support from Bush to Bell over the last two years told Sahil and Brennan that “politics is really comp...