Madison, Wis.
The results came as voters across four states cast ballots and the 2018 midterm season lurched toward its finale.
Trump renewed his grip on the modern-day GOP as his pick for Kansas governor, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, scored a delayed victory against Gov. Jeff Colyer, who became the first incumbent governor to be defeated this season. Elsewhere in the Midwest, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker won the right to seek a third term, while former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was fighting to resurrect his political career and prove he fits in Trump’s GOP.
Both Walker and Pawlenty criticized Trump before he became president, but they have since rallied behind him.
Meanwhile, accusations of domestic violence involving the Democratic National Committee’s second-in-command threatened to undermine Democratic enthusiasm, particularly in Minnesota, a state where women dominated on Tuesday.
Vermont, Connecticut, Minnesota and Wisconsin all held primaries on Tuesday. Kansas’ gubernatorial primary, which was held last week, was finalized when Colyer conceded defeat.
All but 10 states will have picked their candidates for November’s general election by the time the day’s votes are counted. While the full political battlefield isn’t quite set, the stakes are clear: Democrats are working to topple Republican control of Congress and governors’ offices across the nation.
Democrats appeared particularly motivated in Wisconsin, where eight candidates lined up for the chance to take on Walker, a two-term incumbent who has warned his party about the prospect of Democratic gains.
Walker’s strong anti-union policies made him a villain to Democrats long before Trump’s rise. State schools chief Tony Evers, who has clashed with Walker at times, won the Democratic nomination and will take on Walker this fall.
Once a target of Trump criticism, Walker gained the president’s endorsement in a tweet Monday night calling him “a tremendous Governor who has done incredible things for that Great State.” But Trump’s persistent attacks on Wisconsin-based motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson put Republican candidates on their heels in recent days, Walker among them.
“There’s a lot of disgust at what’s going on at the top level moving down,” said Madison, Wis., voter Conor McGuire, 49, who described himself as a frustrated Republican but voted for Democrat Evers.
Initially a Walker supporter, McGuire said he’s disgusted by Walker’s embrace of Trump.
Trump also stars, informally, in Wisconsin’s Senate primaries as Republicans try to deny Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin a second term.
The GOP primary featured fervent Trump supporters: former Marine Kevin Nicholson, running as an outsider, and longtime state lawmaker Leah Vukmir, who is backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan. Neither candidate was an early Trump supporter, and Vukmir has struggled to explain footage recently unearthed from 2016 in which she calls Trump “offensive to everyone.”
Tuesday’s primaries served as a test of Democratic enthusiasm in the upper Midwest, a region that has long been associated with liberal politics but has been trending red. Trump won Wisconsin by less than 1 percentage point in 2016, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the state since 1984.
It was much the same in Minnesota, where Trump lost by less than 3 percentage points in a state that hasn’t backed a Republican presidential contender since 1972.
In Connecticut, five Republicans lined up to replace the unpopular outgoing governor, Dan Malloy, D. Former gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont won the Democratic nomination.