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Wisconsin Republicans tapped state senator Leah Vukmir to battle
incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, according to an
Associated Press projection, after a bruising primary that could
hamper her chances in November.
That state helped drive Republican Donald Trump’s surprising
presidential win two years ago and turnout there and in
neighboring Minnesota could serve as a barometer of Democratic
strength headed into the midterm elections.
Both states have shown signs of drifting rightward in recent
years. Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to
win Wisconsin in 32 years and he narrowly lost to Democrat
Hillary Clinton in Minnesota.
All 435 U.S. House members and one-third of the Senate are
running for re-election in November. Democrats need to add two
Senate seats to seize control of that chamber.
In the House, Democrats need to win 23 seats to take control,
which would derail or stall much of Trump's policy agenda and
increase congressional oversight and investigation of the
administration.
Vukmir emerged victorious after a bitter primary fight with
Kevin Nicholson, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran backed by
conservatives such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Steve
Bannon, the former Trump political adviser, in which each
candidate accused the other of a lack of fealty to Trump.
"It's now critical for our party to unify behind Leah so we can
achieve our ultimate goal: defeating Tammy Baldwin," U.S. House
Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement congratulating Vukmir.
Charlie Sykes, a longtime Republican commentator in Wisconsin,
said the bruising primary could help Baldwin keep her seat, a
blow to Republicans who once saw her as a top target.
"The biggest winner is Baldwin," Sykes told Reuters. "It was an
unnecessarily nasty intramural fight."
Republicans also made their choice to replace Ryan, who is
retiring from his seat in southeast Wisconsin. Bryan Steil, a
former aide to Ryan, was projected to trounce Paul Nehlen, an
avowed white nationalist, to be the Republican nominee.
Steil will face Randy Bryce, an ironworker known on Twitter as
"Iron Stache," in November in a suburban Milwaukee district that
Democrats covet.
Wisconsin Democrats tapped Tony Evers, the state schools chief,
to battle incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker, who is
seeking a third term.
Whether Walker, a former presidential candidate, can survive the
challenge will be closely watched, as another measure of
Democratic intensity.
"A really strong Democratic turnout in November could cause him
to lose," said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist in
Washington. State Democrats will be motivated by their
opposition to Trump in trying to bring down Walker, he said.
TRADE FACTORS
Minnesota Republicans picked state senator Karen Housley to take
on Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator Tina Smith, appointed after
former Senator Al Franken resigned last year amid sexual
harassment accusations.
Primaries in two House districts representing regions affected
by Trump's trade policies could play a key role in determining
control of Congress.
Former state representative Joe Radinovich outlasted a bevy of
Democrats in an open-seat race in the state's northeastern
mining region called the Iron Range, which has seen some benefit
from the administration's steel and aluminum tariffs.
Trump has campaigned in the district for the Republican
favorite, Pete Stauber.
In the state's south, Republican Jim Hagedorn defeated Carla
Nelson in a district the party hopes to seize after the
Democratic incumbent, Tim Walz, ran for governor. Farmers there
have complained over harm from retaliatory tariffs by China and
elsewhere.
Walz won the Democratic nomination for governor, while former
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty lost to Republican Jeff Johnson,
ending Pawlenty's political comeback bid.
Beyond the Upper Midwest, Connecticut and Vermont also held
primaries on Tuesday.
In Vermont, unofficial results showed Christine Hallquist as the
first openly transgender person to win a major U.S. party
nomination for statewide office in the Democratic governor's
primary.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the former presidential candidate,
easily won that state's Democratic Senate primary. But Sanders,
as before, is expected to decline the nomination and run as an
independent.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and James Oliphant in
Washington; Additional reporting by David Gaffen in NEW YORK;
Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez)
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