Businessman Eric Hovde won the Wisconsin Republican Senate Primaryprojects NBC News, setting up a critical race between the battleground state and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Hovde, who was backed by former President Donald Trump and other national Republicans, easily fended off two lesser-known challengers in the primary, while Baldwin ran unopposed as he sought a third term.
Baldwin’s seat is a top priority for both parties in the battle for control of the closely divided Senate. She worked to build a sizable war chest for the campaign and leverage its appeal in rural parts of the state.
In 2018, Baldwin was re-elected by 11 points, following a 5-point victory in 2012. By comparison, Trump and President Joe Biden each won the state by less than 1 percentage point in the last two races for the White House. Baldwin also did better than the top of the Democratic ticket in some recent polls in Wisconsin.
Hovde, a wealthy and independent businessman who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2012, has already loaned his campaign $13 million. But Baldwin has maintained a financial advantage, having spent more than $30 million so far, with $6.4 million remaining in his campaign account as of July 24, according to the latest campaign finance reports. Hovde’s campaign reported spending $13.6 million so far and had $3.1 million on hand as of July 24.
With Hovde long seen as the favorite to win the Republican Party nomination, the two candidates have already traded barbs.
One of Baldwin’s most recent ads features children of single mothers, highlighting Hovde audio saying that children “born out of wedlock” are “on a direct path to a life of poverty.”
“This just shows that Eric Hovde is ignorant,” says one person in the ad, with another person later adding: “What is wrong with this guy?”
Hovde resisted Baldwin’s negative ads, releasing a TV commercial in which he says: “The false attacks will continue to happen because she has nothing to go by. Her record has failed us on inflation, the border and crime.” He later adds: “It’s time for a change.”
In addition to the Senate race, Wisconsin voters voted in the House and local primaries.
Businesswoman Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic primary in the 3rd District, advancing to the general election against Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden. He flipped the seat to the Republicans in 2022 following the retirement of longtime Democratic Rep. Ron Kind, winning by nearly 4 points.
Van Orden was condemned by members of both parties last year after he cursed at a group of Senate pages during an incident in the Capitol rotunda.
In the 8th District, Trump-backed businessman Tony Wied won the Republican primary, setting up a showdown with Democratic OB-GYN Kristin Lyerly. The seat was previously held by Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, who resigned earlier this year.
Wied and Lyerly will now compete in two separate elections in November: one to serve the remainder of Gallager’s term and one for a full two-year term starting in January. Wied will be the favorite in the Republican-leaning area.
Wisconsin voters also rejected two proposed constitutional amendments, supported by Republicans who control the Legislature, that would have restricted Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ powers to allocate state and federal dollars, according to the Associated Press.
Minnesota ‘squad’ member defends primary challengers
Minnesota, Connecticut and Vermont also held primaries on Tuesday.
Two members of Congress in Minnesota survived the primaries. Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar defeated former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, who lost to her by just 2 percentage points in the 2022 primary, and two other challengers in the solidly blue 5th District.
Two of Omar’s colleagues in the progressive “squad” of lawmakers who have been critical of Israel’s war with Hamas lost their primaries in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Michelle Fischbach won her primary, NBC News projects, fending off a primary challenger in the 7th District after failing to win the state party’s endorsement in April.
Fischbach praised his endorsement of Trump on radio waves. His main opponent was businessman Steve Boyd, who said in a statement in April that his inability to win party support “shows that Americans are showing they are fed up with the Washington establishment.”
In Minnesota’s battleground 2nd District, Democratic Rep. Angie Craig will officially face Navy veteran Joe Teirab in November. Teirab, who had Trump’s support in the Republican Party primaries, was the leading Republican candidate after your main rival gave up last month.
Biden won the 2nd District in 2020 by 7 points, while Craig won his third term in 2022 by 5 points.
In the Senate race, former NBA player Royce White, who has a long history of incendiary comments, won the crowded Republican primaries to face Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.
White led the Republican Party field in fundraising and had the endorsement of the state party. But he has faced criticism relating to unpaid alimony.
While the Republicans I’ve been trying to put Minnesota at stake in the presidential race, defeating Klobuchar would be a difficult task. She has won each of the last three races by 20 percentage points or more.
Notable results in Connecticut and Vermont
In Connecticut’s competitive 5th District, Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes will once again face former Republican state Sen. George Logan, the AP projected, after each ran unopposed in the primary. Hayes defeated Logan by just 1 point in 2022, after Biden won the district by nearly 11 points two years earlier.
Elsewhere in Connecticut, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy ran unopposed in the primary and is heading into the general election as a heavy favorite against Republican bar owner Matthew Corey, whom he defeated in 2018.
And in Vermont, Republican Gov. Phil Scott and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders will advance to the general election, according to the AP; they are not expected to face serious competition.
Sanders will face Republican Gerald Malloy, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate two years ago. The AP projects that Democrat Esther Charlestin, a former member of the Middlebury Selectboard, won the primary to face Scott, who will be a heavy favorite to win another term despite Vermont’s deep blue hue.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
