Primaries Today

Today, voters are at the polls in Vermont, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Connecticut. (In 2 weeks, on August 28, Florida and Arizona.) The most important state to watch-- and to vote in-- today is Wisconsin. Most of the contested primaries are on the Republican side. The Republicans hope to take on U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin and of the 5 combatants, it's come down to a race between Ken doll and former Democrat Kevin Nicholson and state Senator Leah Vukmir. Nicholson, backed by Big Money, is the likely nominee.

The big congressional race will be in southeast Wisconsin (WI-01) where both parties are looking for a replacement for Paul Ryan, who-- fearful of losing to Randy "@IronStache" Bryce-- folded up his tent and headed for the hills. The Republicans have 5 candidates contesting the nomination, from wealthy neo-Nazi Paul Nehlen to Ryan-clone (and establishment pick) Bryan Steil. The Republicans have also been spending money on a weak-- albeit extremely vicious and negative-- Democratic vanity candidate, to annoy Bryce and make it appear that his race is seriously contested. Bryce's win tonight will be one of the most significant congressional results in the country and will likely result in an important red-to-blue flip in November. More important, though, than just a red-to-blue flip, is a flip from corporate conservatism to actual working class solidarity. There is bipartisan agreement inside both DC political establishments that Bryce could be a real interrupter to repulsive congressional business-as-usual.

There are also 8 candidates running for the Democratic nomination to take on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker-- state superintendent of schools Tony Evans, Matt Flynn, Mike McCabe, Mahlon Mitchell, Josh Pade, former state Rep Kelda Roys, Madison mayor Paul Soglin and state Senator Kathleen Vinehout. Both public polls in July show Evers winning the primary and then going on to beat Walker in November, the Marist poll 54 to 41% (which also shows Trump with a 52% disapproval rating and 36% approval). And here's the top-line result from the Emerson poll:

State Senator Chris Larson sent his supporters a get-out-the-vote e-mail urging them to cast ballots for Mandela Barnes for Lieutenant Governor, Sarah Godlewski for Treasurer, Arvina Martina for Secretary of State, Errnell Lucas for Milwaukee County Sheriff, noting that "This is race is a very important one. Since being appointed by a Republican Governor in 2002, Sheriff David Clarke has been steadily making our community less safe. From radio ads encouraging citizens to arm themselves to deaths in his custody, Clarke has been a horrible embarrassment for our county. With Scott Walker’s blessing, Clarke’s chief enabler is now the acting Sheriff and is running to serve a full 4-year term. Earnell Lucas is the man to stop him and, more importantly, lead the Sheriff’s office out of the controversies and mayhem it’s been in. Earnell has 40 years experience in protecting the public and understands the need for justice reform on a broader scale. He also will be a key partner in stemming drunk driving in our corner of the state."

Larson introduced me to Randy Bryce last year and suggested that I urge him to run for Congress, so it was no surprise when he endorsed Bryce again this week: "Randy has been a friend since we first met standing up to the abuses of power by Scott Walker 8 years ago. Randy has been a powerful voice, speaking at just about every major action in Wisconsin since. His spirited campaign has already gotten Paul Ryan to flinch and jump ship. Having him fight for the forgotten working class of Wisconsin in congress is just too good of an opportunity to pass up."

He also endorsed Gwen Moore in the WI-04 district. As for local state legislative races, Larson is asking voters to back 4 for the state Assembly and 2 for the state Senate:

• Marisabel Cabrera- 9th AD
• Fred Kessler in the 12th AD
• Supreme Moore Omokunde in the 16th AD
• Evan Goyke in the 18th AD
• Lee Snodgrass in the 19th SD
• Jeff Smith in the 31st SD.

Remember to bring your ID. Polls are open 7am-8pm

In the northwestern Connecticut congressional district (CT-05), wealthy New Dem Elizabeth Esty got involved in an office scandal and was forced to retire. The best candidate-- the progressive one-- running to replace her is Jahana Hayes, who was the 2016 National Teacher of the Year. It's the least Democratic of the state's 5 congressional seats (PVI is D+2 and Hillary only beat Trump 49.9-45.8%) and includes Waterbury, Danbury, Meriden, New Miller and Salisbury. Hayes' opponent, conservative Mary Glassman, was endorsed yesterday by the very, very Republican U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The last time the Chamber weighed in on a Democratic primary was when they endorsed right-wing GOP-lite Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas. (The other "Democrat" the Chamber is backing this year is right-wing Blue Dog Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.)

There's also an important gubernatorial race in Connecticut, where immensely unpopular Governor Dan Malloy did everyone a favor by not running again. It could be relatively hard for the Democrats to hold on but Ned Lamont looks like the front-runner. His main opponent is Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who went to prison for corruption during an earlier stint in elected office.

And that brings us to Minnesota, where there are also some important races. Let's start with Alan Franken's U.S. Senate that a Gabby Giffords-led coup gave to Tina Smith. She's been a good enough voter but hasn't distinguished herself at all and is now asking the voters to elect her. She has 5 challengers but the only one who has gotten any attention is Bush's former ethics lawyer Richard Painter, who's on MSNBC bitching about Trump's corruption all the time and has switched parties. He hasn't raised enough money to fund a competitive campaign (just $233,848 against Smith's $4,844,776).

Minnesota has 8 congressional districts and I'm sorry to say that corrupt arch-conservative, Blue Dog Collin Peterson has no primary opponent (again) in MN-07. Nor does New Dem Angie Craig, a status quo establishment Democrat who many people believe is progressive-- she isn't-- because she's a lesbian. The 2 things-- a progressive vision and sexuality-- are not related. I wouldn't vote for her in a primary, although it is necessary to back her in November against woman-hating/homophobe insane incumbent, Jason Lewis. Another conservative is favored to win in the open 1st district, Dan Feehan. I wouldn't vote for him either. Same in the 3rd, where conservative Dean Phillips is the establishment pick to take on Erik Paulsen in November. Vote for Phillips and Feehan in November, but not today. Minnesota's brightest hope for helping to reform and improve Congress is Ilhan Omar in the crowded race to replace Keith Ellison in Minneapolis (MN-05).

There's also a 5-way gubernatorial primary among Democrats for the open seat. The winner is likely to face Tim Pawlenty (unless the Trumpists are strong enough to give the nomination to lunatic Jeff Johnson). Among the Democrats it looks like a close race been conservative congressman Tim Walz and state Attorney General Lori Swanson. Polls show either one beating Pawlenty, albeit narrowly.

The next really crucial races are in Florida, where Blue America is backing Alan Grayson in Orlando, Matt Haggman in Miami and Andrew Gillum for governor. Please keep in mind that the GOP is experimenting with pouring money into Democratic primaries to knock out progressives so that conservatives win. They're doing this in Orlando where a SuperPAC controlled by No Labels is targetting Alan Grayson (in favor of conservative Democrat Darren Soto) and is funded by GOP billionaires like James Murdoch, who chipped in $500,000 to smear Grayson.