Live Primary Results: Hat Trick For The Squad? MN, WI, CT, VT

AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib

Will moderate Democrats score three for three on derailing The Squad? First they bounced Jamaal "Fire Pull" Bowman, and last week voters sent Cori Bush into the political wilderness. Tonight's primary in Minnesota gives them another opportunity as Ilhan Omar faces a credible challenge to renomination for her House seat in the state's hard-Left Fifth District. A loss here would send a huge message to the radical progressives and the anti-Semitic Left, but ... should we get our hopes up?

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As always, we'll have live results as they come in. And once again, we are partnering with our friends at Decision Desk HQ to provide real-time vote results after polls close, which will happen at various times tonight. The widgets below will list those times, and will automatically update. Please note: The House primaries are all available in a single widget for each party; you will need to use the drop-down box to choose the race you want.

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Minnesota

Let's start with the headline race first. Omar barely got past Don Samuels two years ago in a primary challenge, but she seems to have shored up her voter base this time around. She has wide leads in three polls, and Samuels has been far outclassed in fundraising this time, as Omar took in $5 million. Samuels has a shot, but don't get your hopes up. Whoever wins the primary will win the general election in this ultraviolet-blue Minneapolis district.

The only other race of note is the GOP primary to choose a challenger to Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Former NBA player Royce White goes up against fellow Hennepin County native Joe Fraser; White has endorsements from the populist wing, while Fraser has endorsements from my friend Norm Coleman and Rudy Boschwitz, both former US Senators. This one is probably interesting just for academic purposes, since Klobuchar is popular in MN and should be heavily favored over either Republican. 

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Polls close at 8 pm CT/9 ET and counting will go quickly. All early voting has to be in to the precincts by today, so don't expect any delays.


Wisconsin

This state's primaries may prove more interesting to Republican observers, although the prospects for ultimate victory are not great. The GOP primary to select a challenger to Sen. Tammy Baldwin seems likely to go to Eric Hovde, the Trump-endorsed candidate. He's running against Charles Barman, who has not been terribly successful in GOP primaries, and newcomer Rejani Raveendran, who chaired a chapter of the College Republicans at a UW campus. Hovde has raised a whopping $16 million in this cycle, so expect a walkover here and at least a competitive race against Baldwin. Current polling for that match-up isn't promising for the GOP, though.

Watch out for a potential threat to a GOP House seat in WI-03, however. That R+3 district on the Minnesota border is currently represented by Derrick Van Orden, and Democrats think they can flip it. Trump and Ron Johnson won the district in 2020 and 2022, but Demorat Tony Evers won it in his 2022 gubernatorial bid, too. Rebecca Cooke came in third two years ago in the Dem primary, but the moderate Dem businesswoman fits the district better than the two more liberal challengers. Cooke has outraised them both, too, by wide margins.

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Polls also close at 8 CT/9 ET, and all votes including early ballots must be counted tonight, just as in MN. Pay close attention to the vote totals of each party to see if we can get a sense of enthusiasm in this Blue Wall state.



Vermont

Democrats will choose a challenger to the current governor, popular (and liberal) Republican Phil Scott. Esther Charlestin got the state-party endorsement, but Peter Duval decided to challenge her anyway in the primary. Otherwise, not much is happening in the state primaries. Polls close earliest tonight at 7 pm ET, and almost all of the vote will get counted tonight. 


Connecticut

Again, this may not draw too much interest from Republicans, given the circumstances. Two men are running to challenge Sen. Chris Murphy in November in a state that produces lopsided wins for Democrats in general elections. Murphy faces a token challenge from independent Robert Hyde, but that won't do much except expand your Trivial Pursuit repertoire. Matthew Corey and Gerry Smith will vie for the Republican nomination; Smith won the party endorsement and has outraised Corey, but at $61K, Smith isn't exactly a fundraising juggernaut. 

The GOP has a competitive primary for CT-04, where Jim Himes has held the D+13 district for Democrats since 2008. It's a too-close-to-call situation between the party-endorsed Bob MacGuffie and Michael Goldstein, who barely lost his bid for the endorsement at the convention. Again, neither candidate has raised much money in this cycle, so it seems unlikely that they can compete against a Dem incumbent in a heavily Democrat district.

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Polls close at 8 pm ET, and as with the other states, almost all ballots should be tallied by tomorrow morning.

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Beege Welborn 5:00 PM | December 24, 2024
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