RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from PBS NewsHour — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 5 sources
An upset win by a progressive candidate leads a host of headlines from Tuesday's primaries. In the Senate primary, Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon trounced more moderate Democrat Alex Vindman, even though he spent far more money. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola was the top vote-getter in the non-partisan Senate primary. Lisa Desjardins reports. An upset win by a progressive candidate in Florida leads a host of headlines from yesterday's primary elections. Geoff Bennett: Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, beat moderate Democrat Alex Vindman, even though he had a major spending advantage. Nixon said the race challenges the way the right has sought to define progressives. Angie Nixon (D), Florida Senatorial Candidate: They look at this movement and they call us extreme. They call us radical. But I think people see through that. I won't let them define me. And I know you will always know where I stand, with you everyday people, everyday hardworking people. (Cheering) Geoff Bennett: In Alaska, another key race, moderate Democrat Mary Peltola, is the top vote-getter in the nonpartisan U.S. Senate primary. She and incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican, move on to the November ballot. Our Lisa Desjardins is here to talk us through what happened yesterday. OK, Lisa, so let's start with the surprise of the night, a big progressive win in Florida. Bring us up to speed. Lisa Desjardins: That Senate primary victory was a surprise to most, but not to the candidate herself. She is Angie Nixon, a member of the Florida House of Representatives. She's known for pink, including a pink megaphone. She did just join the DSA, Democratic Socialists of America. But she stresses that she has a unique and important coalition of the young, the suburbs and cities. She easily defeated Alex Vindman. Some viewers may recognize him as the key witness in the first impeachment of President Trump. He outraised Nixon 16 to 1. But look at where Nixon did well. If you look at the map of the results of Florida, you can see it was really all over the state, not just in cities and urban centers, but in rural parts. And when we talked to Kimberly Leonard, who writes the Florida Playbook for Politico, she said Nixon was a tireless campaigner. KIMBERLY LEONARD, Politico: She's not a polished politician, and she's someone who's more of a grassroots organizer. I mean, when she walks into a room and gets on stage, people are on their feet, they're clapping, they're jumping. She is just really magnetic. And I think that that was a big difference that ended up carrying her over. Lisa Desjardins: A progressive member of Congress who obviously liked to see that win said you can't take too much away from it. But one of that person's takeaways was that maybe there are still doubts about polling overall this election cycle. Geoff Bennett: Meantime, Florida's Republicans remapped the state. How did the incumbents do in their new districts last night? Lisa Desjardins: The Democratic incumbents who were targeted did well. Let's look at two big names specifically. That's Democrats Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz. Each of them prevailed in their primaries in new remapped districts. Wasserman Schultz especially got some attention because she was running in what is now a plurality Black district. She ran against four African American challengers. Some say they split the vote of the Black community. Of course, Wasserman Schultz herself is a well-known incumbent. She has a long record in Florida as well. She moves on to November. There was one incumbent in Florida who did lose, and it was a Republican. I'm talking about Representative Cory Mills. He's in the midst of multiple investigations. You see there he fell short. He is alleged -- there are abuse allegations, assault allegations, also accusations that he profited off his office. He denies all wrongdoing, but now, because of that result, he will not be returning to Congress in January. President Trump endorsed Cory Mills, but today he tried to frost that over. He wrote on TRUTH Social: "I told Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a friend of mine, to get out of the race, but he wouldn't listen." Trump has now endorsed the person who beat Cory Mills last night. Geoff Bennett: And another person endorsed by the president did win big in Florida. Tell us about the Florida governor's race. Lisa Desjardins: That's right. This is a current congressman with also a very large profile. Talking about here Byron Donalds, who now represents Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast. He's been known for his ambition in Congress. Last night, he easily beat all of his competitors to get the Republican nomination in the race to replace Ron DeSantis. He will face Democrat David Jolly. He's a former congressman also. Now, given Florida's recent history, it looks like Donalds has the advantage here. But it's also interesting that his win last night was part of an important theme. We have seen in primaries now we have seven Black nominees for governor, some Democrats, some Republicans. In states from Florida to Wisconsin to Nevada, in all of U.S. history to date, there have only been just three Black Americans elected to governors in a state. And now we have seven on the ballot in November. Geoff Bennett: Well, from Florida to Alaska, what happened there? Lisa Desjardins: Yes. Let's go all over. It's the other corner of the country. Democrats had a good night in Alaska, but they still have some tough races in November. Let's start with the U.S. Senate. That's where former Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola was the lead vote-getter. She's a key hope of Democrats who want to reclaim the Senate. She's challenging the incumbent Republican senator. There he is, Dan Sullivan. Now, we talked about this race because it's a toss-up with a twist. There is a second Dan Sullivan also on the ballot. We spoke with Eric Stone of Alaska Public Media. He said it will be an intens...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.