RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Primary election season continues Tuesday as voters in Alaska , Florida and Wyoming head to the polls to pick their party's candidates for November's midterm elections , which are less than three months away.
The November midterms will determine control of Congress for the remainder of President Donald Trump 's term. If Democrats, who are ahead in the polls, capture one or both chambers of Congress, it would severely limit legislation for the next two years and potentially increase oversight of the White House and industry.
"The decline in President Trump's approval ratings across a range of issues has increased Democratic prospects," said one recent analysis from TD Cowen. "Divided government could leave policy in a gridlock."
Tuesday's elections come in the wake of contests in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota over the past several weeks, which were closely watched on the Democratic side as the party grapples with whether to lean further to the left or track toward the center after crushing losses in 2024. In Senate primaries, Democrats nominated progressives Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota. At the same time, Democratic socialist Francesca Hong fell short in the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary to centrist David Crowley.
Progressive candidates have surged in primaries across the country, pushing a platform of implementing universal healthcare known as Medicare for All, taxing the wealthy and taking a tougher tack against corporations.
Alaska voters will head to the polls Tuesday for a set of contests headlined by a Senate race for the seat currently occupied by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. The primary contest in Alaska is not broken down by party and will instead see the top four vote-getters advance to a ranked-choice general election in November.
Sullivan, who is running for reelection, is facing a tough challenge from former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. The former congresswoman lost reelection in 2024, but won statewide in Alaska twice in 2022 — giving Democrats hope she can oust Sullivan.
The Cook Political Report rates the Alaska Senate as a toss-up, and it has become a key contest in the battle for control of the Senate.
Peltola, unlike Flanagan and El-Sayed, is running a centrist campaign. She's pushing for targeted tax credits for Alaska oil and gas refineries and to pass permitting reform so energy projects can move ahead more quickly. Borrowing from the left, however, Peltola is calling for the elimination of federal income tax for Alaskans making less than $92,000 per year, and paying for it by increasing taxes on millionaires and billionaires.
Peltola has also rejected ties to the national Democratic Party — recently moving to distance herself from the endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris , the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024, according to The New York Times .
Sullivan, a Marine veteran, has represented Alaska in the Senate since 2015. He serves on the committees on Armed Services, Commerce, Environment and Public Works and Veterans Affairs. He is generally a reliable vote for Republicans, in contrast to his Alaska Republican counterpart, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is one of the Senate's usual swing votes.
Sullivan is endorsed by Trump, who carried the state by about 13 points in 2024.
Also figuring into Alaska's Senate primary is another Daniel Sullivan, a former teacher who has joined the race as a Republican and has the same name as the incumbent senator. Sen. Sullivan has accused the other Sullivan of being a Democratic plant meant to confuse voters and potentially siphon votes away from his campaign. That could matter in November if both Sullivans make it through the primary.
Florida will hold gubernatorial and Senate primaries on Tuesday, with data centers becoming a top issue among voters, according to a recent Politico report. Hyperscalers have reportedly struggled to get projects across the finish line in the state due to pushback.
Many candidates have raced to distance themselves from the facilities that drive artificial intelligence as voters recoil from increased utility bills.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., is the Trump-endorsed candidate running to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is term-limited. Donalds is a heavy favorite in the Republican gubernatorial primary field that also includes Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and investor James Fishback.
AI interests have spent big backing Donalds, according to Bloomberg .
Donalds has called for data center builders to pay their own way in the state, similar to the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge that sought to ensure hyperscalers are paying for any increases to utility bills. His campaign has denied that campaign contributions from Big Tech will sway his support for data centers as governor.
DeSantis has signed strict legislation into law on the issue, including a prohibition on data centers passing on costs to ratepayers and new authority for local communities to reject data centers from being built.
Collins, meanwhile, has called for a "Florida Strong standard [that] requires operators to fund their own project infrastructure and meet Florida's water, reliability, and ratepayer terms, so families and seniors are never stuck subsidizing Big Tech's power demand."
And Fishback has gone even further, saying he would ban data centers in "all 67 counties by preventing county commissions from approving them in the first place."
Democrats have struggled mightily in Florida in the Trump era. But they're hoping that their luck will turn this year as former Republican-turned-independent Rep. David Jolly campaigns for the party's nomination for governor. Recent general election polling has found Jolly down but within striking distance of Donalds.
Florida will also hold a Senate primary. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., is running for a full term after replacing now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio. She's expected to face the winner of a Democratic primary...
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