Notorious Ferguson Prosecutor Ousted in a Night of Victories and Disappointments for Insurgent Cand

[TomSea]

Notorious Ferguson Prosecutor Ousted in a Night of Victories and Disappointments for Insurgent Candidates
Ryan Grim, David Dayen, Zaid Jilani
August 8 2018,

Progressive Democrats heading into Tuesday’s primary were hoping for a repeat of Bernie Sanders’s 2016 shock victory in Michigan — only this time, the vehicle for those hopes was Abdul El-Sayed. It didn’t happen, as he was beaten by Gretchen Whitmer, a former Democratic leader in the Michigan state Senate. But progressive activists still came away from Tuesday with a slew of wins, including one deeply satisfying victory: Criminal justice reformer Wesley Bell ousted St. Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch, notorious for his callous indifference to the prosecution of Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who shot and killed Mike Brown.

In the first wave of major primaries since an upset by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez energized the grassroots wing of the party, Democrats turned out on Tuesday night in surging numbers. In Michigan, well over 100,000 more people voted in the Democratic gubernatorial primary than in the Republican contest, and in Missouri, Democratic turnout was up 85 percent since 2010.

The enthusiasm among Democrats meant that Republicans needed everything they had in an Ohio special election in a district that Donald Trump carried by more than 10 points. Republicans struggled to pull ahead by even one percentage point, despite a rally by Trump, a visit by Mike Pence, $3.5 million from Paul Ryan’s super PAC, and two Republican National Committee field offices. With provisional ballots still to be counted, the race is too close to call.

Read more at: https://theintercept.com/2018/08/08/primary-results-kansas-michigan-missouri/