Top takeaways from a wild primary night
Women candidates won big, but moderate Democrats took it on the chin.
By STEVEN SHEPARD and ELENA SCHNEIDER
05/16/2018 05:22 AM EDT
One thing was clear after the latest round of primaries on Tuesday: Democrats will be spending the next four months fighting among themselves along the familiar battle lines of ideology and identity.
If last week’s primaries focused on GOP efforts to maintain or expand their majority in the Senate, the second big primary night of 2018 was all about Democrats and their chances to win back the House this November. And in both Nebraska and Pennsylvania, Democratic voters picked nominees for battleground seats that the national party didn’t expect — and may not have wanted.
In Nebraska, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wanted former Rep. Brad Ashford as its nominee for an Omaha-based seat. But Tuesday night ended with liberal Kara Eastman, a social worker, proclaimed the winner by more a thousand votes.
The results weren’t as clear-cut in Pennsylvania, but the victors in a handful of competitive or Democratic-leaning seats speak to the intra-party fights Democrats are having as the party attempts to work its way out of the electoral wilderness.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/16/takeaways-primary-elections-590954
