Election takeaways: Donalds joins historic field and progressive scores upset victory in Florida

As the long, contentious primary season nears its end, Democratic voters elevated another progressive Senate candidate in Florida, while President Donald Trump’s chosen candidate in his adopted home state, Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, won the nomination to be the state’s first Black governor.

It was a mixed bag for incumbents in the state, where Republican-led redistricting efforts scrambled congressional maps. Voters in Alaska, Wyoming and California were also choosing their nominees, sometimes considering multiple people running with matching last names.

Tuesday’s contests will help shape the midterms this fall to determine control of Congress, where Republicans have a narrow edge.

Here are some takeaways from this round of primaries.

Another progressive beats a far better-funded establishment rival

Progressives notched a surprise victory as the battle between outsider and establishment candidates that has roiled the Democratic Party in states like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan moved to more conservative territory.

In a major upset, progressive state lawmaker Angie Nixon easily defeated retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a former National Security Council official who delivered searing testimony against Trump in his 2019 impeachment trial. Vindman had outraised Nixon by more than 16-to-1, with Nixon bringing in less than $1 million.

Now she will face Sen. Ashley Moody in a campaign to fill the last two years of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s former Senate term. Moody was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after Rubio stepped down.

But in another matchup in South Florida, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz won the nomination for reelection in a new Republican-friendly district against union organizer and democratic socialist Oliver Larkin.

Related Stories

National security question trips up Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina debate

1 MIN READ

Prosecutors say bullet engraving shows Charlie Kirk was targeted for his politics

2 MIN READ

South Korean and US militaries shorten drills by about half after Trump ordered a reduction

5 MIN READ

Donalds joins historic slate of Black candidates for governor

Donalds, a rising star in the Republican Party, won his party’s nomination to succeed the term-limited DeSantis, joining a historic slate of Black gubernatorial nominees across the country as he vies to become the first Black governor of the state.

They include Republicans Rep. John James in Michigan and Lisa Demuth, who defeated pillow-selling conspiracist Mike Lindell in Minnesota. On the Democratic side, David Crowley won a razor-thin primary against a democratic socialist in Wisconsin, joining Attorney General Aaron Ford in Nevada, State Rep. Jermaine Johnson in South Carolina and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia.

Either Bottoms or Demuth could be the country’s first Black woman governor.

There is currently only one Black governor in the nation, Democrat Wes Moore of Maryland, who is seeking reelection in November.

Donalds will face David Jolly, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night.

Wasserman Schultz wins diverse, redrawn Florida seat

A Republican-led redrawing scrambled Florida’s congressional map, creating some awkward matchups for Democrats.

But longtime U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz easily won the most contentious race, beating U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and three other Black candidates in a South Florida district that is a plurality-Black district. Cherfilus-McCormick had resigned earlier this year under a pending federal indictment and threat of House ethics sanctions, but wanted her seat back.

Wasserman Schultz, a former national party chair seeking a 12th term in Congress, was the only white candidate competing to represent an area of Broward County that has helped send Black Democrats to Congress since 1992.

Her decision to run had stirred deep animosity, including charges by one rival that “she stabbed us in the back.”

Trump pick loses in race featuring transplants and scandal-plagued candidates

While Trump-backed Donalds emerged victorious, the candidate Trump had endorsed to fill his seat — Catalina Lauf — lost to Jim Schwartzel, owner of conservative talk radio station 92.5 FOX News.

The race had featured a cast of characters akin to a reality show reunion, including several who had spent time in prison and a handful who had run in other states.

They included two former members of Congress mounting comeback bids after departing in scandal: Former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn’stenure was marred by repeat traffic stops, guns at airport checkpoints and a claim he had been invited to a Washington orgy. Former New York Rep. Chris Collins, who resigned before pleading guilty to insider trading charges, served prison time before he was pardoned by Trump.

Trump-endorsed Lauf had run twice for Congress in Illinois. She lost the 2020 primary to Jim Oberweis, a former state senator, who has also decamped to Florida and ran for the seat.

Another candidate, Ola Hawatmeh, previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New York, while Linda Sawyer once tried in Michigan.

Also in the race: John Strand, a former television actor, underwear model and romance novel cover model, who served prison time for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault of the U.S. Capitol.

Republicans lose an incumbent

While Democratic incumbents won their races, Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his bid for a third term to Ryan Elijah, a former television reporter.

Mills faced a series of scandals, including allegations of domestic violence involving a former girlfriend, which he denies. He had also been abandoned by DeSantis and other state officials.

Trump initially backed Mills in February but did not include him in a list of endorsements on Monday.

Double-checking the name in Alaska

Will Alaska voters need to contend with two Dan Sullivans going forward? It’s too soon to tell.

The primary ballot for the state’s Senate race, which is expected to be one of the country’s most closely watched this fall, included both Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Trump ally seeking a third term, and another candidate also named Dan Sullivan.

Republicans had claimed the second Sullivan — who appeared on the ballot as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” — was a sham candidate running at the behest of Democrats to cause confusion. Dan J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher, has denied the charge.

Under the state’s open primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, and the four who receive the most votes move on to a ranked-vote general election. Sullivan, the incumbent senator, and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, who would become the first Alaska Native senator if she wins in November, swiftly advanced Tuesday, but it was too early to call the other two spots on the November ballot.

Another Trump pick for governor loses their race

While he had success with Donalds, another governor candidate endorsed by Trump lost her race, this time in Wyoming. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder was defeated by state Sen. Eric Barlow, a U.S. Marine veteran and livestock veterinarian who is also a former Wyoming House Speaker.

Trump’s picks for governor have occasionally struggled in primaries this year, including Lindell in Minnesota, Randy Feenstra in Iowa, Burt Jones in Georgia and Pamela Evette in South Carolina.

Trump had better luck in the Senate race in Wyoming, where his endorsed candidate, Rep. Harriet Hageman, easily captured the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis.

Pro-Israel group spending in former Swalwell seat

In California’s Bay Area, voters are choosing a replacement for Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, whose resignation amid sexual assault allegations ended his run for governor.

California’s 14th District will remain under Democratic control as state Sen. Aisha Wahab and Bay Area Rapid Transit Board President Melissa Hernandez advanced from a special open primary.

However, the race was too early to call on Tuesday night, and California is notorious for counting slowly.

The campaign reprised a theme that dominated other Democratic primaries this year: outside spending, particularly from pro-Israel lobbying groups. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC spent more than $2 million against Wahab and in support of Hernandez, and another group funded by the super PAC has spent nearly $2 million in support of Hernandez.

Pro-Israel group spending seemed to backfire in Michigan’s recent Democratic Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed emerged victorious despite tens of millions of dollars backing his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnewstodays.pages.dev/projects/elections-2026/.