Tuesday featured some noteworthy primary races, including here in Minnesota.
In Minnesota's First Congressional District, there were party primaries to determine which candidates would compete in the special general election this August to replace the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn. There was extra scrutiny on the Republican side given Hagedorn's widow (and disgraced former chairwoman of the Republican Party of Minnesota) Jennifer Carnahan was one of the 10 candidates. Thankfully, the residents of CD1 saw her as little more than a political opportunist, evidenced by her finishing a distant third.
Candidate Brad Finstad emerged victorious in the GOP race, besting Jeremy Munson by 1.2%, which equates to just over 400 votes. Finstad's most serious challenger in the August general will be Democrat Jeff Ettinger, who easily bested 7 other DFLers.
On a national level, the state of Georgia had remarkable turnout despite the scurrilous Republicans passing "voter suppression" legislation last year. I'm being facetious of course. Any rational thinking person knew the "Jim Crow 2.0" chanting point (or as President Joe Biden called it - "Jim Eagle") was bully pucky and the number of votes cast this primary season certainly bore that out.
Another storyline out of Georgia was how former President Donald Trump's personal vendettas had no sway in the minds of voters. Conservative commentator (and Georgia resident) Erick Erickson explains.
Trump went after three Georgia Republicans more aggressively than any other candidates in the nation: Governor Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and Attorney General Chris Carr.
That Brad Raffensperger won without a runoff tells me voters have had enough of Trump’s stolen election grievances. They are ready to move on. They want to look forward, not be pawns to Trump’s ego. Raffensperger’s win is the big indicator this really had more to do with Trump than I was first willing to believe.
Donald Trump literally told Brad Raffensperger that Trump would destroy him and Raffensperger even exceeded fifty percent of the vote in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district. Raffensperger was the scapegoat, the villain, and the responsible party who cost Trump Georgia, according to Trump. And Georgia’s Republican voters just re-nominated him. His race was so close and there was a Democrat cross-over. So Trump could argue Democrats made it happen. But it does not matter. Trump failed to persuade enough Republicans to reject him.
Oh, and remember how Kemp challenger David Perdue guaran-damn-teed us that he would not lose by 30 points as polling had suggested? Well, he was right. He lost by 50-plus.
Kemp moves on to a rematch with Stacey Abrams, who was unchallenged in the Democrat primary. Given Kemp defeated Abrams 3-1/2 years ago in a Democrat wave year, has a strong conservative record as governor and is entering a favorable political environment for Republicans, he should be reelected handily. I believe even Abrams knows this, as the only definitive message she's had is how her home state, despite being good for business, is the "worst state in the country" in which to live.
— Mike Hassinger (@MikeHassinger) May 25, 2022
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