The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
● OH-Gov, OH-Sen: With last month's primaries now behind us, we have not just one but our first two independent polls of Ohio's general elections for governor and Senate, and they both have good news for Democrats.
In the gubernatorial contest between Democrat Richard Cordray and Republican Mike DeWine, Suffolk's poll on behalf of the Cincinnati Enquirer has Cordray up by 43-36, while Quinnipiac finds him leading by 42-40. Recent surveys from Republican pollsters have found DeWine with modest leads, while PPP's May poll for the Ohio Democratic Party found Cordray with a 44-39 edge.
In the Senate race, both of these latest polls find there may not be much of a real contest between Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Rep. Jim Renacci: Suffolk has Brown cruising to a 53-37 blowout, and Quinnipiac shows the senator winning by a similar 51-34 rout. Brown has led every poll of their match up so far.
Senate
● FL-Sen: Republican Gov. Rick Scott continues to bombard the airwaves with ads, and his latest $2.7 million buy brings his total to about $20 million in the race against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.
Scott's newest spot once again takes on Nelson's long tenure with a subtle dig at his age, starting off with a shot that displays a 1978 vintage Ford, $0.64 gas prices, and a picture of a much younger Nelson. The ad transitions to 2018, where it shows far higher gas prices, rusted old 1970s cars, and—of course—a picture of a much older Nelson. All the while, the narrator alleges Nelson has done nothing but raise taxes during his four decades in Congress in office.
● WV-Sen: Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is up with a new commercial pushing back on a recent GOP ad arguing that he didn't support building a border wall with Mexico. Manchin tells the audience that GOP rival Patrick Morrisey, Mitch McConnell, and the Washington establishment have been attacking him, adding, "It's disappointing, it's not true, and that's why Washington sucks."
The senator then declares he "wanted Mexico to pay for the wall. But they're not. So we need to do it ourselves." The spot then shows a clip of a "Fox & Friends" host saying, "Sen. Joe Manchin said "Let's get passed it, amen,'" before Manchin says on the show that, "We do need the wall." Manchin then tells the audience he very much did vote to fund Trump's wall.
Manchin's allies at Duty and Honor are also going up with a TV spot praising the Democrat and hitting Morrisey. The narrator declares that Manchin was one of just three Democrats to vote to fund the wall, and that "Joe is one of us, and fights for us." He then switches to attacking Morrisey and reminding the audience that the Republican is a native New Yorker who went on to lose a congressional race in New Jersey before he made millions as a Washington lobbyist, where he "even worked for opioid drug companies." There is no word on the size of the buy.
Gubernatorial
● CO-Gov: The Democratic pollster Strategies 360 has surveyed Colorado's gubernatorial race on behalf of SEIU, which hasn't endorsed a candidate. In the June 26 Democratic primary, they find Rep. Jared Polis up 34-23 over former state Treasurer Cary Kennedy, while former state Sen. Mike Johnston takes just 12 percent. The only other poll we’ve seen here in months was a late May survey from the GOP firm Magellan Strategies for an unnamed oil and gas company consultant, and they found Polis leading Kennedy by a similar 31-18 margin.
Strategies 360 also tests both leading Democrats against state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, the GOP frontrunner. They give Polis a 42-37 advantage, while Kennedy has a similar 43-38 lead. This is the first poll we’ve seen testing Stapleton in a general election.
● CT-Gov: Tuesday was the deadline for candidates petitioning to get on the primary ballot to turn in their signatures, but Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti used that day to end his bid for the GOP nod. Lauretti started gathering petitions last month after he failed to take enough support at the state party convention to make the primary ballot, but he conceded he didn't have enough signatures. However, Lauretti did not rule out running as an independent.
To advance to the August primary, statewide candidates either need to either take at least 15 percent of the delegates at their statewide convention or turn in valid signatures from 2 percent of their party's registered voters. Under state law, each signature must be certified by a local registrar before the secretary of state's office does a final review, so it may take a little while to learn what each side's primary field will look like.
On the Democratic side, businessman Ned Lamont won the state party convention last month, while businessman Guy Smith and Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim turned in their petitions on Tuesday. For the GOP, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton won his party’s endorsement, while businessman Steve Obsitnik and Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst each took enough support at the convention to also make the ballot. The two candidates who are trying to make the ballot by petitioning are wealthy businessmen Bob Stefanowski and David Stemerman.
● FL-Gov: Billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene has finally made his Democratic primary bid official, saying he'll spend "whatever it takes," which he speculates could be $100 million. However, while Greene won't be lacking for campaign cash, ads can only push a faulty product so far. And as we've previously noted, Greene certainly has a lengthy list of flaws for a candidate.
Greene's track record doesn't instill much confidence that his money can buy him support, since he spent $24 million of his own money just to lose the 2010 Democratic Senate primary by a 58-31 rout against then Rep. Kendrick Meek. Furthermore, Greene is also getting a very late start to the Aug. 28 primary, where his rival candidates have been campaigning for months and participating in primary debates, and it remains to be seen if he can gain any traction.
Meanwhile on the Republican side, Rep. Ron DeSantis is finally making his first TV ad buy, having reserved $12 million for two months from the end of June through the end of the primary. There's no copy of any commercials available yet.
However, DeSantis' opponents haven't been dark on the airwaves while he's been stockpiling his resources in the race against state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. The National Liberty Foundation, which is allied with the sugar industry and has been attacking DeSantis on cable and radio, has dropped another $240,000 for ads that will start airing on broadcast TV in the Orlando area. There's no copy of their spot available, but Florida Politics relays that it attacks DeSantis on immigration, claiming he supposedly voted for an "amnesty" bill.
● HI-Gov: The Hawaii Government Employees Association, which is the state's largest union, has endorsed Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in the Aug. 11 Democratic primary against Gov. David Ige.
● MD-Gov: Former Montgomery County Councilor Valerie Ervin has dropped out and endorsed Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker just before early voting was set to begin ahead of the June 26 Democratic primary. Ervin had joined the race when her running mate, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, suddenly died last month, but she was unable to persuade the state elections board to reprint ballots with her name on it instead of his. While Kamenetz's votes would have still counted for Ervin, that situation and her scramble to put together a campaign at the last minute simply may have proved too much for her.
● MI-Gov: Right as Democrat Gretchen Whitmer's allies have begun airing TV ads to support her this week, the Koch-affiliated Americans for Prosperity has made a $1.7 million TV ad buy to attack her over the next three weeks.
AFP's spot tries to tie her to former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm's unpopular administration a decade ago, alleging Whitmer supported every tax increase in sight. They even claim that "574,000 jobs" were lost under the Granholm policies Whitmer supposedly supported, all while failing to mention that Granholm was governor when George W. Bush's policies caused the biggest recession in generations, something Granholm had no control over.
● NY-Gov: Siena has released their latest poll of New York's September Democratic primary, where they find Gov. Andrew Cuomo with a 61-26 lead over actress and activist Cynthia Nixon. That's slightly better for him than their last poll from April, where Cuomo's edge was 58-27. However, an early May poll from Quinnipiac had him ahead by a notably smaller 50-28.
● RI-Gov: Well this is awkward: Civil Rights Movement legend and Georgia Rep. John Lewis said on Monday he never would have endorsed Gov. Gina Raimondo's re-election bid if he had known that former Secretary of State Matt Brown was challenging her in the Democratic primary.
Brown had called Lewis a mentor and friend during a campaign event and email last month, leaving his campaign in a jam when Raimondo unveiled Lewis’ backing earlier this month. Lewis didn't rescind his endorsement, but he called Brown a “very, very good friend” and said he would have either remained neutral or endorsed Brown if he had known about the true state of the race.
House
● AR-02: Republican Rep. French Hill recently began airing a spot against Democratic rival Clarke Tucker tying him to Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, and Tucker is going up with a response ad. Tucker stands in front a TV playing Hill's commercial and tells the audience that the Republican "began his campaign by attacking me, knowing full well that I've said from day one that I won't vote for Nancy Pelosi. We're better than that." Tucker then argues that he's the one candidate who has worked across party lines on healthcare, education, and strengthening entrepreneurs.
● CA-45: GOP Rep. Mimi Walters is betting that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is well-known and toxic enough in her Orange County seat that the very mention of her name could drag down Democrat Katie Porter. Walters is up with a cable TV ad that features several photos of Warren and Porter together (including one where Porter is in what appear to be graduation robes) as the narrator declares that Porter "has called radical Elizabeth Warren a mentor."
The spot continues by insisting that Porter has "pledged to raise taxes if elected," and, "We don't need Elizabeth Warren's extreme liberal agenda in Orange County." The second half of the spot commends Walters for fighting for domestic violence victims, firefighters, and lower taxes.
● MA-03: Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford has launched his first TV ads ahead of the very crowded September Democratic primary. The spots, which will air on cable over the next three weeks, tout Gifford’s service in the Obama administration, with the candidate declaring that as an ambassador he "learned quickly you have to earn trust," and that trust needs to be earned back to tackle the big issues. The only other candidate who has run TV spots is Daniel Koh, a former chief of staff to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Barbara L'Italien picked up an endorsement this week from the state branch of the American Federation of Teachers, which Politico describes as one of Massachusetts' largest labor groups. The state's National Education Association affiliate backed L'Italien at the end of May.
● MA-07: The Massachusetts AFL-CIO, which is the state's largest union, threw its support behind Rep. Mike Capuano this week in his September Democratic primary with Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley. Pressley has picked up some support from smaller unions, but most of the local Democratic establishment is firmly in Capuano's corner.
● MI-13: On Tuesday, the state Appeals Court upheld a lower-court ruling that kept hedge fund manager John Conyers III off the August Democratic primary ballot. Conyers, who is the son and chosen successor of former Rep. John Conyers, has not revealed what he'll do next.
● NJ-03: Democrat Andy Kim is out with poll from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner giving GOP Rep. Tom MacArthur a 48-44 lead. The results are a little better for the GOP than an April PPP survey for the Democratic group Patriot Majority that showed MacArthur ahead just 42-41.
While the GOP hasn't released any polls, at least one prominent conservative group is planning for a tough race. The conservative Congressional Leadership Fund reserved $1.4 million in April to defend MacArthur in the fall. Other outside groups from both sides have invested millions in the New York City and Philadelphia markets that could be divided between a number of different House seats, including this one.
● NY-19: With two weeks to go before the crowded Democratic primary to face GOP Rep. John Faso, businessman Brian Flynn is up with a 15-second spot. As pictures of attorney Antonio Delgado and former Army intelligence officer Pat Ryan appear on the screen, Flynn says that they're his two main opponents and declares that unlike them, he supports Medicare for all.
● NY-24: Former Syracuse corporation counsel Juanita Perez Williams is going up with her first TV spots ahead of the June 26 Democratic primary, which are airing on cable. Perez Williams doesn't mention primary foe Dana Balter or GOP Rep. John Katko in either 15-second commercial, and instead pledges to stand up to Trump on guns and on healthcare.
● OK-01: Two outside groups are airing ads to support former Army intelligence officer Andy Coleman two weeks ahead of the GOP primary for this safely red Tulsa seat.
The radical anti-tax Club for Growth, which endorsed Coleman on Monday, has announced that they're spending $250,000 on a media campaign against wealthy businessman Kevin Hern. Their TV spot charges that Hern "gave $17,000 to a political committee" that backed New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, former Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, California Rep. Maxine Waters, and Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
The Club's ad also declares that Hern donated to "the Democrat senator who cast the deciding vote on Obamacare" as a picture of Hern (who it turns out is a dead ringer for Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, though the Club refrains from attacking him on that) is shown above Obama's image. They don’t name who this senator is, but the donation in question was a $500 contribution to Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln in 1998. The Club's radio ad hits Hern along the same lines, but also features audio of Trump screaming at protestors, "Get him outta here! Get out!" and "Get him out! Trouble maker!"
With Honor Fund, which supports veterans in primaries on both sides, is also spending at least $169,000 on a TV ad for Coleman, but it is not available yet. Three other Republicans are competing here, and it's likely that no one will take the majority they'd need to avoid an August runoff. However, only one of these five candidates has a future on the Dick Durbin impersonation circuit.
Legislative
● Special Elections: Johnny Longtorso sums up the two big specials in Wisconsin that GOP Gov. Scott Walker tried so hard to avoid holding. As all the portents prophesied, he was absolutely right to be afraid:
Wisconsin SD-01: Democrats scored their second special election pickup of the year in the Wisconsin Senate, with Caleb Frostman defeating Republican Andre Jacque by a 51-49 margin. That's a 21-point turnaround from 2016, when Donald Trump won here 56-39, and an 8-point improvement on Mitt Romney's 52-47 win.
Wisconsin AD-42: Republicans held on to this seat. Jon Plumer defeated Democrat Ann Groves Lloyd by a 53-45 margin, with independent Gene Rubinstein taking 2 percent of the vote. Lloyd did perform 6 points better than Trump's 55-40 win here, but she ran behind Barack Obama, who carried this seat 51-48.
With Frostman's win, Republicans advantage in the Senate has been cut to 18-15. That means Democrats now need to pick up just two seats to reclaim the chamber in November.
Primary Recap
● VA-Sen: Confederate fan boy Corey Stewart, who also moonlights as chair of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, edged out Del. Nick Freitas 45-43 to win the GOP primary to take on Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. National Republicans haven't shown much optimism about actually beating Kaine, but they hoped in vain that they wouldn't be burdened with a vocal and high-profile Senate nominee who could cause them problems in House races.
Unsurprisingly, Trump wasn't so bothered by Stewart, and he endorsed him the day after the primary. Despite Trump's tweet, however, NRSC chief Cory Gardner showed no interest in spending on the new GOP nominee. Gardner told CNN that his committee had no plans to endorse Stewart, adding, "We have a big map, right now we are focused on Florida, North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana. I don't see Virginia in it."
● ME-Gov: Maine held its first primary using instant-runoff voting (but not its last; see our ME Ballot item), and surprisingly, wealthy businessman Shawn Moody won the GOP nomination outright. With 89 percent of precincts reporting (they do not count fast in Maine, apparently) Moody took 56 percent of the vote, well ahead of state Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason's 23.
This is actually the second time that Moody, who owns several auto body and repair shops in the state, has run for governor. Back in 2010, he ran as an independent and took fourth place with just 5 percent of the vote. However, GOP Gov. Paul LePage ended up appointing his former rival to education posts, and much of the governor's political network (including his wife and daughter) backed him this year.
The Democratic field is going to take a while to sort out. As of Wednesday evening, Attorney General Janet Mills led attorney and renewable energy entrepreneur Adam Cote 33-28, with activist and lobbyist Betsy Sweet at 17 and former state House Speaker Mark Eves at 14, respectively; none of the other three candidates took more than 4 percent of the vote. Secretary of State Matt Dunlap recently said not to expect the final instant-runoff results before Monday at the earliest.
● NV-Gov: Clark County Commission Chair Steve Sisolak, a self-proclaimed moderate who had the support of powerful former Sen. Harry Reid, defeated fellow Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani 50-39 in the Democratic primary. Sisolak will take on Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who beat state Treasurer Dan Schwartz by a lopsided 72-9 margin to win the GOP nod.
Republicans have controlled the governor's office since the 1998 election, and both sides will be spending heavily here in November. The only general election poll we've seen here in months was a mid-April survey from the Democratic firm the Mellman Group for the nonpartisan Nevada Independent, and it gave Sisolak a 43-37 lead. However, Republicans are hoping that the very expensive Democratic primary, which got quite nasty at times, improved Team Red's chances. Daily Kos Elections rates the general as a Tossup.
● SC-Gov: GOP Gov. Henry McMaster will face a June 26 runoff with wealthy businessman and Marine veteran John Warren. McMaster took first with 42 percent of the vote, while Warren edged former state cabinet official Catherine Templeton 28-21 for the second place spot. Templeton looked like McMaster's main primary foe for most of the cycle, and McMaster and his allies largely trained their fire on her while only hitting Warren in the final days of the race.
It's usually very bad for an incumbent to be forced into a runoff, but the considerations may be a little different here. Warren has just two weeks to nearly double his primary support, and he'll very quickly need to win over the bulk of the defeated candidates' voters to beat the governor. McMaster also has Trump's vocal support, which could help him make inroads with Templeton's voters, as well as the 7 percent that backed Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant.
On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Smith, the state party establishment favorite and an Army veteran who earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart in Afghanistan, beat attorney Marguerite Willis 62-28 to win the nomination outright. South Carolina is a very conservative state, but Democrats hope a backlash against Trump, as well as a long-running corruption investigation that's snared several powerful Republicans close to McMaster, will give Smith an opening. Daily Kos Elections rates the general as Likely Republican.
● ME-02: It appears that state Rep. and Marine veteran Jared Golden has won the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin, but it's a little too soon to be certain. With 87 percent of precincts counted as of Wednesday evening, Golden leads conservationist Lucas St. Clair 49-41, with local bookseller Craig Olson taking 10. If the remaining votes give Golden a majority, he'll win the nomination without instant-runoff voting coming into play. However, unless the outstanding votes are incredibly pro-St. Clair, Golden would just need a small portion of Olson's supporters to mark him as their second choice to get him over the top.
This northern Maine seat swung from 53-44 Obama to 51-41 Trump, and this will be a very expensive general election. Poliquin had $2.36 million in the bank in mid-May, and his allies at the Congressional Leadership Fund have reserved $2.8 million to defend him. The Democratic House Majority PAC has invested $1.69 million here.
● NV-02: As much as we may wish otherwise, the Sharron Angle era in Nevada Republican politics is very over. Angle, who is best known for losing the legendary 2010 U.S. Senate race to Democrat Harry Reid, lost her GOP primary bid against Rep. Mark Amodei 72-18. Two years ago, Angle also lost a Senate primary to party favorite Joe Heck by a 65-23 margin. (Sensing a theme here?) This northern Nevada seat backed Trump 52-40, and since Democratic nominee Clint Koble has raised very little money, we're unlikely to see much action here in the fall.
● NV-03: We once again have Danny Tarkanian to kick around. The wealthy perennial candidate decisively beat former local TV news reporter Michelle Mortensen 44-25 in the GOP primary; state Sen. Scott Hammond, who was backed by Gov. Brian Sandoval and the NRA, finished a distant third with just 17 percent. Tarkanian will take on wealthy education activist and philanthropist Susie Lee, who won the Democratic nomination with 67 percent of the vote, as he tries to succeed Democratic Senate candidate and 2016 rival Jacky Rosen.
Obama and Trump each very narrowly carried this seat in the southern Las Vegas suburbs, and we're in for another expensive contest. Tarkanian's flaws are very well known from his five previous failed campaigns, but like Lee, he's wealthy and connected. The NRCC has reserved $3.6 million in the Las Vegas media market, while the Democratic House Majority PAC has invested $2.8 million here; those reservations can be split between this race and the nearby 4th District as the parties see fit.
● NV-04: Former Rep. Steven Horsford, the favorite of the state and national Democratic establishment, beat state Sen. Pat Spearman 62-15 in the primary for this open seat in the northern Las Vegas area. Horsford will face a rematch with former Rep. Cresent Hardy, who won his primary by an unimpressive 47-19 against several little-known GOP rivals.
Both nominees have each won one race here, only to lose re-election the next cycle. Back in 2012, Horsford beat none other than Danny Tarkanian to win a newly created House seat. However, awful 2014 Democratic turnout helped Hardy defeat him 49-46 in a race that didn't look very competitive throughout most of the cycle. Hardy lost an expensive 2016 matchup to Kihuen 49-45 as this seat was moving from 54-44 Obama to 50-45 Clinton, and Kihuen decided to retire a year later after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment.
● SC-04: Despite being badly outspent, former state Sen. Lee Bright earned a place in the June 26 GOP runoff for this safely red Spartanburg seat with 25 percent of the vote. Wealthy state Sen. William Timmons appears to have edged state Rep. Dan Hamilton 19.2-18.6 (a margin of 349 votes) to win the other runoff spot. The Associated Press has not yet called the race for second, and the Greenville News reports that an automatic recount is expected on Friday. Former Spartanburg County party chair Josh Kimbrell, whom the Club for Growth endorsed, took fourth with 11.
Bright has attracted some ardent far-right supporters during his time in South Carolina politics, as well as some prominent enemies. Bright once proposed that South Carolina should get its own currency, and he also tried to pass a state version of North Carolina's notorious bathroom bill. He also unsuccessfully but ardently defended keeping the Confederate flag flying on the grounds of the statehouse. In 2014, Bright challenged Sen. Lindsey Graham for renomination and took second place with 15 percent of the vote, well behind Graham's 56 percent.
Two years later, Bright lost renomination 52-48 after he was squeezed from both the left and the right. The Conservation Voters of South Carolina went after him, while the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce ran ads against Bright on conservative talk radio after he voted against policies like what the Greenville News described as "tort reform, road-funding plans and aid to flood-stricken farmers." Then-Gov. Nikki Haley also campaigned against him, saying she took issue with his opposition to ethics reform.
Timmons, who loaned his campaign $885,000 though mid-May, has already started arguing that Bright is "a good man, but he is not the right fit for Washington — that might be putting it lightly." Arguing that someone is the wrong fit for Congress may not be a compelling message with GOP primary voters, but Timmons will have the resources to broadcast it. Bright himself is sticking with his old playbook and casting the runoff as a battle between a "conservative record and an establishment-backed candidate in the mold of Lindsey Graham."
● SC-05: Despite pressure from state and national Democrats to drop out, Archie Parnell won his primary with 60 percent of the vote against three little-known opponents. Parnell, who admitted to beating his ex-wife 45 years ago, also made it clear he won't drop out of the race against GOP Rep. Ralph Norman. It's a depressing reminder how little many voters pay attention to the very House primaries they're voting in, even when one of the candidates makes national attention for all the wrong reasons.
● VA-07: Former CIA agent Abigail Spanberger, who has the support of EMILY's List, beat Marine veteran Dan Ward 73-27 to win the Democratic nod against GOP Rep. Dave Brat. This seat, which includes much of suburban Richmond, went from 55-44 Romney to 51-44 Trump, and Republican Ed Gillespie carried it by a modest 51-47 in last year's race for governor. While Brat scored a place in American political history when he unseated then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in their 2014 primary, national Republicans are fretting that he's not taking his first competitive general election seriously.
● VA-10: State Sen. Jennifer Wexton defeated wealthy former State Department official Alison Friedman 42-23 in the Democratic primary to take on GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock, and EMILY's List endorsed her the next day. Comstock herself only fended off little-known primary foe Shak Hill 61-39.
This Northern Virginia seat swung from 50-49 Romney to 52-42 Clinton, and Comstock is going to need a lot to go right to win a third term. However, Comstock is a very strong fundraiser who has won tough races before, and both sides are preparing for a very expensive race. The Democratic groups House Majority PAC and the DCCC have reserved a total of $2.6 million in fall TV time in the Washington media market, while the NRCC has invested a hefty $6.4 million here.
P.S. On the Democratic side, Army veteran Dan Helmer took a distant fourth place with just 13 percent of the vote despite several attention-grabbing videos. Helmer most notably launched an ad in the final two weeks of the campaign that featured a picture of Osama bin Laden as Helmer told the audience, "After 9/11, the greatest threat to our democracy lived in a cave. Today, he lives in the White House."
The White House condemned the commercial as "nothing short of reprehensible," which helped Helmer earn a whole lot of attention in the final days before the primary. It's a good reminder that candidates who can grab a lot of national eyeballs with provocative videos often don't do so well with actual voters.
● ME Ballot: On Tuesday, voters in Maine chose nominees for federal and statewide office using the state's new system for instant-runoff voting (IRV), both firsts in U.S. history. Voters simultaneously approved a referendum to keep IRV in place by a 54-46 margin, with 89 percent of precincts reporting.
That victory showed increased support for IRV (also called ranked-choice voting), which first passed at the ballot by a smaller 52-48 spread in 2016. Consequently, IRV will be used for Maine's primaries and for general elections at the federal level for the foreseeable future. However, it may not be put to use for state-level general elections, as we examine in greater depth in this post.
