Updated at 11:00 p.m. ETNational progressives scored a major coup over the Democratic establishment on Tuesday night as 28-year-old activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ousted House Democratic Caucus chairman and longtime New York Rep. Joe Crowley. Crowley's primary loss also shakes up the Democratic leadership hierarchy. Crowley was long considered a possible contender to lead House Democrats or even become Speaker if Nancy Pelosi either steps aside or is ousted after the midterms. Instead, he has now fallen on his home turf in a monumental loss reminiscent of then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's GOP primary loss in Virginia back in 2014.In GOP primaries, President Trump was able to lift two candidates to victory on Tuesday, with one of his earliest allies, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster winning his GOP primary runoff and New York Rep. Dan Donovan also beating back a challenge. The president has been burned by making endorsements in the past that didn't pan out (twice in Alabama's special Senate election last year), but he put two more wins in the bank after stumping Monday night for McMaster and tweeting his support for Donovan last month. Here's what happened in the New York, Maryland, Utah, Colorado and Oklahoma primaries, along with runoffs in South Carolina and Mississippi.Progressives topple a House Democratic leaderOcasio-Cortez's unexpected victory over Crowley is the highest-profile victory yet of a progressive upstart challenger over the Democratic establishment. A former organizer for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign, she ran a vigorous race over Crowley in the increasingly diverse Bronx and Queens district, and used her Puerto Rican heritage to identify with the district's rapidly growing Latino population. She was endorsed by the New York City Democratic Socialists of America and backs abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and supports Medicaid-for-all and free public tuition college. Still, Crowley had long been seen as untouchable — he was also chair of the Queens County Democratic Party and a major force in New York politics for decades, aside from his stature in the House Democratic leadership that was on the rise. But Ocasio-Cortez argued that was part of the problem, making the case that Crowley had grown too distant from his district while highlighting her own working class roots. "It's time we acknowledge that not all Democrats are the same. That a Democrat who takes corporate money, profits off foreclosure, doesn't live here, doesn't send his kids to our schools, doesn't drink our water or breathe our air cannot possibly represent us," she swiped at Crowley in one ad. Trump reacted with glee to Crowley's toppling, though his claim that the incumbent's loss would have been mitigated had he been nicer to the president is belied by the fact that it's a district where Trump got less than 20 percent of the vote, plus Crowley was defeated by a challenger who ran to his left. Three other New York City Democratic members — Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Yvette Clarke and Eliot Engel — also faced primary challenges of note. Engel and Maloney both won their races, though Clarke's remains very close. Progressives also prevailed in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Maryland, which also highlighted the differing approaches battling for supremacy in that party. Former NAACP President Ben Jealous who was endorsed by Sanders, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and other progressive figures defeated Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker, who had wrapped up the support of much of the state's political establishment, such as Sen. Chris Van Hollen and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.Both candidates are African-American, and now Jealous has a chance to become the first black governor in Maryland history if he wins — and only the third elected across all 50 states. But Jealous will have a difficult race against incumbent GOP Gov. Larry Hogan. Even though Maryland is traditionally a blue state, the centrist Hogan remains extremely popular — even among Democrats — and has been a frequent critic of Trump.Several competitive New York House seats are also a key part of Democrats' calculus to winning back the House, and in an important contest the more liberal candidate beat the establishment choice. In the 24th District, college professor Dana Balter, who was running as the more progressive pick with the backing of MoveOn.org and all four county committees, prevailed over the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's favored candidate, Juanita Perez Williams. Local officials had complained about DCCC meddling in the race, and now it's Balter who will challenge GOP Rep. John Katko this fall. In Colorado, Democrats have been angling for a long time to take out Republican Rep. Mike Coffman in his suburban Denver district that Hillary Clinton carried by 9 points. The DCCC did get their preferred pick there with attorney Jason Crow easily besting energy consultant Levi Tillemann, who had been pressured by Hoyer, the House Democratic whip, to abandon his bid.Trump endorsements boost incumbentsMcMaster was able to fend off Iraq War veteran John Warren in a runoff after falling short of a majority in the five-way Republican primary two weeks ago. Warren had tried to argue he was the most Trump-like candidate as an outsider businessman, but it was McMaster who had Trump's vocal blessing as he sought a full term as governor after assuming the job after Nikki Haley became UN Ambassador.Both McMaster and Trump will surely point to the president's election eve rally for McMaster as instrumental to clenching victory. McMaster has been one of Trump's most loyal allies. When he was lieutenant governor, McMaster became the first statewide-elected official in the country to endorse Trump back in January 2016. On Monday, the president acknowledged his own record was on the line if McMaster hadn't won. "They will say, 'Donald Trump suffered a major, major defeat in the great state of South Carolina. It was a humiliating defeat for Donald Trump.' So please get your asses out tomorrow and vote," Trump told a West Columbia crowd Monday night in a stemwinder of a speech that mentioned the incumbent governor only briefly, though he joined Trump onstage at the beginning.The president's other major endorsement that was tested Tuesday was in New York. Trump didn't campaign for Rep. Dan Donovan, but allies for the congressman said the president's tweet last month endorsing the incumbent over former Rep. Michael Grimm in the Staten Island-based 11th Congressional District helped majorly boost his chances in their bitter primary.Grimm tried to campaign as the more pro-Trump candidate, but in the end he didn't even come close to knocking off Donovan. The former congressman held the seat before he was forced to resign as he pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges and spent seven months in prison.In his tweet endorsing Donovan, Trump cited last year's Alabama Senate loss as a warning that Grimm would be unelectable in a general election.That's exactly what national Republicans had feared, but they're breathing easier now. Still, Democrats are enthused by their nominee, Army veteran Max Rose. Republican divides on displaySafe-open-seat contests in South Carolina and Oklahoma will also impact the direction of the House GOP conference.In South Carolina's 4th District runoff, state Sen. William Timmons, who had more establishment support, defeated bombastic former state Sen. Lee Bright, who had the backing of the Club for Growth as well as Iowa Rep. Steve King. In this conservative district, Timmons will be the heavy favorite to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy. In Oklahoma's open 1st District, where Jim Bridenstine stepped down after he was confirmed as NASA administrator, the conservative House Freedom Caucus and Club For Growth are backing Iraq War veteran Andy Coleman in the crowded GOP primary, while Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has endorsed the more libertarian-leaning state Sen. Nathan Dahm. Meanwhile, the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership is backing businessman Kevin Hern.In Colorado, Rep. Doug Lamborn defeated several primary challengers after nearly failing to make the ballot. Initially he had been thrown off after district voters filed a lawsuit arguing his petition signatures were invalid because the people he hired to gather them were not Colorado residents, as required by state law. But he was put back on the ballot by a federal judge.Romney's next step toward the Senate Former 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney easily won the GOP nomination for Senate over state Rep. Mike Kennedy in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch.The former Massachusetts governor had been a vocal Trump critic, even excoriating him as a "phony" and a "fraud" during the 2016 campaign. And while Romney is definitely not a glowing fan of the president, he has muted his criticism somewhat and Trump has even endorsed him.While not backing Trump enough has been potentially fatal in other GOP races, nearly one-fourth of voters in the conservative state voted for a third-party candidate in 2016 instead of Trump, who took only 45 percent of the vote. Romney remains very popular in this heavily Mormon state, where he helped save the 2002 Winter Olympics.A potentially historic first in Colorado governorDemocratic Rep. Jared Polis won his party's nomination to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in Colorado, which could be history-making. If Polis wins in November, he would be the first openly gay man ever elected governor in the country. EMILY's List backed former state Treasurer Cary Kennedy. While Democratic women have sailed in House races this year, they've had more trouble in gubernatorial contests. On the GOP side, state Treasurer Walker Stapleton won the nomination, afterbeing attacked by his chief rival, former state Rep. Victor Mitchell, because he is a Bush family cousin, saying that means Stapleton hasn't been loyal enough to Trump. Stapleton wasn't the only political scion in the race — investment banker Doug Robinson is a nephew of Romney's. Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Primary Results: Progressive Activist Takes Down Leading House Democrat
