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Voters are heading to the polls in another round of competitive primary races in the build-up to November’s midterm elections. In Wisconsin and Minnesota, Democrats will once again decide between moderate and progressive candidates. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, Republicans will pick a replacement nominee for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. NBC’s Ryan Nobles reports for TODAY.Aug. 11, 2026
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Open article →NPRMinnesota
Goldstein: 1.0CAMEO 04
Primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota pit progressives against moderates
Primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota pit progressives against moderates
NPR's Leila Fadel asks Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report about battles between moderate and progressive candidates in Tuesday's Democratic primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Jessica Taylor joins me now to discuss what we'll learn from today's primaries. She's the Senate and governors editor with the Cook Political Report, which provides nonpartisan, independent analysis of U.S. elections and campaigns. Good morning, and welcome to the program.
JESSICA TAYLOR: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So the Wisconsin governor's race is shaping up to be a major test for progressives in the Democratic Party. If state representative Francesca Hong, a self-described democratic socialist, wins the Democratic primary, it would be another big win for the left flank of the Democratic Party. What will that tell us about what Democratic voters are looking for?
TAYLOR: I think this has been a really messy primary, as Anya talked about, but it will tell us that there is a real progressive movement toward the left. But unlike Abdul El-Sayed last week, Hong has struggled when it comes to media appearances. She has struggled to communicate. She has gotten off message. And so I think that's one thing that's worrying national Democrats more than anything. She doesn't have as strong of a campaign infrastructure.
And as you were talking about earlier, this is such a critical swing state, I think, even more so than Michigan. It is just one of the most evenly divided quintessential swing states in the country. And, you know, I had a Democratic strategist tell me, you know, she just kind of needs to come across as being normal. And when she talks about, for instance, canceling Thanksgiving or something like that, if she comes across as too outside of the mainstream, that's where she really risks, I think, alienating those critical swing voters in the state.
FADEL: So they're worried that her broader appeal is just not there once it comes to the November midterm elections?
TAYLOR: I think so. And also, again, she's just not a very strong communicator. I think in one-on-one campaigning - you know, she's done some certainly interesting things and boosted young voters. But the key to winning a state like Wisconsin is to winning white working-class voters and to - getting independent voters over to your side. And if Tom Tiffany, who's running a strong campaign and has run sort of creative ads, talking about being sort of a girl dad and he's a former dam tender, if he can win over - you know, gubernatorial elections are less about federal issues, and they're more about state issues and they're more about the person and the candidate. And so I think he has a real shot to flip this seat. You know, there's also - you know, she's - I think she just needs to run a stronger, more communicative campaign and focus on fiscal issues, which I think is her bread and butter.
FADEL: What is her appeal in this primary?
TAYLOR: I think it's that, you know, she talks about, for instance, data centers has really - a data center moratorium has helped her rise in the primary. She's the only candidate that's called for that. But I think also she's benefited from the chaos of the primary that the frontrunner, the more centrist leading candidate, imploded. You've had David Crowley that's had to get back in the race. He has the governor's endorsement. Had this happened a month ago or something. I think it - the race might have looked a little differently, but she's also benefited from just the upheaval in the Democratic primary as well.
FADEL: We're watching these more progressive candidates invigorating and exciting a good part of the Democratic Party's voters, but will they be able to appeal to the more moderate Democrats who didn't choose them in the primaries? Let alone independents and other voters come November. And I'm not just talking about Wisconsin here, but Michigan and other states.
TAYLOR: That's the real test this cycle because these are not candidates that were running in Manhattan or running in Denver. They're now running in swing states. And I think this will tell us something about the viability of a national progressive candidate in 2028. I think there's going to be a lot of finger-pointing if these progressive candidates lose very winnable races. I mean, Michigan is absolutely critical to holding that for Democrats to their hopes of taking back the Senate majority. Losing a seat like Wisconsin where they need - where the Democrats are eyeing taking back state legislature.
If they lose those, that could have massive implications for 2028 when it comes to election reforms and redistricting. So these states are so critical that, again, I think there's just going to be a lot of recriminations if these progressive candidates do not perform as well in a general election as they do in a primary. There is just - they appeal to a different type of electorate. Can they move to the middle and can they appeal to independents, or do they have limited viability to just their supporters?
FADEL: And really quickly, is there a divide on the right as we're seeing on the left with the Democratic Party going on, going into the midterm elections?
TAYLOR: Well, we have seen, I think, that Trump has sort of erased that because the candidates are so allied with him. But we saw this happen in 2010, for instance, when you had Tea Party candidates that lost very winnable races for the Senate. Even though Republicans picked up the House and won 63 seats in 2010, they did not win the Senate because of these more controversial, more extreme candidates, and this could be a replay of that midterm election. I think that's what Democrats are worried about.
FADEL: We'll see what happens in November. That's Jessica Taylor, editor of U.S. Senate and governors coverage at the Cook Political Report. Thank you.
TAYLOR: Thank you for having me.
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Open article →NPRMinnesota
Goldstein: —Tone: —
In Minnesota and Wisconsin, competitive primaries will again test power of progressive candidates
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Minnesota and Wisconsin hold primary elections Tuesday that will determine how Democrats define themselves heading into the November midterm elections.
Wisconsin is a swing state in presidential elections and Minnesota has been a stronghold for Democrats over the last two decades.
Journalists from across the NPR Network in Minnesota and Wisconsin are covering the races in their communities. Here's what we are watching.
Will Democrats in another Midwest swing state choose a far-left candidate?
A week after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated a more moderate candidate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, another test of progressive power will play out in a neighboring Midwestern swing state.
Francesca Hong, a 37-year-old democratic socialist, state lawmaker and chef, has been leading in the polls throughout much of the Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin. She's run an energetic grassroots campaign, buoyed by progressive voters inspired by her atypical political background and left-wing politics.
As her command of the field has held going into Tuesday's primary, some Democrats are consolidating around other candidates they view as more palatable to a general electorate.
Wisconsin's statewide races are typically decided by slim margins.
In the final weeks of the campaign, after some unprecedented turmoil caused another candidate to drop out, that alternative became Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
In July, Crowley dropped out of the race but reentered just days later with the backing of Gov. Tony Evers. It was a last-ditch effort to leverage the popular outgoing governor's political capital in favor of a more mainstream candidate.
Whereas Crowley's campaign had largely sputtered along for months, its revived form raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, outpacing Hong's haul.
Crowley, the first Black man to hold his position, is running as someone who can work across the aisle to get things done in Madison. He has repeatedly pointed to millions of dollars that national Republican groups spent propping up Hong, ostensibly in an effort to select an opponent they saw as beatable.
Hong, though not officially endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, is a member of the organization, and of the democratic socialist caucus in the Wisconsin state Legislature. She has called for "Medicare for All" and universal childcare, and for a moratorium on data centers, a key issue for midterm voters.
While Hong's base is strong, many polls indicate that at least a third of Democratic voters remained undecided in the campaign's final week. And the Democratic electorate has fractured even further with primary candidates dropping out well after early voting began.
A MAGA candidate focused on being 'Wisconsin's Dad,' not a Beltway insider
Whoever wins Wisconsin's Democratic primary for governor is all but certain to face off against U.S. Congressman Tom Tiffany, who faces only nominal opposition for the Republican nod.
Tiffany is endorsed by President Trump and has millions of dollars in his war chest and the backing of GOP megadonors. Tiffany's alliance with the president runs deep, as one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Congress who signed on to a lawsuit challenging former Democratic President Joe Biden's 2020 victory in Wisconsin.
But as Trump's approval has plummeted this year, amidst his unpopular war with Iran and the rising cost of living, Tiffany has worked to define himself as a Wisconsin everyman. In advertisements, Tiffany plays up his roots on a Wisconsin dairy farm and love of the Green Bay Packers and a brandy old fashioned. He pledges to bring common sense solutions to Madison.
And as the Democratic candidates moved through a chaotic primary, he has presented himself as a foil to the "craziness of the left."
The race for Wisconsin's highest statewide office is expected to be hotly contested. Locally, Democrats have their hopes set on "trifecta" control of state government. That would mean holding onto the governorship and flipping the state Senate and Assembly.
Republicans are eager to keep their majorities in the Legislature, and to win back control of the governor's office.
After Operation Metro Surge, which approach will Democratic voters choose to challenge Trump?
President Trump's immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities earlier this year has shaped Minnesota's competitive Democratic primary for an open U.S. Senate seat.
Last year, Democratic Sen. Tina Smith announced that she would not seek another term and that set up the state's first open U.S. Senate race in two decades between U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
In the months after Smith's announcement, Minnesota became a flashpoint in the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration with protestors resisting deportation actions around the city. Those confrontations with federal officers ultimately turned deadly when Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot by federal agents just weeks apart.
Those events set up a race that has been defined by Operation Metro Surge. Flanagan regularly brings up a vote Craig made in Congress for a Trump-backed immigration policy.
"We can stand with the immigrant community, and not just when it's politically expedient for us and that should be the expectation we have of our leaders," Flanagan told a crowd of supporters at a St. Paul bar on Saturday.
Flanagan has campaigned saying that she would be more forceful than Craig in pushing back against the Trump administration if she was elected to serve in Washington.
"I've heard from you all across the state of Minnesota that you are sick and tired of nibbling around the edges, and you are ready for big, bold change," Flanagan said at a debate hosted by Minnesota Public Radio News last month. "Part of the reason that we're here is because too many Democrats have been weak."
Craig said she regrets her vote for the GOP-led Laken Riley Act, which allows for detention of people without legal status who are charged with crimes ranging from minor theft to assault on law enforcement. And rejects the idea that she has taken a moderate approach in pushing back against Trump as a member of Congress.
"This is an existential moment in time," Craig said to Minnesota Public Radio News. "The only way we stop Donald Trump and Republicans is by winning elections. I am in the best position to win this statewide election."
And she says Operation Metro Surge has made her more resolute.
"It has made me more committed than ever to standing up to the Trump administration's policies as it relates to immigration enforcement," Craig told NPR after a campaign organizing event on Saturday. "[I'm] more committed than ever to getting comprehensive immigration reform done in this country."
Meanwhile, Flanagan does not refer to herself as a Democratic Socialist but has the endorsements of progressive U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. She also picked up the endorsement of her state's Democratic Farmer-Labor Party in May.
Craig has a fundraising advantage over Flanagan, according to a recent review of FEC filings by OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks campaign spending.
The winner will face whoever wins the Republican primary between sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya, Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze and former NBA basketball player Royce White.
A staunch Trump ally is shaking up Minnesota's GOP gubernatorial primary.
Gov. Tim Walz abandoned his bid for a third term in January, leaving Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar as the only formidable Democrat running to replace him. Yet, there's a more competitive primary on the Republican side.
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell has been leading in the polls after he picked up the endorsement of President Trump. Yet businessman Kendall Qualls picked up the end
Open article →GDELTWisconsin
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The Latest: Progressives challenge establishment in Democratic primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota
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President Donald Trump is scheduled to swear in Todd Blanche, his old personal lawyer, as attorney general Monday after the Senate voted to confirm him early Saturday. Blanche’s path toward confirmation exposed deep concerns — from some Republicans as well as Democrats — over installing Trump’s close ally atop a Justice Department that historically prided itself on its independence from the White House.
Progressive candidates for governor in Wisconsin and U.S. Senate in Minnesota are making their final pushes ahead of Tuesday’s election, increasing the pressure on the Democratic establishment. In Wisconsin, democratic socialist Francesca Hong seeks to win a four-way Democratic primary for governor. Minnesota voters will choose between moderate U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in a Democratic U.S. Senate primary in the aftermath of Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement surge.
Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States lifts its blockade on the strait, pays compensation for months of war damage, lifts economic sanctions and releases Iran’s frozen assets. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has become the war’s most lasting consequence.
Here’s the latest:
Iran presses demands on US as shipping standoff grinds on
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States meets its conditions.
“It is up to the U.S. side to stop and make amends for its illegal and destructive actions,” Esmail Baghaei said Monday, noting the American blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran wants the U.S. to lift its blockade on the Strait, pay compensation for months of war damage, lift economic sanctions and release Iran’s frozen assets. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway that normally carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies — has become the war’s most lasting consequence. The impasse has kept energy prices as a major focus of U.S. politics ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Iran is holding separate talks with Oman over transit through the strait, including potentially a temporary shipping corridor, but has said any actual reopening is contingent on talks with the U.S.
Wisconsin’s chaotic primary pits progressive against governor’s pick
Democratic socialist Francesca Hong is trying to win a four-way Democratic primary for governor in Wisconsin, where her top opponent has been endorsed by popular Gov. Tony Evers, who isn’t seeking a third term.
Evers got behind Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley on July 18, the same day Crowley reentered the race after dropping out 10 days earlier. Crowley rejoined after the candidate he backed, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, ended her candidacy amid a campaign finance scandal.
Evers and more establishment Democrats were hoping to finally coalesce around Crowley in the final days of the chaotic primary that saw two other candidates drop out, most notably former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes on July 29.
Republicans are spending to support a Hong victory, betting she’s the better matchup for Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November. The Republican Governors Association has spent nearly $3.6 million through its Right Direction Wisconsin PAC on ads contrasting Hong with Trump and playing up her liberal proposals.
Trump’s immigration crackdown looms over Minnesota’s bruising Senate primary
Efforts to resist Trump found their footing in the streets surrounding a drab federal office complex next to the Minneapolis airport. As U.S. immigration agents staged at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building for a monthslong deportation campaign, protesters with whistles and cellphone cameras assembled to oppose them. Two were shot and killed in the city’s streets before Trump pulled back under pressure.
Months later, those confrontations remain the backdrop to Minnesota’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, which features establishment-backed U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and the more progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. The immigration debate is an added schism in a race that otherwise echoes many of the other left versus center divides that have played out across the United States this year.
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