Tuesday marked the last primary night of the year and there was no absence of drama or surprises. The Hill's Caroline Vakil broke down the key takeaways from the contests in New Hampshire, Delaware and Rhode Island.
In New Hampshire, MAGA had a good night — and that could be bad for establishment Republicans as they look to flip several seats in the Granite State.
Bolduc vs. Sununu: Ret. Army Gen. Don Bolduc, a far-right candidate, won the Republican Senate primary, setting up a head-to-head matchup with incumbent Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. Bolduc was not the choice of the GOP establishment — Gov. Chris Sununu (R) endorsed his opponent, state Senate President Chuck Morse — and in fact he was boosted by Democrats, who are convinced that he will make their job of defending Hassan's seat easier in November.
Meanwhile, in the GOP primaries for New Hampshire's two House races, similarly MAGA candidates beat out opponents favored by more establishment-aligned Republicans. In both cases, the victories could end up benefitting the Democratic incumbents in November.
For his part, Sununu coasted to victory in his GOP primary and appears on track to easily win his reelection in November.
Meanwhile, in Rhode Island: Democratic Gov. Dan McKee narrowly avoided being the first incumbent governor to lose a primary since 2018. He fended off four primary challengers including former CVS executive Helena Foulkes. McKee is expected to win his general election against Republican candidate Ashley Kalus and will serve his first full term since taking over from former Gov. Gina Raimondo (D), who left her post to take a job in the Biden administration.
So what have we learned? With the last of the 2022 primaries behind us, The Hill's Julia Manchester takes a look at the big takeaways from a bruising season. She writes that the contests showed that former President Trump's hold on the GOP has not loosened, given widespread victories for his endorsed candidates. Additionally, the GOP appeared to benefit from gerrymandering and retirements from House Democratic lawmakers. On the Democratic side of the aisle, we saw the party's establishment flank stand firm in the face of progressive resistance during the primaries.
On the Trump note, Niall Stanage laid out the five Trump takeaways from the primaries, which include the electability doubt that has overshadowed his endorsed candidates, his backed candidates' struggle with gubernatorial primaries, and his victory in the proxy war against his former Vice President Mike Pence.
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