Francesca Hong, Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate, leaves a polling place with her son George after voting in the primary election in Madison, Wisconsin, on 11 August. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Francesca Hong, Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate, leaves a polling place with her son George after voting in the primary election in Madison, Wisconsin, on 11 August. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images
In Wisconsin, David Crowley narrowly leads Democratic socialist Francesca Hong
Results in the Wisconsin governor’s race are very close, with David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, narrowly leading Democratic socialist Francesca Hong.
Crowley, endorsed by outgoing governor Tony Evers, made a last-minute full-court press across the state, emphasizing that he believes he is more poised to win statewide and beat Republican Tom Tiffany in the general.
Polls had shown Hong with a strong lead, but often showed a sizable amount of undecided voters. With many candidates running, some dropping out and then Crowley re-entering the race, the polls likely didn’t accurately capture the race.
Crowley’s team wrote a memo saying as much in the days leading up to the primary, stating that the polls would likely be off as they were in Michigan, where they showed Abdul El-Sayed with a large lead over Haley Stevens for US Senate. El-Sayed won the race, albeit with a closer margin than polls predicted.
Matt Little rose to the top of a three-way race between current and former state lawmakers to win the Democratic nomination in Minnesota’s second congressional district, the seat currently held by Angie Craig, who is running for US senate.
Little, who patrolled immigration officers during Operation Metro Surge, defeated state senator Matt Klein and state representative Kaela Berg. He had received the endorsement from the state Democratic party via the delegate process.
The second congressional district is seen as a swing district, though it went for Kamala Harris in 2024. Cook Political Report rates it as a likely Democratic seat, though national Republicans are likely to make a play to flip it.
In Wisconsin, David Crowley narrowly leads Democratic socialist Francesca Hong
Results in the Wisconsin governor’s race are very close, with David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, narrowly leading Democratic socialist Francesca Hong.
Crowley, endorsed by outgoing governor Tony Evers, made a last-minute full-court press across the state, emphasizing that he believes he is more poised to win statewide and beat Republican Tom Tiffany in the general.
Polls had shown Hong with a strong lead, but often showed a sizable amount of undecided voters. With many candidates running, some dropping out and then Crowley re-entering the race, the polls likely didn’t accurately capture the race.
Crowley’s team wrote a memo saying as much in the days leading up to the primary, stating that the polls would likely be off as they were in Michigan, where they showed Abdul El-Sayed with a large lead over Haley Stevens for US Senate. El-Sayed won the race, albeit with a closer margin than polls predicted.
Luke Bronin, the former mayor of Hartford, ousted incumbent congressman John Larson in Connecticut’s first congressional district, the AP has projected.
Bronin, 47, was the latest Democrat to challenge an ageing member of Congress. Larson, 78, has represented the district since 1999.
Bronin talked to the Guardian last year for a piece on Democrats challenging older members of Congress in the aftermath of Joe Biden’s 2024 exit from the presidential race over age and mental fitness concerns.
At the time, Bronin said Democrats needed to be “relentless and clear” about the ways Trump is making life worse for Americans, and “equally relentless and clear” about the Democratic party’s vision for improving their daily lives. He said he wanted to see “an intense focus on issues like housing and healthcare and childcare”.
In a statement tonight, Bronin said: “Tonight, voters sent a message that if we are going to fix this mess we’re in, we need to build a Democratic party that’s bringing a whole new energy to this fight. It’s time to be courageous, bold and clear about who we’re fighting for and what we’re fighting for.”
Voters in South Carolina, Vermont, Alabama , Connecticut, Minnesota and Wisconsin took to the polls today.
Some results have already become clear…
In a special primary in South Carolina following the death of Republican senator Lindsay Graham, Graham’s sister Darline Graham and US Representative Ralph Norman advanced to a runoff election later this moth.
In Connecticut, incumbent Democratic governor Ned Lamont prevailed against his challenger Josh Elliott.
In Wisconsin, Democratic socialist Francesca Hong emerged as a frontrunner in a crowded primary for the Democratic nomination for governor
In the Minnesota governor’s race Peggy Flanagan, the progressive lieutenant governor, is facing US representative Angie Craig on the Democrat side. And Republicans weighed whether to advance pillow salesman and election denier Mike Lindell.
As voters took to the polls, the Department of Justice said that officials are monitoring polling sites in Hennepin and Ramsey county – Minnesota’s largest – throughout the state’s primary elections. Minnesota’s secretary of state said state monitors were observing federal election monitors.
In other news…
There were new reports that Donald Trump left Turkey last month on a secret military flight to Britain amid an Iranian assassination threat. ABC News reporter Michelle Stoddart, who traveled with the president and senior officials from Ankara in July, noted today that before the press corps departed the summit, they were given no additional guidance on the president’s movements or flight plans beyond his publicly posted Truth Social post. More here
The state department revoked more than 175,000 visas of foreign nationals who officials say have “violated the terms of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against US citizens”. These include people who allegedly “celebrated” the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to officials. The state department noted an instance of online comments which included: “when fascists die, democrats don’t complain” and another who said Kirk “died too late”.
ICE plans to spend up to $20m to purchase thousands of gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks for officers and agents by March, according to a notice published Monday by the Department of Homeland Security.The devices, called Glove (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky.
Russia has freed a former US marine who had been in jail since 2022, after Vladimir Putin granted the ailing American a pardon on humanitarian grounds. Trump has said the agreement came about after he spoke to Vladimir Putin about releasing Robert Gilman, and confirmed that this was not a prisoner exchange.
Michele Tafoya, a former NFL broadcaster, has won the Minnesota Republican senate primary.
But in the blue state, all eyes are on the Democratic primary – where representative Angie Craig, a moderate Democrat who serves a swing district in the south suburbs of Minneapolis, is running against lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan, a progressive.
Voters in parts of Alabama have voted for the second time this primary season
Some Alabama voters took to the polls today for the second time this primary season after the state’s Republican-controlled legislature reconfigured four of the seven districts.
The redrawn district map came after the supreme court dismantled a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and several southern states moved to redistrict and consolidate Republican power.
In June, the supreme court ruled that Alabama could use a redrawn congressional map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts in this year’s midterm elections.
The new map poses steep challenges for Democratic representative Shomari Figures, who was first elected in 2024 after the creation a new district that included the mostly Black cities of Mobile and Montgomery. But the district no longer includes Mobile, Figures’s hometown.
State representative Rhett Marques, a Republican and a small-business owner who became part of the the new district, won the primary to challenge Figures in November.
Amy Klobuchar wins Democratic primary for Minnesota governor
Klobuchar, a fourth-term US senator, was widely expected to win the primary nomination to succeed governor Tim Walz, who decided not to run for a third term earlier this year.
The senator, who has also run for president, faced minimal opposition after announcing her run. A moderate Democrat, she holds the third-highest-ranking position in Democratic leadership in the Senate.
Ralph Norman advances in South Carolina Senate Republican runoff
Norman, a hardline conservative who has served in the US House of Representatives since 2017, is projected to advance in the Republican Senate runoff against Darline Graham.
A wealthy real estate developer and a prominent member of the House Freedom caucus, Norman ran unsuccessfully for South Carolina governor earlier this year. That campaign gave Norman statewide name recognition, boosting his campaign for the Senate, after Lindsey Graham’s death.
As a reminder, here are the big races we’re watching tonight:
In Wisconsin, Democratic socialist Francesca Hong emerged as a frontrunner in a crowded primary for the Democratic nomination for governor after current governor Tony Evers decided not to seek a rare third term. Hong’s campaign built a grassroots army, though in recent weeks, national headlines have focused on her past tweets, including ones about defunding police and canceling Thanksgiving, positions she no longer holds.
Evers endorsed David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, who previously left before re-entering the race and centering his bid on being more electable in a swing state. Kelda Roys, a state senator, and Joel Brennan, a former head of the state administration department, round out the field.
In Minnesota, both sides of the aisle have big primaries. In the Democratic race for an open US Senate seat, Peggy Flanagan, the progressive lieutenant governor, faces US representative Angie Craig, a moderate. Flanagan has hit Craig on immigration enforcement, a major factor for voters in a state ravaged by federal agents. Michele Tafoya, a former NFL broadcaster, is favored to win the Republican nod for the seat.
And Republicans in Minnesota will decide whether to follow Trump’s endorsement and vote for pillow salesman and election denier Mike Lindell in the governor’s race. He is running against House speaker Lisa Demuth and businessman Kendall Qualls.
Amy Klobuchar, the US senator, is the likely winner for Democrats for the governor’s race.
Judge blocks USPS from implementing Trump mail-in voting restrictions
As we watch for election results tonight, we’re also following news that a federal judge blocked the US Postal Service (USPS) from implementing part of Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting before the November midterm elections.
The president’s order had enabled the USPS to refuse to deliver ballots to states that did not comply with directives to turn over their voter rolls to federal officials.
US district judge Indira Talwani in Boston expanded on an earlier order from June that had prevented the administration from implementing restrictions in 23 mostly Democratic-led states.
Voting rights groups, joined by 23 states and the District of Columbia, sued the administration to stop the executive order, arguing that the US constitution does not authorize the president to issue orders governing the administration of elections.
Lindsey Graham's sister Darline advances to runoff in South Carolina Republican primary
Darline Graham has advanced to a runoff in South Carolina’s special Republican primary to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, in the Senate one month after his sudden death.
She did not win the primary outright, but the race is too close to call for her opponent in the runoff to be held on 25 August.
Those in the running still include Representative Russell Fry, Representative Ralph Norman, former governor Mark Sanford and Mark Lynch, a businessman.
The winner of the Republican runoff will face Annie Andrews, the Democratic nominee and a pediatrician, in the November general election.
In Alabama, voters are participating in a second primary this year after the state’s Republican-controlled state legislature reconfigured four of the state’s seven districts after the supreme court dismantled a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In Connecticut, Democratic governor Ned Lamont is seeking a third term, but is facing a challenge from Josh Elliott, the deputy speaker of the state house, who has said Lamont has been ineffective at raising taxes on the rich.
The special Republican Senate primary is an odd one
Lindsey Graham had already won the Republican primary election for his seat, so the Republican party must hold a special election to replace him on the ballot in November’s general election. The timeline is brutal by American political standards, holding an election within a few weeks of the vacancy.
The winner will face Annie Andrews, the Democratic nominee and a pediatrician, in the November general election.
Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, had the recommendation of Donald Trump to serve as governor Henry McMaster’s Senate appointee, and has the president’s endorsement in the primary as well. She has spent decades as a public administrator and disability advocate, serving as the commissioner of the South Carolina commission for the blind from 2019 to 2026. She also has her brother’s considerable statepoliticalapparatus behind her.
Trump’s endorsement is important, but it is not decisive, according to Frank Tiller, the chair of the Spartanburg county Republican party. “It’s very important, but a lot of people are saying Donald Trump does not know South Carolina politics,” Tiller said. “South Carolina politics is different from a lot of places. Everybody here is fiercely independent.”
The compressed election cycle complicates the retail politics that South Carolina voters have grown accustomed to, Tiller said: “There are not enough people that know the candidates. Everybody’s calling around trying to find out who to vote for, because they don’t know the candidates.”
Aside from Graham, two of the most able Republican competitors for the seat boast substantial campaign infrastructure of their own. Norman has served in the US House of Representatives since 2017, in a district covering the southern suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a wealthy real estate developer and a prominent member of the House Freedom caucus. Norman ran unsuccessfully for South Carolina governor earlier this year, and while he did not advance to the runoff, the infrastructure of his campaign was still largely intact when Graham died.
Congressman Russell Fry represents Myrtle Beach and South Carolina’s conservative eastern border. An attorney, Fry rose from the ranks of South Carolina’s state legislature after successfully challenging then US representative Tom Rice in the GOP primary in 2022. Rice was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeachTrump after the January 6 insurrection. Trump paid him back by endorsing Fry and campaigning to replace Rice. Both Fry and Norman have campaigned as fiscal hawks, highlighting culture war issues.
MarkSanford is a household name in South Carolina politics as a former governor with two separate stints in the US House. Sanford briefly challenged Trump in the 2020 Republican presidential primaries, and made headlines as governor after disappearing from the state for a week, ostensibly on an Appalachian Trail hiking trip, when he was instead having an extramarital affair in Argentina.
In South Carolina, all eyes are on the special Republican Senate primary to determine who will succeed the late senator Lindsey Graham.
Darline Graham, who was appointed as the replacement to serve the remainder of her brother’s term, is running in the contest with the backing of Donald Trump.
If no candidate wins an overall majority of votes, the top two will advance to a runoff on 25 August. Polling suggests that this is the most likely outcome.
ICE plans to spend up to $20m to purchase thousands of gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks for officers and agents by March, according to a notice published Monday by the Department of Homeland Security.
The devices, called Glove (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky.
According to the manufacturer, “the discomfort associated with the stimulation is usually effective in bringing individuals into compliance in less than three seconds and leaves no burns, marks or scars”. The company has advertised the device as a “humane, low-optics, de-escalation solution for many situations facing our men and women in uniform”.
The gloves have previously been used in settings such as jails in the US.
Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Associated Press that she questioned the use of the devices for civil immigration enforcement.
“ICE spent the last year showing this country they are too quick to use force. Now they will be able to deploy electric shocks with the slight push of a button that maybe nobody else can see them do,” she said. “Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public.”