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This year has been quite the doozy since January. The nation is facing down the novel coronavirus pandemic as widespread civil unrest over police brutality dominates the headlines.
This odd year has seen a boon for late tax preparers, pushing the tax deadline far past its usual April date. On Tuesday, pundits got a glimpse at the electorate ahead of November thanks to Congressional primaries.
Notable takeaways from this primary could be helpful in picturing how the general election in November will go. Pundits often take summer primaries in election years quite seriously, as they paint a picture that is helpful for campaigning and advertising.
Incumbent Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known to fans and critics as AOC, won a blowout against her primary opponents. Ocasio-Cortez represents the 14th District of New York, where she won a stunning upset for her seat in 2018. Since being elected, she’s been a champion of progressive politics. She also remains a lightning rod for conservative rage.
Her resounding victory in Tuesday’s contest helped silence critics who have long wanted the freshman congresswoman to “return to bartending”. On Twitter, AOC heralded her win as “important”. “Our win [in 2018] was treated as an aberration, or my opponent ‘didn’t try’. So from the start, tonight’s race was important to me. Tonight we are proving that the people’s movement in NY isn’t an accident. It‘s a mandate.”
But Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t the only progressive to win big in the Big Apple. Incumbent Eliot Engel, an establishment Democrat, is fighting to hold on to his seat in a primary against Jamaal Bowman. Mr. Bowman, another progressive who aligns with Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, has been leading the pack in his race. The race has not been officially called, but Bowman is leading by some 25 points.
Elsewhere, challenger Suraj Patel is challenging Representative Carolyn Maloney. Maloney, another establishment Democrat, held off Patel’s challenge in 2018. However, in a move that stunned pundits, newcomer Patel scored some forty percent of the vote in that year’s contest. As of the time of this writing, Patel and Maloney are locked dead-even, with about eighty percent of the vote recorded.
Elsewhere, Democrats in Kentucky are fighting over who will run against Mitch McConnell. McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, is often the face of Democratic ire at the Republican party. Democrats will be running either Amy McGrath, the establishment pick, or Charles Booker, another progressive Democrat.
