Socialists capture major Florida victory on hit-or-miss night for Trump-endorsed primary candidates

Donald Trump teams up with then-GOP congressional candidate Harriet Hageman at a campaign rally, on May 28, 2022, in Casper, Wyoming.(Harriet Hageman campaign)

However, in Wyoming’s gubernatorial primary, Republican voters spurned Trump’s choice, electing state Sen.Eric Barlow over Megan Degenfelder, the state’s superintendent of public instruction.Barlow, too, won decidedly, holding a lead of 50% to Degenfelder’s 29.7% with three quarters of the votes counted.

Both races were called shortly after polls closed.

TRUMP-ALIGNED CONSERVATIVE EMERGES FROM CROWDED PRIMARY TO DECIDE WHO FILLS WYOMING’S LONE HOUSE SEAT

Wyoming’s Secretary of State Chuck Gray won a competitive five-way primary, garnering 25% of the vote.Businessman Steve Freiss earned 20.7% of the vote.Army veteran Kevin Christensen won 17.8% of the vote.

The state hasn’t elected a Democrat in a statewide race since 2006, and that trend is likely to continue in November.

Alaska

Incumbent Republican Sen.Dan Sullivan finished second in the state’s non-partisan primaries, and will move on to the general election where he will face three other candidates, including former Democratic congresswoman Mary Peltola, the top vote-getter, in November.

Trump buried the losses in a post on TRUTH Social.

“A lot of great WINS tonight!!!” he said.

VETERAN DEM DEFEATS SCANDAL-PLAGUED FORMER LAWMAKER, PROGRESSIVE CHALLENGER IN TRUMP’S BACKYARD

Moderate Dems fend off far-left in Florida House races

On the House side, a familiar face won in the newly redrawn 20th Congressional District in Florida.Rep.Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., was drawn out of the 25th District, which she currently represents.

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Wasserman Schultz defeated four other candidates, including self-proclaimed socialist activist Elijah Manley, a serious contender who raised nearly $1 million in his bid.Despite the fundraising haul, Manley placed third behind former mayor of Broward County Dale Holness.

Manley argued on Monday night in an appearance on NBC News that it was inappropriate for Wasserman Schultz to run in the 20th District when she lives in what is now the 22nd District, and said Democrats “need fresh leaders” in Washington.He also argued that it was inappropriate for a White person to occupy the seat.

Race became a major issue in the contest, with Wasserman Schultz’s detractors criticizing her decision to run in a district described as “historically Black.”

“One of the last remaining opportunity districts that we have in the South being held by a white Democrat, that’s unacceptable,” Manley said in his Monday interview.

Elijah Manley, who has been endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America, is facing off against Rep.Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., a veteran House Democrat.(Tom Williams, CQ-Roll Call / Carline Jean, South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Former Democratic Rep.Sheri Cherfilus-McCormick placed fourth in the race.She represented the district until April when she resigned after facing federal criminal charges involving alleged misuse of disaster-relief funds.She has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Wasserman Schultz should have a significant advantage in November in a district that heavily favors Democrats.

Elsewhere in the state, Rep.Jared Moskowitz crushed a surging socialist challenger in Florida’s 25th Congressional District, defeating Oliver Larkin by a 64%-36% margin.

Moskowitz ran as a centrist Democrat, while Larkin proudly touted hismembership in the DSAon the campaign trail.

Larkinsaidon the campaign trail that he wanted to abolish and prosecute members of U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), taking his party’s stance on ending the agency one step further.The formerBernie Sanderscampaign field director also championed packing the Supreme Court, a $25 minimum wage, ending the Cuba embargo and D.C.statehood, along with statehood for Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S.Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Moskowitz issued a fiery statement denouncing the DSA.

Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat from Florida, during a hearing with the full task force on the assassination attempt of former President Donald J.Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Sept.26, 2024(Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Tonight, Democratic voters sent a clear message.I faced a challenge from the DSA.They threw everything at me and I didn’t change who I am or what I believe, and the voters overwhelmingly chose the independent-minded approach I’ve brought to Congress,” he said.“I led the effort to have Kristi Noem fired, I’ve taken on this Administration, and I’ve taken on extremes in the DSA and won.Now we’re running in a tough district hand-drawn by Republicans to defeat me, but I plan to win that too.”

Moskowitz’s district, once reliably blue,leans Republican after redistricting.He will face Republican former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer.

Incumbent GOP senator advances in Alaska

One of the most closely watched Senate races in the country is ongoing in Alaska, as Republicans cling to a narrow majority in the upper chamber.

Alaska has non-partisan “top-four” primary elections, meaning that candidates from all parties compete in an open race, and the top four vote-getters advance to the general election.In the general election, the state uses ranked-choice voting.

Trump-endorsed Republican Sen.Dan Sullivan faced 15 primary challengers, including former Democratic Rep.Mary Peltola and a retired teacher.

Sen.Dan Sullivan (R-AK) speaks during a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 30, 2026 in Washington, DC.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The incumbent Sullivan was second in voting at the time the race was called, and will move on to the general election.Peltola, who lost her seat to Republican Rep.Nick Begich III in 2024, was in first and held a razor-thin lead of less than 1%.

Alaska’s only member of the House, Begich, will be on the ballot in November as he battles to keep his seat.He will be joined by independent fisherman Bill Hill, while two additional spots in the four-candidate field remained uncalled early Wednesday.

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The top two contenders in the gubernatorial race were separated by only two percentage points at the time AP called the race.

Politics runs in the Begich family, as Nick’s uncle, Tom Begich, a Democrat and former state senator, secured a spot in the November general election alongside Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.

As of early Wednesday morning, AP had not yet called the final two candidates advancing in each of Alaska’s Senate, House and gubernatorial races, all of which send four candidates to the November general election.

Peter D�