What Went Down In Elections In Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont And Connecticut

Reports are surfacing that Don Samuels is conceding to Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minnesota’s 5th District. As of now, per ABC News, we’re still at 96 percent of the expected vote in and Omar maintains a narrow lead over Samuels — 51 to 48 percent. Assuming the race is projected in Omar’s favor soon, she should be in good standing come November given that her district has a partisan lean of D+57. Omar will likely face Cicely Davis this fall, who is ahead in her race currently, but the Republican primary hasn’t yet been projected, either.

In Connecticut, former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides dropped out of the gubernatorial primary to give Bob Stefanowski a clear shot at Gov. Ned Lamont. She switched to the Senate race, where initially it looked like she’d get a go at Sen. Richard Blumenthal in a race that some Republicans hoped could come online. But then Leora Levy, who Trump nominated twice to be ambassador to Chile (she was never confirmed), jumped in the race, started attacking Klarides as a RINO and secured an endorsement from Trump. And now the folks at Decision Desk HQ (but not yet ABC News) are projecting Levy is the winner.

Well, Sarah, that stems from a long-running (gosh, over a decade now!) meme among election nerds about “crucial Waukesha County” always being the most suspenseful part of any Wisconsin election night. But in all seriousness, it’s a very populous suburban county that contains a lot of “old” Republicans, to borrow the terminology from our discussion before. If an establishment-leaning Republican hopes to win statewide in Wisconsin, they must run up their margins in Waukesha.