A Good Election Night for Progressives

Let’s begin with California. Though Republican Steve Hilton is currently leading in the jungle primary for the governor’s race, with Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer running second and third, there are still millions of late ballots to be counted. It remains a possibility that the final two in the November election will be Becerra and Steyer.

The late votes are likely to be strongly Democratic and could push Steyer into the top two. That’s because Democrats held their ballots until the last minute to vote strategically, and polls showed Steyer with momentum in the final week.

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That would set up a classic center-vs.-left contest for governor. Steyer, though a self-funded billionaire, is by far the most progressive gubernatorial candidate anywhere in the country. Becerra rose in the polls because of massive corporate funding and an organized effort from the state political machine, which meandered among candidates before settling on Becerra once Eric Swalwell’s campaign imploded. An all-Democrat final would also be lethal for Republican down-ballot candidates and a boost to the billionaire wealth tax that will be on the ballot in November.

Down-ballot, progressives had an interesting night. Elsewhere in California, in the Central Valley seat currently held by Republican David Valadao, progressive Randy Villegas is ahead of centrist Democratic rival Jasmeet Bains to take on Valadao in the November final. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who has had a rough time governing California’s largest city, symbolized by but not limited to the Pacific Palisades fire, survived, but she will face one of two tough challengers in the November final. Whether that challenge comes from the right or the left remains to be seen.

And in Nancy Pelosi’s former seat in San Francisco, the primary contest featured progressives of different stripes. San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan and state Sen. Scott Wiener advanced to the final, Chan with the help of Pelosi’s endorsement. Saikat Chakrabarti, a former chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and onetime tech executive, spent $10 million of his own money but lagged far behind, criticized as a carpetbagger.

In other notable races, Sam Forstag, a union leader and smokejumper, is winning the primary in a possible swing seat in Montana. AOC stumped for him on the final weekend.

And Adam Hamawy, a combat surgeon who worked in Gaza, won the primary in a safe New Jersey seat. Hamawy was attacked by the Israel lobby for his forthright defense of the rights of Palestinians, but to no avail.

Part of the backstory there is the crushing defeat of rival candidate Sue Altman. She is not quite as progressive as Hamawy on the issues but is a hero nonetheless for having led the successful fight to end the “county line” system in New Jersey, which was the basis of the power of notorious bosses like South Jersey power broker George Norcross. The reform opened up New Jersey politics. Altman finished a distant sixth, but her actions opened up the election for someone like Hamawy.

On the Republican side, President Trump suffered a defeat when his preferred candidate for Iowa governor, Randy Feenstra, was narrowly defeated by business executive Zach Lahn, who aligned himself with the MAHA movement. (Taking on monopolies was a central theme of his campaign.) Lahn will face Democrat Rob Sand in November in the marquee race, with Iowa Democrats eager to win the governor’s mansion for the first time since 2006. Sand, the Iowa state auditor, is the lone Iowa Democrat to hold statewide office; the Prospect profiled him on Monday.

Democrats hope to win the Senate seat in Iowa as well, and state representative and former Paralympian Josh Turek, Chuck Schumer’s preferred candidate, won the primary on the back of a $10 million investment from VoteVets, which is closely allied with the Democratic leadership.

Overall, progressives had a good night that could end up even better pending the results on the West Coast.