The Washington Post headlined its coverage of last night's primaries "the Democratic Establishment Strikes Back." And, indeed, establishment folks did well where they needed to, particularly in California, where they avoided getting locked out of the general election by finishing in the top two.
But where they were up against insurgent challengers, they got their clocks cleaned.
Katie Porter, endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, beat Chuck-Schumer-staffer Dave Min in a California House race. Lefty Ammar Campa-Najjar knocked off New Dem Josh Butner. Progressive Mike Levine beat Sara Jacobs, whose grandfather bought her an EMILY's List endorsement. And a lefty won the race for mayor in San Francisco.
In New Mexico, Deb Haaland, a Native American progressive, beat prosecutor Damon Martinez, backed by No Labels. And the entire New Mexico state House was shaken to its core, with three veteran incumbents losing to grassroots-powered insurgents.
Dayen spent the evening with Porter, and here's our story.
He also uncovered one of the craziest stories I think I've ever come across in covering political campaigns. A Trump-linked consultant ran a stealth million-dollar campaign for a guy claiming to be a Democrat in what may have been an effort to syphon votes away from real Democrats. Bizarre.
Remember Ken Salazar? He draws a lot of water these days in Colorado, acting as a kingmaker for the state Democratic Party. He's also an attorney for fracking companies. Ugh. Story here.
And Donald Trump did something good. On the advice of Kim Kardashian West. What is going on? He pardoned Alice Johnson, who shouldn't have been in prison anyway. Good for him and Kim. Now do a million more. Tana Ganeva has a written interview with Johnson. "My grandchildren only know me through prison communications," she wrote to The Intercept from the Aliceville correctional facility in Alabama. "My daughter Tretessa has twin three month old babies who I'm looking forward to holding and rocking!"
What's next for Laura Moser?
Funny you should ask. She's joining Strong Arm Press as a contributing editor. HuffPost's Daniel Marans has the scoop.
(Strong Arm Press is the publishing house I co-founded that just published Mike Lux's great new book. We had the launch party for it last night in Washington. Elizabeth Warren, Keith Ellison and other lawmakers and such were there. But then David Hogg showed up and he was mobbed like a celebrity. He and the rest of those kids are my heroes.)
As we plan new parties, I'll let you know. Thursday's will be in New York City, and if you're interested in going, RSVP to
andrea@mikeluxmedia.com. And
get a copy of the book.This email grows by word of mouth. If you enjoy getting it, please forward this note to friends and tell them to sign up to start getting their own copy here. I'm the Washington bureau chief at The Intercept, and I send this several times a week. If you want to contribute directly to help keep the thing running, you can do so here, though be warned a donation comes with no tote bags or extra premium content or anything. Or you can support it by buying a copy of Schoolhouse Wreck: The Betsy DeVos Story, Out of the Ooze: The Story of Dr. Tom Price or Wall Street's White House, the first three books put out by Strong Arm Press, a small progressive publishing house I cofounded. See upcoming titles here.
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