Tuesday’s Elections Were Good News for Progressives — and Establishment Republicans

Published August 5, 2020

Tuesday’s five-state primary elections told us a lot about the state of the American electorate. The results hold good news for progressives and establishment Republicans alike.

Democrat Cori Bush’s defeat of 20-year incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) was only the tip of the progressive iceberg. That’s not to make light of her victory. The Clay family had represented seats anchored in the city of St. Louis since 1969. Her win shows that even long-entrenched Democrats can fall prey to a challenger from their left. That’s a pretty important message even standing alone.

But it did not stand alone. Progressive “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) easily turned back a primary challenge from Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, whom Tlaib defeated by only 900 votes in 2018. Progressive Jen Richardson nearly defeated the party’s preferred candidate, state Rep. Jon Hoadley, in Michigan’s 6th Congressional District despite being outspent nearly 15 to 1. And another underfunded progressive, Eva Putzova, punched above her weight against moderate Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.), who won with only 59 percent of the vote in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. The message to incumbents is clear: Move left, or risk moving out.

Click here to read the rest of this piece at the Washington Post’s website.

Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

The Gateway Drug to Post-Christian Paganism

Carl R. Trueman

The Conspiracists

Devorah Goldman

Think the First Wave Is a Model for Women? Think Again.

Carrie Gress

Strangling For Sexual Sport Is Exactly The Kind Of Thing We Should ‘Kink-Shame’

Nathanael Blake

EPPC BRIEFLY

Upcoming Event |

Roger Scruton: America

SEARCH

Your support impacts the debate on critical issues of public policy.

Donate today

Related Publications

McCarthy’s debt plan needs an endgame. Here’s what it could look like.

Henry Olsen

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s budget and debt-limit plan is full of good policies, but it is more of an opening offer for…

Articles

The Washington Post / April 24, 2023

This Arizona town captures America’s deepening rural-urban divide

Henry Olsen

Arizona’s rapid transformation from a Republican bastion to a swing state is largely a story about the divergence between suburban…

Articles

The Washington Post / March 23, 2023

Republicans need a counteroffer to Biden’s Medicare fix

Henry Olsen

Olsen describes the tactics the GOP should use against the Biden Administration as a way to get leverage politically.

Articles

The Washington Post / March 8, 2023

The U.S.-Israeli alliance is getting testy. Don’t expect it to improve.

Henry Olsen

Olsen discusses the tense alliance between the U.S. and Israel. The Biden Administration is clashing with right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 20, 2023