By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) – Until Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump was riding a near-perfect record of endorsements, with wins in Indiana, Louisiana and Texas. But that ended with the defeat of U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra in the Republican primary for Iowa governor.
Nonetheless, the Trump-backed candidate for governor in California appears to be on track to compete in the November election after a night that saw bright spots for Democrats as well.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s primary elections:
TRUMP SPUTTERS IN IOWA
Feenstra was considered the frontrunner in the Republican primary to replace retiring Republican Governor Kim Reynolds. Having won three U.S. House terms, Feenstra sought the governorship with Trump’s endorsement.
Trump sailed to victory in the 2024 presidential race, winning Iowa by a 13-point margin over Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Trump’s muscle had appeared to be growing after he helped topple Republican senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas in primary battles.
But with the public unhappy about the war with Iran and Iowa’s agricultural sector hurting from high prices of fuel and fertilizer, Feenstra narrowly lost the Republican primary to businessman-farmer Zach Lahn, who had never run for public office.
FURTHER REPUBLICAN CRACKS IN IOWA?
Democrats think they have a strong chance of grabbing a U.S. Senate seat from Republicans now that Josh Turek, a state legislator and Paralympic gold medalist, defeated progressive Zach Wahls in Tuesday’s primary.
With Republican Senator Joni Ernst retiring, Turek will face U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson, also a Republican.
The race was considered a likely win for Republicans, but with Turek’s win, some analysts see it as shifting toward the Democrats. The Cook Political Report now calls Iowa “the center of the political universe,” and moved it from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican.”
A GOOD NIGHT FOR DEMOCRATS
Democrat Xavier Becerra appeared headed to become his party’s nominee for California governor, replacing term-limited Gavin Newsom.
Republican Steve Hilton, a television commentator backed by Trump, surprised many with a strong showing that could pit him against Becerra in this heavily Democratic state.
But Republicans have not held a statewide office in California since 2011 and California Democrats are seen coalescing around the earnest, experienced Becerra.
DEMOCRATS SURVIVE CALIFORNIA’S ‘JUNGLE’ PRIMARY
California Democrats, who hold power in the bluest of blue states, have just lived through a chaotic contest for the nominees for governor, widely described as a “jungle” primary. It is the result of a system that allows members of all parties to run on the same ballot. The top two winners — regardless of political affiliation — advance to the general election.
This time, there were worries in Democratic circles that the top two candidates could both be Republicans, shutting out Democrats. That would have been a tough pill to swallow, given that 45% of registered voters are Democrats, 25% are Republicans and the rest are independents or aligned with other parties.
California’s system, which allows mail-in ballots until Election Day, also produces notoriously slow results and this year is no exception.
The result: some Democrats want to change the “open” primary system, even though their worst nightmare did not unfold on Tuesday.
NEW JERSEY U.S. HOUSE SEAT IN PLAY
U.S. Representative Tom Kean Jr. formally won the Republican Party primary, in which he had no opponent. The problem is that he has gone missing since March and nobody appears to know why.
That could make for a gigantic opening for Rebecca Bennett, who easily won the Democratic primary on Tuesday. The U.S. Navy veteran and healthcare executive will have strong backing from her party that views her race as one of the keys to winning a majority in the U.S. House, which is split 217-212 in Republicans’ favor.
Bennett is seen as being in the mold of the newly minted governors of New Jersey and Virginia — Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger — both Democrats with military backgrounds who are known for being willing to reach across the aisle to get things done.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan. Editing by Michael Learmonth and Rod Nickel)
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