Dems Score Primary Wins
Dems, women score gains at polls. The Hill: "Voters in seven states cast their ballots Tuesday in what amounts to the most significant primary election of the 2018 season, a Super Tuesday for partisans battling for control of Congress. In critical races across the country, Democrats had a good night.. Democratic success in November increasingly lies on the shoulders of women candidates, after another primary night in which women rolled to party nominations -- in some cases by surprisingly large margins. In New Jersey, Navy veteran and former prosecutor Mikie Sherill (D) won the Democratic nomination for retiring Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen's (R) seat. In Iowa, Democrats Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne will challenge Reps. Rod Blum (R) and David Young (R). And in New Mexico, Democrats Xochitl Torres Small and Debra Haaland won nominations for seats being vacated by Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) and Steve Pearce (R). Both Lujan Grisham and Pearce are running to replace retiring Gov. Susana Martinez (R), the only woman of color running a state today. Lujan Grisham, the favorite in November, would take over that title if she wins. Democrats notched another surprising win in a state legislative special election earlier Tuesday, when state Rep. Lauren Arthur (D) claimed an open state Senate district north of Kansas City. President Trump won that district by five percentage points in 2016."
NJ Holds Key To House Control
Yes, Jersey can now make Trump very unhappy in November House races. NJ.com: "If House Democrats win a majority in President Donald Trump's midterm test this fall, it will be because they were able to turn key New Jersey districts from red to blue. And Tuesday's primary results gave Jersey Democrats more hope that they can make the Republican president very unhappy. At least four of the five GOP-held districts are considered competitive, and political observers say the Democrats can't take over the House without help from the Garden State in a midterm election seen as a referendum on Trump. 'Whether Trump continues to control Congress is up to the voters in New Jersey's suburbs,' said Jesse Ferguson, a former top Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee official."
Missing Votes Stall CA Key Votes
Key House races in California still undecided -- and may be for days. CNN: "Democratic hopes of wresting control of the House of Representatives were hanging in the balance early Wednesday morning, as many votes remained uncounted in California's most competitive congressional races. It may, in fact, be days, if not more than a week, before all the votes are tallied in three of the mostly closely watched races in the country: California-39, California-48 and California-49. Those districts, which are held by Republicans but were won by Hillary Clinton in 2016, are key to Democratic hopes of notching the 23 seats that they need to win back the House. Because of California's complex 'top-two' primary system, where the top two vote getters advance to the November ballot, regardless of party, Democrats feared that the large number of Democratic candidates in those three districts would splinter the vote -- allowing two Republicans to advance. As of early Wednesday morning, CNN projected that in California's 49th District, where Rep. Darrell Issa is retiring, one Democrat will advance to the general election, avoiding a shutout for the party."
McConnell Cancels Senate Recess
Mitch McConnell cancels Senate's August recess. NPR: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced Tuesday he is canceling the annual August recess to deal with a legislative backlog he blamed on the chamber's Democratic minority. 'Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president's nominees, and the goal of passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year, the August recess has been canceled,' McConnell said in a statement that made official a decision that had been anticipated for weeks. The House and Senate are working to pass as many of the annual twelve spending bills as possible ahead of the Sept. 30 fiscal-year deadline, and McConnell said those bills will now be a priority in August. McConnell has also made it a top priority to confirm as many of President Trump's lifetime judicial appointments as possible this year."
Dems Pledge August Healthcare Showdown
Schumer to McConnell: Let's spend August on health care. Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's move to scrap most of the chamber's August recess promises to rob politically imperiled Democratic incumbents of campaigning time, but Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is embracing the change with a pitch for how to spend it: health care. Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to send McConnell (R-Ky.) a letter on Wednesday asking him to set aside August time for votes on five Democratic-backed proposals aimed at expanding and lowering the cost of health care, which he previewed Tuesday after the Kentucky Republican announced plans to ax three of the Senate's four planned recess weeks during that month. 'We believe this previously unscheduled session time can be put to good use to finally help Americans secure the affordable health care the President and Congressional Republicans have thus far failed to deliver,' Schumer wrote to McConnell in his letter, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO."
