Democrats Improve Midterm Chances by Going Mainstream
The left wing lost steam in Tuesday’s primaries.
Gretchen Whitmer, left, is the Democratic candidate for governor in Michigan.
Photographer: Ali Lepetina/Washington Post via Getty Images
Democrats' optimism over major midterm election gains this November was bolstered in a series of primaries on Tuesday, even if they end up losing a special race for a heavily Republican Ohio congressional district.
In the Ohio race, Republican Troy Balderson was leading Democratic challenger Danny O'Connor by fewer than 2,000 votes in a district where President Donald Trump and major Republican figures campaigned and the party and outside groups poured millions of dollars into the race. Initially it wasn't supposed to be a contest; Trump carried the district by double digits in 2016, and the former congressman, Pat Tiberi, who resigned this year, won in a landslide.