A week after Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow victory in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary, the competition between progressives and centrist Democrats is moving to a different corner of the midwest. On August 11, there are competitive contests for another open Senate seat in Minnesota and an open gubernatorial office in Wisconsin. Minnesota is a traditionally (but not overwhelmingly) Democratic state; it last voted for a GOP presidential candidate in 1972, though it had a Republican governor as recently as 2010 and a Republican senator until 2008. Wisconsin, on the other hand, is one of the most evenly balanced states in the country, up and down the ballot.

Minnesota’s rugged primary battle between Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and Congresswoman Angie Craig quickly took shape when incumbent Democratic senator Tina Smith chose not to run for a second full term. The candidates fit neatly into the two well-established wings of the state’s venerable Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party with Flanagan, who has served as Tim Walz’s deputy for eight years, representing progressives and Craig, who first won a swing U.S. House district in 2018, representing moderates.

While Craig has led in campaign fundraising, both candidates are benefiting from major outside organizations with shadowy sources. Flanagan has heavy support from the Democratic lieutenant governors, and Craig is backed by the tech and crypto industries. Unsurprisingly, Flanagan has prominent progressive endorsements from the incumbent Tina Smith plus Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Ro Khanna. Craig is backed by Hakeem Jeffries, Pete........

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