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Hello! I’m back from a matrimonial break with a pep in my step and a shiny new ring on my finger. But politics news waits for no one, so let’s dive right in:

The progressives-vs.-establishment battle for control of the Democratic Party drags on. Last night’s marquee race, the U.S. Senate primary in Michigan, was a bit of a letdown for both sides. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, beat the centrist Rep. Haley Stevens, but by an unexpectedly narrow margin. The story was much the same in other primaries across the country: real wins for the left tempered by plenty of evidence that the party’s center is still alive and kicking.

Political journalists often sieve through elections for clear takeaways, which make for better stories (and punchier headlines). But yesterday’s results, from El-Sayed’s narrow victory on down, don’t point in any single direction. Unsatisfying though it may be, voters in different places picked different candidates for reasons that go beyond ideology; the only way to declare this a win for centrists or progressives would be to ignore part of the story. Instead, let’s explore where each faction prevailed—and where they fell short.

Progressive strength: 

El-Sayed’s close win, in which he underperformed the polling, in some ways undersells his achievement. He fought Michigan’s Democratic powers that be to a draw-plus-1 despite being vastly outspent. AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, showered almost $30 million on Stevens’ candidacy.

But progressives flexed muscle elsewhere too. Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney, a democratic socialist, ousted Rep. Shri Thanedar, the latest Democratic incumbent to fall to a lefty challenger. The establishment also whiffed in Kansas, which held........

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