Lindell hits snooze on primary loss; progressive steam stalls

It’s Wednesday. The sun is shining. The birds are chirping. Let’s not ask too many questions.

Lindell digs his heels in

Lindell digs his heels in

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Lindell isn’t ready to call it a night:

Getty Images | Richard Tsong-Taatarii

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell is refusing to concede in Minnesota’s GOP gubernatorial primary against state House Speaker Lisa DeMuth (R), who defeated Lindell by about 11 percentage points, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Only trusting the votes: Lindell, who was backed by President Trump, said on his LindellTV network that he wouldn’t listen to The Associated Press if it called the race for DeMuth, and that the only way he would concede is if all votes were counted.

“There’s 265,000 votes left to count. I’m down by 18,000 now. I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted. That’s nonsense,” Lindell said.

Lindell was behind by double digits when DDHQ called the race for DeMuth, despite just over 20 percent of the votes being counted, according to The Hill’s Caroline Vakil and Julia Mueller. 

No rest for the winner: DeMuth advances to face Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) in November to see who will replace retiring Gov. Tim Walz (D).

Lindell stepped away from his company, MyPillow, to focus on his campaign, and his next steps are up in the air.

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Did Wisconsin burst the DSA bubble?:

The Democratic gubernatorial primary went deep into the Wisconsin night but ended in a Badger State upset to see who will run to take Gov. Tony Evers’s (D) spot. 

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, whom Evers endorsed, defeated democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong, with the race called at about 2:20 a.m. EDT when Crowley was ahead by 3,000 votes. Crowley will now face Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who easily secured the GOP nomination in his primary.

Crowley’s victory over Hong was a disruption in a recent pattern of socialists defeating moderate Democrats across the country.

Progressive winning streak: Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial election came a week after a massive win for progressives in Michigan, when capitalist Abdul El-Sayed defeated moderate Rep. Haley Stevens (D) in the Democratic Senate primary race. El-Sayed will now face GOP Rep. Mike Rogers.

Just before Crowley’s victory, another center-left Democrat fell in Minnesota, as progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) defeated Rep. Angie Craig (D) in the North Star State’s Senate Democratic primary. The two battled it out for a chance to take the seat of retiring Sen. Tina Smith (D).

The Democratic Socialists of America had also seen success in big city elections, specifically in New York City with Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and the District of Columbia’s Janeese Lewis George (D), who is poised to succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Who backed Hong?: Hong received support from progressive Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) but........

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