2026-08-11T09:00:29.472Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/11/politics/primaries-wisconsin-south-carolina-minnesota-what-to-watch
民主党在下一轮关于意识形态方向的博弈将于周二登场，多场初选将在两个中西部关键摇摆州打响。
37岁的民主社会主义者、州议员弗朗西斯卡·洪曾是厨师和餐厅老板，目前被广泛看好能赢得威斯康星州州长竞选的民主党提名——这将为这个摇摆州选民在今年秋季如何看待民主党左倾转向提供一场高风险测试，而2028年民主党总统初选已渐行渐近。
“我厌倦了别人告诉我们何时才能做出改变，以及我们能获得多少改变，”洪周一对支持者表示，“这种渐进式改革是不负责任的。我们值得更好的未来，你们也值得更好的未来，我们将携手共创更美好的可能。”
这是多场关键选战之一，这些选战将影响11月的政治格局。届时民主党需要在中西部及其他地区的各级选举中取得胜利，以争取赢得众议院和参议院的多数席位。
编者按： 周二晚美国东部时间8:50起， Join约翰·金将在CNN“魔法墙”节目中拆解初选选举结果，并实时回答观众提问。
在密歇根州选民在参议院初选中险选进步派候选人一周后，明尼苏达州选民将在该州参议院初选中面临类似选择。威斯康星州西南部的国会众议院初选中也存在类似的意识形态分歧。在康涅狄格州，民主党内部的分歧更多不在于意识形态，而在于民主党是否需要代际变革。
与此同时，共和党人将密切关注南卡罗来纳州的情况。该州的参议院特别初选将最新考验共和党选民是否仍与唐纳德·特朗普总统保持步调一致。
以下是周二值得关注的部分关键初选：
民主党州长托尼·埃弗斯决定不寻求连任第三届，为今年民主党最混乱的初选之一铺平了道路。随着洪的支持率飙升，温和派候选人陷入困境，未能团结出一位替代人选。埃弗斯的两位副州长——第一任期担任副州长的曼德拉·巴恩斯，以及现任副州长萨拉·罗德里格斯——均在7月退出了竞选。
密尔沃基县执行官戴维·克劳利在7月初退出了竞选，但在罗德里格斯因竞选财务丑闻退出后，他于10天后重新参选，并获得了埃弗斯的支持。
11月大选的对手是共和党众议员汤姆·蒂法尼，他得到了特朗普的支持，筹款额远超洪和克劳利。
威斯康星州州长初选最后阶段萦绕的一个问题是，经常在各政治倾向媒体上接受电视采访的洪，是否准备好接受更严格的审查。
由于一些民主党人已经担忧她支持“ defund the police（解散警察部门）”等左翼议题，她最近几天因上周接受CNN采访时的含糊回答遭到新的批评。当时被问及她2020年的一条推文，她在推文中主张取消感恩节，称该节日“在庆祝殖民主义”。
麦迪逊的特雷西·刘易斯表示，如果洪赢得初选，她担心这场感恩节争议会在整个竞选期间困扰洪。
“我有时觉得她还没准备好登上大舞台，”刘易斯说，她在其他候选人退出后转而支持克劳利，“这太荒唐了。我不知道她当时是怎么想的。”
卡伦·内夫表示，听到洪在感恩节问题上的反复表态时，她简直不敢相信。
“拿这个话题炒作太蠢了，我们都热爱感恩节，”内夫说，“每个人都会回家过感恩节。如果连感恩节都没了，你什么时候还能和家人团聚呢？”
被问及这条她随后改口的感恩节言论时，洪告诉CNN：“我在推特上发表过一些不当言论和过激言论，但和所有普通威斯康星州民众一样，我需要表达自己的挫败感——因为体制并未为我们服务。”
州长初选上个月动荡不安，巴恩斯和罗德里格斯退出竞选，克劳利重新参选，这可能让已经提前投票的部分民主党选民陷入困境。
“我已经投了缺席选票，但现在情况变了，”来自麦迪逊的民主党选民迈克·康奈尔说，他在周二初选前的最后冲刺阶段来到宏伟剧院支持克劳利。
官员们表示，在候选人阵容确定前，已有数万名威斯康星州选民提前投票，这造成了无法补救的局面。
“一旦缺席选票被寄送给市政文员，就不能作废并以任何理由重新发放，”威斯康星州选举委员会解释道。
威斯康星州民主党一位长期顾问表示，提前投票的困境可能对克劳利追赶洪的势头产生实际影响，他告诉CNN：“如果不算已经投出的提前选票，这场竞选可能会完全不同。”
明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹是2024年民主党副总统候选人，他宣布不再寻求连任时震惊了政界。
但民主党将提名谁接任州长几乎没有悬念：参议员艾米·克洛布查尔几乎肯定会赢得初选。她将迎战九名共和党候选人中胜出的人，其中包括特朗普背书的枕头广告代言人、2020年大选否认者迈克·林德尔。
更大的未知数是接替该州另一位即将退休的资深民主党参议员蒂娜·史密斯的竞选。
这场民主党初战将在众议员安吉·克雷格和副州长佩吉·弗拉纳根之间展开，又是一场温和派与进步派的对决。克雷格的支持者包括皮特·布蒂吉格、前众议院议长南希·佩洛西、众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯以及明尼苏达州第一夫人格温·瓦尔兹。而弗拉纳根则得到了包括佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯和马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦在内的多位进步派人士的支持。在初选中，克雷格及其盟友的筹款和开支均超过弗拉纳根。
共和党方面，九名候选人包括前体育广播主持人米歇尔·塔福亚、前NBA球员罗伊斯·怀特和前海军海豹突击队队员亚当·施瓦茨。塔福亚的筹款额远超其他候选人。
特朗普鼓励南卡罗来纳州州长亨利·麦克马斯特任命林赛·格雷厄姆的妹妹达琳·格雷厄姆，填补这位共和党参议员上月去世后留下的剩余任期。
格雷厄姆原本将在11月竞选连任，如今在特朗普的鼓励和背书下，他的妹妹将于周二参加特别初选，以接替哥哥的席位并竞选完整的六年任期。
这场开放初选有多位知名共和党人参与，包括两名国会议员：众议员拉尔夫·诺曼和拉塞尔·弗莱，以及前州长马克·桑福德和商人马克·林奇——林奇今年早些时候在初选中输给了林赛·格雷厄姆。
如果没有候选人获得超过50%的选票，前两名将进入8月25日的决选——周二的初选似乎很可能出现这种情况。
这场竞选是最新一次考验特朗普对共和党选民的影响力。今年年初，特朗普势头强劲，击败了几位违抗他选区划分意愿的印第安纳州州参议员、肯塔基州众议员托马斯·马西这位党内批评者，以及路易斯安那州参议员比尔·卡西迪和得克萨斯州参议员约翰·科林两名共和党参议员。但自那以后，他背书的候选人在多场选举中失利——包括南卡罗来纳州州长初选，特朗普最初的候选人、副州长帕梅拉·埃维特输给了州检察长艾伦·威尔逊。
78岁的众议员约翰·拉尔森已在众议院代表康涅狄格州14个任期，周二他将面对多位挑战者，这些挑战者主张民主党内部需要代际变革。
现任议员面临严肃的初选挑战在康涅狄格州是前所未有的，拉尔森在竞选活动中表示，他的资深资历能让他比新人更有效地为这个深蓝第一选区和全州服务。
但前哈特福德市长卢克·布朗宁表示，民主党需要新的方向和更强的紧迫感，以击败他所说的特朗普政府前所未有的腐败程度。
前交通部长、几乎肯定将参加2028年民主党总统竞选的皮特·布蒂吉格已介入这场竞选，背书布朗宁。“退伍军人投票组织”也表示已为布朗宁投入近100万美元的广告费用。
尽管布朗宁预计是拉尔森最强劲的挑战者，但初选中还有另外两名民主党候选人：哈特福德学区委员会成员露丝·福琼和州议员吉利安·吉尔克里斯特。
威斯康星州第三国会选区又出现一场温和派与进步派的民主党对决，该党选民将选出候选人，迎战共和党众议员德里克·范奥尔登——这场选举可能是该州竞争最激烈的众议院席位争夺战。
温和派丽贝卡·库克2024年在民主党形势本就不利的情况下，仅以不到3个百分点的差距未能击败范奥尔登。她将挑战进步派候选人艾米丽·伯奇——前欧克莱尔市议会主席。
获得民主党广泛建制派支持的库克与“解散警察部门”和废除移民海关执法局等左翼政策保持距离。伯奇则倡导“全民医保”，库克认为这在政治上不太可能实现，并表示民主党众议院多数党更可能专注于更可行的目标，比如扩大《平价医疗法案》的税收抵免。伯奇表示她会投票弹劾特朗普，而库克则未明确表示会这样做。
州长初选可能会对这场选举产生影响，洪的出色表现可能会让伯奇受益。
该选区位于威斯康星州西南部，包括该州“无冰川区”的大部分区域——这是一个独特的地理区域，拥有陡峭的山丘、深邃的山谷和清澈的河流溪流，不像中西部大部分地区那样在末次冰期被冰川夷平。
Wisconsin weighs a democratic socialist governor and other key races to watch in Tuesday’s primaries
2026-08-11T09:00:29.472Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/11/politics/primaries-wisconsin-south-carolina-minnesota-what-to-watch
The next battles over the Democratic Party’s ideological direction come Tuesday in a slate of primaries that includes showdowns in two upper Midwestern political battlegrounds.
Francesca Hong, a 37-year-old democratic socialist state legislator and former chef and restaurant owner, is widely favored to win her party’s nomination in the Wisconsin governor’s race — setting up a high-stakes test of how a swing state electorate might react to the party’s shift leftward this fall, as the 2028 Democratic presidential primary looms.
“I am tired of people telling us when we get to have change, how much change we get to have,” Hong told supporters Monday. “That incrementalism is irresponsible. We deserve so much better. You deserve so much better and together we are going to make better possible.”
It’s one of several key races that could affect the political landscape in November, when Democrats need wins up and down the ballot in the upper Midwest and elsewhere as they seek to win House and Senate majorities.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Join John King at CNN’s Magic Wall as he breaks down primary election results and takes your questions live on Tuesday night, starting at 8:50 pm ET.
The week after Michigan voters narrowly chose the more progressive candidate in a Senate primary, voters in Minnesota will face a similar choice in their state’s Senate primary. A southwestern Wisconsin congressional primary features a similar ideological split. And in Connecticut, the Democratic divide is less over ideology than the question of whether the party needs generational change.
Republicans, meanwhile, will be closely watching South Carolina, where a special Senate primary is the latest test of whether GOP voters remain in lockstep with President Donald Trump.
Here are some of the key primaries to watch Tuesday:
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ decision not to seek a third term has paved the way for one of the party’s most chaotic primaries this year. As Hong surged, moderates flailed, failing to rally around an alternative. Both of Evers’ lieutenant governors — Mandela Barnes, who held the role in his first term, and Sara Rodriguez, who is in office now — dropped out of the race in July.
David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, dropped out of the race in early July. But after Rodriguez’s exit amid a campaign finance scandal, he reentered 10 days later, this time with Evers’ backing.
Awaiting the winner in November is Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican who is backed by Trump and has vastly outraised both Hong and Crowley.
One question looming over the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary’s final stretch has been whether Hong — who has appeared frequently in television interviews across outlets of all political persuasions — is ready for more intense scrutiny.
With some Democrats already concerned about her support for left-wing issues like defunding the police, she’s faced fresh backlash in recent days over a meandering answer last week in a CNN interview when asked about a 2020 tweet in which she advocated for canceling Thanksgiving because the holiday is “celebrating colonialism.”
Tracy Lewis of Madison said she feared the dustup over Thanksgiving will haunt Hong for the duration of the campaign if she wins the primary.
“I just feel sometimes like she’s not ready for prime time,” said Lewis, who is supporting Crowley after other candidates left the race. “It’s ridiculous. I don’t know what she was thinking about that.”
Karen Neff said she couldn’t believe when she heard about Hong’s back-and-forth on Thanksgiving.
“It’s dumb for that to be out there. We all love Thanksgiving,” Neff said. “Everybody goes home for Thanksgiving. When are you going to fight with your family if you don’t have Thanksgiving?”
Asked about the Thanksgiving comment that she has since walked back, Hong told CNN: “I had some bad takes and some hot takes on Twitter, but like all everyday Wisconsinites, I had to express my frustrations that the system wasn’t working for us.”
The turbulent last month of the gubernatorial primary, which saw Barnes and Rodriguez drop out and Crowley reactive his campaign, may leave some Democratic voters who cast their ballot early in Wisconsin out of luck.
“I already voted absentee, but now we move on,” said Mike Connell, a Democratic voter from Madison who came to see Crowley as he stopped by the Majestic Theatre on a final push before Tuesday’s primary.
Tens of thousands of Wisconsin voters cast early ballots before the field was set, officials said, creating a scenario for which there is no recourse.
“Once an absentee ballot has been returned to the municipal clerk, it cannot be spoiled and reissued for any reason,” the Wisconsin Elections Commissions explained.
A longtime adviser to Wisconsin Democrats said the early voting dilemma could have real consequences for Crowley’s attempt to catch up with Hong’s momentum, telling CNN: “It could be an entirely different race, without the early votes that were already in.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, stunned the political world when he announced he would not seek reelection.
But there’s little drama in who Democrats will nominate to succeed him: Sen. Amy Klobuchar is all but certain to win the primary. She’ll take on whoever emerges from a nine-candidate Republican field that includes prominent 2020 election denier Mike Lindell, the pillow pitch man endorsed by Trump.
The bigger question mark comes in the race to replace the state’s other prominent Democrat senator who is retiring, Sen. Tina Smith.
That Democratic primary pits Rep. Angie Craig against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, in another moderate versus progressive showdown. Craig’s roster of supporters includes Buttigieg, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz. Flanagan, meanwhile, is backed by a number of prominent progressives, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Craig and her allies have outraised and outspent Flanagan in the primary.
On the Republican side, the field of nine contenders includes former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya, former NBA player Royce White and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze. Tafoya has vastly outraised the other candidates.
Trump encouraged South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to tap Lindsey Graham’s sister Darline Graham to fill the late Republican senator’s seat for the remainder of his term after he died last month.
But Graham was on the ballot this November, and now — with Trump’s encouragement and endorsement — his sister is competing Tuesday in a special primary to replace him and seek a full six-year term herself.
The wide-open primary features several prominent Republicans, including two members of Congress, Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry, as well as former Gov. Mark Sanford and businessman Mark Lynch, who lost the primary to Lindsey Graham earlier this year.
If no candidate tops 50%, the top two finishers will advance to an August 25 runoff — a scenario that seems likely headed into Tuesday’s contest.
The race is the latest test of Trump’s sway over the Republican electorate. He started the year on a roll, steamrolling a handful of Indiana state senators who had defied his redistricting wishes, an intra-party critic in Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and two GOP senators, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy and Texas’ John Cornyn. Since then, though, candidates he has endorsed have faltered in several races — including South Carolina’s gubernatorial primary, where Trump’s initial pick, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, lost to state Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Rep. John Larson, 78, has represented Connecticut for 14 terms in the House — and on Tuesday he faces a slate of challengers making the case for generational change within the Democratic Party.
Incumbent House members facing serious primaries is unprecedented in Connecticut, and Larson argues on the campaign trail that his seniority positions him to deliver for the deep-blue 1st District and the state much more effectively than a newcomer could.
But former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin says the party needs a new direction and a greater sense of urgency to defeat what he says is an unprecedented level of corruption on the part of the Trump administration.
Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary and all-but-certain 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has waded into the race, endorsing Bronin. So has VoteVets, which said it spent nearly $1 million in advertising for Bronin.
Though Bronin is expected to be Larson’s strongest challenger, there are two other Democrats in the primary: Hartford school board member Ruth Fortune and state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest.
Wisconsin’s 3rd District features another moderate-versus-progressive Democratic match-up, with the party’s voters choosing a nominee to take on Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in what could be the state’s most competitive House race.
Rebecca Cooke, a moderate who came less than three percentage points from unseating Van Orden in what’s likely to have been a less politically favorable year for Democrats in 2024, faces progressive Emily Berge, the former Eau Claire city council president.
Cooke, who has broad Democratic establishment backing, has distanced herself from left-leaning policies like defunding the police and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Berge advocates for Medicare for All, which Cooke suggested may be politically improbable and says a Democratic House majority would be more likely to focus on more achievable aims like extending Affordable Care Act tax credits. Berge says she would vote to impeach Trump, while Cooke has stopped short of saying she would do so.
The gubernatorial primary could be a factor in the race, with Berge potentially benefitting from a strong performance by Hong.
The district, in southwestern Wisconsin, includes most of the state’s portion of what’s known as the Driftless Area — a unique geographic region of steep hills, deep valleys and clear rivers and streams that wasn’t flattened by glaciers like most of the Midwest in the last Ice Age.