| | | | ICYMI: Everything to know about the latest primaries | | Didn't stay up past midnight obsessively tracking primary and special election results? We don't blame you. Fortunately for you -- and unfortunately for our bleary-eyed political team -- we've got you covered. Here's everything you need to know about Tuesday's election night.
The lesson from Ohio's special election. Republicans appear to have had a good night on Tuesday, with Republican state Sen. Troy Balderson leading Franklin County Recorder Danny O'Connor, a Democrat, by just under 2,000 votes. But Chris -- who is technically on vacation but still filing great stories -- wrote about how "the underlying dynamics of Ohio's 12th District and the race should concern every smart Republican looking at the November playing field and assessing the GOP's chances of holding onto its 23-seat House majority." Why? "This is not a seat that should be at all competitive -- even in a special election -- if the national playing field was flat-ish. The playing field -- as it so often is in a midterm election with one party in control of all the levers of power in Washington -- is clearly tilted toward Democrats, and will be this November."
A milestone in Michigan. Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and André Carson of Indiana are the only two Muslim members of Congress. No Muslim women have been elected to Congress. But as I wrote in April, more than 90 Muslim American candidates announced they are running for office across the country, most of them as Democrats. Among them? Rashida Tlaib, who as of Tuesday night will likely be the first Muslim woman elected to Congress. CNN has projected her to win the Democratic primary in Michigan's 13th District. As CNN's Daniel Burke reported, "Tlaib, who beat a crowded field of Democrats to win Tuesday's primary, will not face a Republican opponent in November's general election." She is the eldest daughter of Palestinian immigrants. The seat had been held by former Rep. John Conyers before he resigned in December amid allegations of sexual harassment.
A letdown for progressives in the Midwest. Progressives were expecting a big night after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's stunning June ousting of Rep. Joe Crowley in New York. Instead, many progressive candidates experienced what CNN's Greg Krieg described in his election-night analysis as "major letdown." In Michigan, in "the night's marquee contest, progressive outsider Abdul El-Sayed fell well short in his bid to upset former state Senate minority leader Gretchen Whitmer, who won the nomination at a canter and is now poised for a November showdown with Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette." Elsewhere, in Missouri, activist Cori Bush lost in her bid to unseat Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay despite a visit and the vocal support of Ocasio-Cortez. And in Kansas, labor lawyer Brent Welder failed to beat Sharice Davids in the state's 3rd District, CNN projects.
Who runs the world? What's been referred to as "the year of the woman" continued Tuesday, with Laura Kelly of Kansas and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan both winning their Democratic bids for governor in their respective states, and 11 women across three states winning primaries in House races. Per CNN's reporting, "a record 11 women will be major-party nominees in gubernatorial races this fall, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. And there are at least 182 female major party nominees for US House seats -- the most of any election year."
The Point: We survived another election night -- and as always, each result helped tell a bigger story. T-minus 90 days until midterms.
--Saba | | "I'm meeting tonight with some of the top business leaders in the world. You talk about business, this is the group. ... And we're gonna be discussing later on some of the ideas you may have to, as the expression goes, make America great again."
-President Donald Trump in a dinner meeting with American corporate titans (per reporting from CNN's Jeremy Diamond and Kevin Liptak) | | | REP. CHRIS COLLINS INDICTED | | New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins was indicted on insider trading charges on Wednesday, CNN's Erica Orden and Maegan Vazquez reported. From their story:
"Collins, his son and another man face 13 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and false statements stemming from an alleged insider trading scheme centered on an Australian pharmaceutical company. Collins, who was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump's presidential bid, surrendered Wednesday morning at his attorney's office in Manhattan, according to the FBI.
"Prosecutors at the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York alleged in an indictment that Collins and the other defendants used nonpublic information about the results of a drug trial to trade on the stock of the pharmaceutical company, Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited, of which Collins was a board member."
You can read more in the 30-page indictment and in CNN's article. | | The Washington Post profiled Francisco Joaquin, age 63, who is possibly Washington's oldest intern
Barney Frank on his regrets from the Great Recession, via New York Mag
Apparently Gary Cohn is living his best life in the Hamptons, golfing and crypto investing, Bloomberg reports
ProPublica's must read report on the shadow rulers of the Department of Veterans Affairs | | | 305 Fitness -- which started in Miami and has made its way to D.C. -- has an awesome playlist of jams that will make you want to dance (like in their classes!). #notanad | | At this point you probably already know that Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul spent some time in Russia, where he met with Russian members of parliament in Moscow. Now, the Kentucky Republican has shared more details from his trip. He tweeted Wednesday that he delivered a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin from US President Donald Trump.
What Paul said about the letter: "The letter emphasized the importance of further engagement in various areas including countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges."
What White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said about the letter: "At Sen. Paul's request, President Trump provided a letter of introduction. In the letter, the President mentioned topics of interest that Sen. Paul wanted to discuss with President Putin." Read more in CNN's story here.
In other Russia news, the State Department announced Wednesday that the United States will impose sanctions on Russia under a chemical and biological warfare law after the poisoning of a former Russian agent and his daughter in the United Kingdom earlier this year. | | TRUMP LEGAL TEAM RESPONDS TO MUELLER | | It's official: President Donald Trump's legal team has responded to the special counsel, the latest effort in ongoing negotiations over a possible interview. Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's lawyers, told CNN's Dana Bash on Monday that Trump's legal team had been preparing to respond to Mueller.
On Wednesday, on the radio show of fellow Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, Giuliani said: "We have now given him an answer. Obviously, he should take a few days to consider it, but we should get this resolved. We do not want to run into the November elections. So back up from that, this should be over by September 1."
Read more in CNN's story here. | | If you follow a lot of celebrities on social media, you may have noticed a recent post circulating targeting Ivanka Trump. In the last week, celebrities including Amy Schumer and Chelsea Handler have launched an Instagram campaign targeted at the White House senior adviser and first daughter. The campaign began after Trump broke her silence on family separations on Thursday, saying during an Axios News Shaper conversation that it "was a low point" of her time in the White House.
The coordinated message reads: "Dear Ivanka, you follow me on social media. You said family separation was a 'low point' for you. The low point is for the separated families. You spoke in past tense. This crisis is ongoing."
Read more in CNN's full story here. | | | From Brenna: "Mic problems happen to the best of us, Ivanka. The President's senior adviser/daughter was in Illinois for a workforce development event. In case my mic wasn't working the first 100 times I asked, this is your daily reminder to tell your friends to subscribe to The Point." | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba.
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