Just two takeaways today! But both are pretty juicy…

1. Women have another big primary night.

2022 is shaping up to be a big year for women in politics as last night set the stage for many woman vs. woman general election races in November.

The under-reported story of the week lies in Alabama: for the first time in the state’s history voters will chose between two women for their governor. More history was made by Alabama Democrats with the nomination of Yolanda Flowers as their gubernatorial nominee: this marks the first time a Black person is backed by a major party in Alabama’s governor’s race. Alabama is in good company with Oregon and Iowa as all three states will see woman v. woman races for governor this November.

Republicans have been doubling down on their recent surge in support from Latino voters by nominating a slate of Hispanic women. In Virginia, Republicans coalesced behind Prince William county supervisor Yesli Vega to challenge Rep. Abigail Spanberger in what is expected to be a close general election race in VA-7. In addition, last week, Mayra Flores made headlines for flipping a traditionally Democratic House seat in a special election. She still needs to defend her new seat in November, but many expect her to be the frontrunner as she’s likely to receive a slight incumbency boost from voters. (It’s quite ironic that the party that demonizes Mexican immigrants just sent the first ever Mexican-born woman to Congress.)

Meanwhile, Democrats are hoping to make history in Georgia with Bee Nguyen. She won the Democratic nomination for secretary of state and winning in November would make her the first Asian American to hold a statewide office in Georgia. Nguyen has been quick to highlight her history-making campaign and many believe that activating the AAPI community could be enough to clinch the win for her in the swing state.

When looking just at House races, 18 districts so far have held primaries that will result in women facing off against each other as the major party candidates. We’re not even halfway done with this cycle’s primaries so expect that number to grow in the coming weeks.

Alabama’s US House Primary Winners

Virginia’s US House Primary Winners

2. Tea leaves and magic 8-balls are better predictors than Trump’s endorsements.

If you’ve been with me since the start of primary season, you’ve heard me say this before: Trump is successfully playing the media with his little game of endorsements. This week’s primaries provide a perfect example as to how much of a nothing-burger his endorsements truly are.

To start, Trump’s preferred candidates got clobbered in Georgia’s runoffs. He endorsed two House primary candidates in Georgia, both of whom lost to their challengers by more than 30 points.

Then there’s Alabama’s runoff, where Trump endorsed both candidates at different points throughout their campaigns. Trump loyalist Mo Brooks Brooks received Trump’s endorsement a full year before the primary took place. This early endorsement didn’t do much for Brooks who was found to be trailing in a distant third place two months before the original primary in May. Once Trump figured out that he could be endorsing a loser, he revoked his endorsement. (The most hilarious part of it all, Brooks polled better among voters once Trump left him out to dry.) Then after several polls confirmed that Britt was the clear frontrunner, Trump flip-flopped and endorsed her two weeks before the runoff. I guess he figured you can’t be a loser if you’ve supported both candidates!

Georgia’s US House Primary Winners

Leftover Links

• Learn more about Bee Nguyen and why racial justice is a central theme in her campaign.

• Hear from Mayra Flores on why she thinks Democrats are losing Hispanic voters.