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Upset Brewing In Wisconsin

The Democratic Wisconsin governor’s primary is looking a bit like a replay of the near upset in Michigan but with a twist. It looks like the more conventional Democrat (Crowley) is going to beat the progressive insurgent (Hong).

It’s too close to call. But as of about 10:15 p.m. ET it doesn’t look like Francesca Hong is getting the number of votes in the counties she needs them in to win. The current totals show David Crowley with less than a one point margin. But if you look at where the votes are coming from and how many have been counted, it’s probably not that close. One potential wildcard is that if this is really close, Milwaukee County, counts its absentee ballots last, and a non-trivial number were likely cast before Crowley even got back into race. So who knows how that would play out. Assuming Crowley wins this is going to launch a complicated debate about the degree to which this was a pretty gargantuan polling error vs. whether there was just a big, big consolidation of the vote for Crowley in the final days. Either way, the odds currently seem to favor Crowley.

Meanwhile, and as expected, the Trump-backed election denier Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) — who was really a major over-achiever about his 2020 election denialism, both voting against certifying President Biden’s win in key states and signing on to a failed lawsuit to overturn the results in his own — easily won the Republican nomination for governor in Wisconsin tonight. Khaya Himmelman has more on his devotion to the cause here.

Update 10:31 PM ET: The current results and where the race is likely to end up have tightened a bit. But what looks to be the remaining vote still seems to favor Crowley, just less clearly.

Update II 11:03 PM ET: This race has gotten much, much tighter. The result is much more in doubt. It looks like it will come down to absentee ballots in Milwaukee County, with the uncertainty created by Crowley briefly not being in the race.

Ralph Norman Doesn’t Completely Embarrass Himself

Ralph Norman Doesn’t Completely Embarrass Himself

Late-Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) sister Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) will both advance to an Aug. 25 runoff to determine which Republican will appear on the ballot in November to replace Graham after his unexpected death earlier this summer. The Associated Press projected Graham’s sister would advance early in the night, but it was unclear if Norman or Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) would clear the hurdle until moments ago when the AP determined Norman would advance as well. None of the candidates were able to secure the majority of the vote to avoid a runoff.

Your Dollars at Work

We’re almost to our goal of raising the critical sum of $500,000 in this year’s Annual TPM Journalism Fund Drive. We’re 90% of the way there.

Just a short time ago TPM reporters Layla Jones and Josh Kovensky exclusively published the new draft rule by which the Trump White House aims to violate the Constitution by changing who gets counted in the federal census and thus the number of representatives allotted to each state. It aims to drastically shift power to smaller and more rural states — in other words, the MAGA heartlands.

It’s a great piece and builds on topics TPM has followed closely for 25 years.

I hope you will take a moment to read this important story and if you haven’t yet take a moment to contribute to the TPM Journalism Fund and help us complete the final lap of this year’s drive. Just click right here.

Update: Now just $39,550 to go! 92% of the way to our critical goal.

The King and His Shiny Objects 

The King and His Shiny Objects
· The Backchannel

It’s sitting right there in front of us. But it’s still worth noting. The political stories of the moment are heavily geared to the long-tail effects of Donald Trump’s antic and ego-driven escapades: the decision to make the Reflecting Pool “American flag blue”; the eagerness to get a plane as a present (which he could take home with him after his presidency) from the royal family of Qatar. There are countless examples. In each case, the initial driver is the president’s personal cupidity and grandiosity, things which have no relation to any aspect of public policy or really any public support. They begin unknown and pretty quickly end up unpopular. He does them because he can, with the Supreme Court having removed basically all of the immediate brakes on a president’s power. But those initials gambits — the hunger for gifts and cash prizes — lead to bad news stories, legal impediments, or often technological snafus. Those in turn lead to embarrassment, anger, outbursts which repeat the process of bad news stories, legal impediments or technological snafus.

The Big Last Push

Dear TPMers,

We’re now more than 90% of the way toward our goal in this year’s Annual TPM Journalism Fund Drive. But we really need you for that final push. We want to finish this up this week if at all possible. If you’ve been planning on contributing can you make it today? If you’re on the fence, even a small contribution plays a big big role in keeping TPM vital and engaged with the great political crisis of our time. We will put your dollars to very good work. I promise you that. If you’re ready to help us this morning just click right here. We’ve made it super simple and quick. Thank you from all of us.

We’re Goin’ Live to Talk Trump’s Blue State Retribution at 1 PM ET

We’re Goin’ Live to Talk Trump’s Blue State Retribution at 1 PM ET

This afternoon, Emine Yücel, Josh Kovensky and John Light will join me on our YouTube channel to discuss their investigation from last week showing that the Trump administration has on multiple occasions withheld funds from blue states just because they voted blue — you know, the kind of story that would have been leading every news program for a month in the Before Times. Anyway, join us at 1 p.m. ET.

PSA: We’re going to be very active over on YouTube going forward. If you like hearing our voices and seeing our faces, please subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

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