Primaries key takeaways: A centrist win, questions about Trump endorsement

Tuesday's primaries offered fresh tests of the two political party's direction.

Tuesday's primaries offered fresh tests of the Democratic Party's direction, the influence of President Donald Trump's endorsements and the Republican Party's future.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a centrist Democrat, narrowly won the Democratic primary in a major upset in the race for governor, the Associated Press projects. He defeated Wisconsin assemblywoman Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, in what became a high-stakes test for progressives who pinned their hopes on winning a major party nomination in a crucial battleground state. A former state lawmaker, Crowley pitched himself as the candidate best-positioned to defeat Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, endorsed by President Donald Trump, in November. He campaigned on his executive experience running the state's most populous county. It's the final shakeup in what became a messy primary and a major comeback for Crowley, who had quit the race on July 8 as his campaign struggled to gain traction. But with Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez's exit days later, it set off a scramble for Democrats to coalesce around a moderate opponent to Hong. He rejoined the race on July 17, bolstered by late support from outgoing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The sitting governor campaigned with Crowley in the final sprint to the primary as the party scrambled to unite around an alternative to Hong. Some Democrats expressed concerns her positions were too extreme and she would struggle to win on purple turf in a general election against Tiffany. Crowley's narrow victory also suggests that division over the party's direction -- and the split over support for progressives or more moderate candidates this midterm cycle -- remains ever strong. It follows a handful of electoral victories for progressives in congressional primaries in Colorado and New York and, most recently, in Michigan's closely-watched Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. Hong branded herself as a fighter for the working class, advocated for universal childcare and called to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She argued voters were ready for "transformational change."

She campaigned heavily on a yearlong pause on construction of AI data centers, while Crowley advocated for more guardrails in place. Yet in the waning days of the race, Hong's campaign was dogged by increased scrutiny over some of her past social media posts -- including calling Thanksgiving a "colonizer holiday" -- that drew criticism from her opponents. She recently somewhat appeared to distance herself from the national platform of the Democratic Socialists of America but faced pushback from members of both parties for her previous positions. She had called for defunding and eventually abolishing the police but later made clear she would not do so as governor. Hong also campaigned with the controversial leftist streamer Hasan Piker and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ahead of the primary. But the leading figures in the democratic socialist movement, Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, did not endorse Hong.