Wisconsin race tight: Key takeaways from US primary election results

Democratic socialist Francesca Hong and centrist David Crowley are neck-and-neck in swing state Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary election held on Tuesday.

The Democratic race in Wisconsin reflects a wider, ongoing battle inside the Democratic primaries between mainstream, “establishment” candidates, referred to as “moderates” by Democrats, and more left-wing, “progressive” democratic socialists.

Besides Wisconsin, Alabama, Connecticut, Minnesota, South Carolina and Vermont also conducted primary elections on Tuesday.

In Vermont’s Democratic gubernatorial race, Amanda Janoo won with 49.1 percent of the vote, while Aly Richards trailed behind with 46.5 percent of the vote, with about 98 percent votes counted, according to The Associated Press. Republican incumbent Phil Scott ran unopposed and won, while Trump-favoured Rhett Marques won in Alabama.

Here are some of the key takeaways from Tuesday’s primary races.

With 94 percent of votes counted by Wednesday morning, Democratic votes for Crowley and Hong were less than one percentage point apart, according to AP.

Milwaukee County Executive Crowley, endorsed by current governor Tony Evers, was slightly ahead with 39.9 percent of the vote, compared with Democratic Socialist Hong’s 39.5 percent.

The winning candidate will face the Republican’s pick, US Representative Tom Tiffany, who won his Republican nomination by 95.3 percent, in the November general election.