Fresh faces with compelling life stories prevailed in Democratic primaries across several southern states Tuesday, beating candidates with deeper political pedigrees and more governing experience in several key races.
The results marked an ongoing embrace by Democratic voters of non-politicians, women, veterans and nonwhite candidates to lead the party’s effort to take back control of the House and governors’ mansions this fall.
Voters in Kentucky nominated Amy McGrath, the first Marine woman to fly an F-18 fighter jet, for a key House seat in Lexington over the candidate favored by party leaders, a two-term mayor who ran on a promise to bring “adult supervision” to Washington.
In Texas, Democrats nominated two lesbian candidate with military or law enforcement backgrounds, one Latina and the other Filipina, for key races. And Georgia voters gave former State House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams a shot to become the first black, female governor in the country.
For Democrats, the results marked a reassertion of the party’s fealty to the rising American electorate — unmarried, young and racially diverse voters. The Democratic contention that it is the party of the future was muddled in 2016 by a presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, who first arrived in the White House 23 years earlier and campaigned to continue the policies of the sitting president.
