Democrats' massive primary turnout advantage fuels more predictions of a blue wave
Tuesday's round of primaries revealed who would face off in this November's midterm elections — and made a blue wave seem even more imminent.
When it comes to turnout, Democrats outperformed Republicans in all four states that voted Tuesday, NBC News points out. While that doesn't guarantee the party will dominate this fall, it does reflect strong Democratic enthusiasm that's translated into high turnout throughout the 2018 primary season.
The Democratic difference was most obvious in Minnesota, a reliably blue state that saw 261,000 more Democratic voters than Republicans on Tuesday. Yet even with a competitive GOP Senate nomination up for grabs, Wisconsin, which went for President Trump in 2016, saw 80,000 more Democrats than Republicans show up. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is still likely to win in the general election, per Cook Political Report, but the skewed turnout has implications for the state capitol: Incumbent GOP Gov. Scott Walker is only slightly favored to prevail this fall, meaning some extra Democratic voters could easily turn his seat blue.
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Republicans can still likely count on more voters to turn up this fall for general elections, NBC News says. But there's no denying that things are looking up for Democrats. Just take it from conservative radio host and former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh (Ill.). Kathryn Krawczyk
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