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A series of closely watched primaries across the Upper Midwest delivered key victories for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing Tuesday night — with one major test still hanging in the balance in battleground Wisconsin.Minnesota was among the clearest signs of progressive strength, with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan winning the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tina Smith, while progressive “Squad” member Rep.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., fended off four challengers in her Democratic primary on Tuesday as she heads to the general election where she will fight to retain her seat for a fifth term representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Progressives again scored a victory in Minnesota where Gov. Tim Walz’s second-in-command toppled an establishment-backed member of Congress.Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan eked out a victory over Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., on Tuesday, marking yet another battle won in the progressive proxy war to reshape the Democratic Party during this midterm election cycle.

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth has won the Republican gubernatorial primary and will move on to face the Democratic nominee in November to replace outgoing Gov. Tim Walz.The victory amounts to a significant show of strength for Demuth, who stayed in the race after losing the Republican Party endorsement to Kendall Qualls at the state convention.

Democrats in deep blue Vermont have a new nominee as they take a sixth straight shot at trying to oust popular Republican Gov. Phil Scott.Democrats in deep blue Vermont have a new nominee as they take a sixth straight shot at trying to oust popular Republican Gov. Phil Scott.Economist Amanda Janoo on Tuesday defeated former child advocacy organization CEO Aly Richards — who is backed by former Democratic Govs.

President Donald Trump secretly boarded a third, smaller U.S. military aircraft using an airport catering truck as cover to depart the NATO summit in Turkey in July while using an older Air Force One jet as a decoy, according to reports.Citing an official and other material it reviewed, The Washington Post reported that the undercover maneuver took place at Ankara airport amid a credible Iranian threat against the president.

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey was met with applause and smiles as she signed away Massachusetts’ gestational limits on abortion, making the deep-blue state the 10th to permit the procedure up to birth.Under the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, health care workers will have greater discretion in determining whether to perform an abortion later in pregnancy, without facing legal penalties under the state’s previous restrictions.

The top Democratic lawmaker on the Senate Finance Committee has floated increasing taxes on data centers, a move critics say could raise costs on services used by practically all Americans.Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a white paper proposal last week calling to end tax incentives for data centers and to impose an ongoing tax on data centers operating in the United States.

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican leading the charge on investigating Dr. Anthony Fauci’s old government phone told Fox News Digital that the revelation that the former COVID-czar was concerned that vaccines could cause miscarriages was “just the tip of the iceberg.”Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

Multiple officials erupted on social media after a Senate committee released text messages Monday showing Dr. Anthony Fauci privately raised a theoretical concern that fever and other reactions after a second COVID-19 vaccine dose could be associated with miscarriage in the first trimester.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is urging Democratic leaders to restrict super PAC involvement in party primaries, arguing that wealthy outside groups have too much influence over Democratic nominations.In a post on X on Sunday, Sanders singled out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, while criticizing outside spending in Democratic primaries.

President Donald Trump escalated his criticism Sunday over the dismissed Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case, pointing to a National Park Service employee’s account that former Olympian David Hearn “violently” ripped and tugged at the pool’s coating before authorities arrived.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., revealed that she is freezing her eggs, opening up about the deeply personal decision in a series of Instagram Story videos while saying the procedure will give her more control over her future and using the announcement to criticize the Trump administration’s policies on women’s reproductive health.

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico needs to flip some Republican voters this November to win in the largest red state in the U.S., but his opponents are calling out claims of Republicans backing him as inauthentic, if not fraudulent.”Any chance that Talarico has building any type of Republican coalition is a pipe dream for him,” Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Nobody is going to follow him.

Fresh off her Republican primary win, veteran meteorologist and Congressional candidate Terri DeBoer told Fox News Digital she is ready to flip the state’s Third Congressional District back over to the GOP.”The one thing that we’re really hearing over and over again is people are ready for a change,” DeBoer said of her bid to unseat incumbent Dem. Rep. Hillary Scholten.

Gary Cordery, who owns a contracting company, won the Republican nomination for Hawaii governor after defeating business owner Ken Fujiyama in Saturday’s primary.He is now set to face Democratic Gov. Josh Green in November in a race that heavily favors the incumbent. The Cook Political Report rates the contest as Solid Democratic, with a Partisan Voting Index of D+13.Cordery faces a steep challenge: Hawaii has not had a Republican governor since Linda Lingle left office in 2010.

Democratic Hawaii Gov. Josh Green defeated three little-known primary challengers seeking to lead the Aloha State.Green, who was first elected governor in 2022, entered the unusual Saturday primary with a 56% approval rating. His primary win makes him a strong favorite for re-election, as the Cook Political Report rates the race 13 points in favor of the Democratic Party.

Progressive Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, cruised to victory in her primary on Saturday, setting up a showdown with Republican state Sen. Brenton Awa in November.Tokuda is seeking a third term representing Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes the entire state outside the island of Oahu, as well as rural and suburban parts of Oahu itself.The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district D+12.

The Democratic establishment won a key battle in the left’s ongoing civil war with its socialist insurgency on Saturday.Longtime Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, won his primary bid to seek another term in the House of Representatives, defeating progressive state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole.Case, who served in Congress from 2002 to 2007 and then won again in 2018, faced his toughest primary challenge yet this year.

Nearly two months after President Doanld Trump proclaimed Washington, D.C. would launch the “LARGEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN HISTORY,” Guinness World Records confirmed it this week.”The largest firework display consists of 840,537 fireworks, and was achieved by Freedom 250 and Pyrotecnico, Inc (both USA) at an event organized by Event Strategies Inc in Washington D.C., USA, on 4 July 2026,” the organization wrote on its website.

President Donald Trump on Friday urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to take a second look at the recently dropped charges over vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.”Now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, sharing photos from a freelance photographer that allegedly showed vandalism.

The U.S. Department of War has revoked former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s eligibility to access classified information over what the department says was an unauthorized disclosure involving Air Force One’s capabilities.Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the move Friday on X, saying it took effect immediately and also bars Kendall from holding any sensitive position.

CAMPUS CRACKDOWN: Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court ruling: DOJDIGGING DEEP: Justice Department threatens investigation into university professors’ BIPOC-only geology campSIGN UP TO GET THE CAMPUS RADICALS NEWSLETTERCAUGHT IN THE ACT: Mississippi professor reveals hidden way he used to expose AI cheating in viral videoDEGREE OF DOUBT: Cambridge University professor resigns after major plagiarism accusations prompt investigation

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is facing pushback online over a resurfaced clip in which he says he “hates” arguably the most treasured location in the state.In the documentary clip from 2020, which resurfaced in a story by The Midwesterner Friday, El-Sayed walks through Michigan’s Mackinac Island during his failed run for governor.

The Justice Department is accusing Duke University School of Law of favoring Black and Hispanic applicants over White and Asian applicants with the same academic records in its admissions process, which the Trump administration argues the law school used to meet its “diversity goals.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., was defeated in a primary challenge on Thursday evening by Republican challenger Charlie Hatcher, a farmer and the state’s former commissioner of agriculture.Although the primary was far from a top-watched contest coming into the 2026 primaries, it served as a microcosm of larger forces at play in the Republican Party.