Bucking the trend toward greater polarization, American primary voters sent a prominent progressive packing and chose three moderates over Trump-backed candidates on Tuesday night, suggesting the center can, sometimes, hold.
For progressive Democrats, the loss of Jamaal Bowman in New York was a big setback. Bowman lost by 17 points to George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist, in an expensive and emotional contest. Bowman, who launched controversial attacks on Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, was not helped by a rescue mission led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, suggesting that a loss of focus on bread-and-butter issues gave voters second thoughts about Bowman.
In red states, moderates triumphed over the right wing in three states, with voters in Utah choosing Trump skeptic John Curtis over Trump’s candidate, Trent Staggs, to replace Mitt Romney in the Senate. Trump-backed candidates also lost in South Carolina and Colorado, a victory for establishment Republicans.
The centrists might be pleased to have more amicable colleagues, but they won’t get much of a break. Trump favorite Lauren Boebert easily won a primary in a safe Colorado district after deciding not to risk losing her current district, where Democrats had a shot at taking her down. Moderation has its limits.
“Tuesday’s race showed that the center is indeed holding across many races,” says Clayton Allen, US director at Eurasia Group. “This is especially true with Democrats, where Bowman’s loss and Biden’s pivot toward the middle on border security leave progressives look weaker than they have since 2020. Behind that, the primaries do little to alter the main theme of the election: Biden’s age versus Trump’s temperament.”
