Rep. Wasserman Schultz beats primary challenge

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign from her spot as Democratic National Committee chairwoman and now she’s trying to fight off a Bernie Sanders-endorsed challenger in Tuesday’s Democratic Primary. But Wasserman Schultz looks to have won easily, with the Associated Press projecting at around 10pm that she’d defeat Canova in her bid for a seventh term.

Some Florida political observers said Canova simply didn’t go after Wasserman Schultz hard enough on the emails leaked by the DNC hack. He was also backed by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. His opponent, Kelli Ward, came at Trump from his right on immigration. (Canova’s position against the Iran nuclear deal anxious some progressives.) On election night, Canova gave Wasserman Schultz a close race, then delivered a swaggering statement of defeat.

And all three brushed those opponents aside with relative ease Tuesday night.

Florida was the latest Senate primary in which party leaders saw the favored candidates win – Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid once told Grayson, “I want you to lose” – following other contests in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) – Rubio chose to wage a last-minute bid for a second Senate term and defeated homebuilder Carlos Beruff, along with three other challengers. But McCain would not withdraw his endorsement, something that will be an issue in the November election when he faces Democratic challenger Ann Kirkpatrick. In the state’s 4th District, Cruz also backed Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican who faced substantial spending from outside groups in his own party.

Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., will face incumbent Sen.

And Carlos Beruff, the lone GOP Senate primary candidate to stay in the race against Sen. He had said for months he wouldn’t run again no matter what happened in the presidential race. She was one of the first African-Americans elected to Congress from Florida since Reconstruction.

Canova capitalized on anger with Wasserman Schultz, and at one point was out-fund-raising her. Wasserman Schultz was well known in her south Florida district since her 2004 election, and pundits predicted longstanding goodwill among her constituents would carry her. Darren Soto beat back an attempt by Dena Grayson – wife of the incumbent – to fill her husband’s seat. Wasserman Schultz has raised $3 million but has been assisted by political action committees. Nonetheless, it is ironic that the man who lost the Florida presidential primary to Donald Trump, who would not promise to serve his full six years if reelected to the Senate, did not receive any pushback from the voters. Instead, local attorney Darren Soto clinched the nomination with 36 percent of the vote. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.). The socialist senator from Vermont drew national attention to the race when he accused Wasserman Shultz – when she was still DNC chair – of rigging the primary against his rival for the White House, now-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, who won this district by 40 points during the Democratic primary, made an appearance with Wasserman Schultz in August in an effort to boost her reelection.