Weekly Score Newsletter

Democrats' cycle-long crusade for generational change is coming to a head in Massachusetts on Tuesday, where a trio of longtime incumbents are staring down some of the toughest primary fights of their careers. The showdown between 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey and 47-year-old Rep. Seth Moulton is by far the most high-profile clash . But septuagenarian Reps.

Progressives have walked into back-to-back statewide battleground primaries expecting to romp. Instead, they've been left biting their nails — and questioning how they were so misled by polling that showed them up big. While the internet was ablaze with hot takes about another gigantic polling flop — especially after polling in Michigan's Senate race also badly missed the mark last week — the reality is a bit more nuanced.

For all the ink spilled over how Tuesday's primaries would define the future of the Democratic Party, the results showed the party's base is just as split as its Washington insiders. There was no clean-sweep for progressives across Michigan and Missouri. And the grand prize of the highly anticipated Michigan Senate race was too close to call in as of 4 a.m. Wednesday morning — leaving everyone scrambling to spin the narrative.

Michigan is ground zero for the Democratic Party's ideological war. Its marquee Senate race and two of its House primaries on Tuesday — in Michigan's 7th and 13th Districts — will provide another crucial test of whether progressives can not only keep up their winning streak in safe-blue seats but also break through in battlegrounds crucial for control of Congress.

Lindsey Graham's stunning and unexpected death on Sunday has left Republicans scrambling to replace the South Carolina senator. His death immediately kicks off a monthlong primary to fill his full six-year term, and a number of prominent Palmetto State Republicans are reportedly considering bids, including Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and former Graham primary challenger Mark Lynch, as our Alec Hernández reports Not in the running for an appointment? Rep.

Senate Leadership Fund — the super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune — is on pace to be the top spender in this year's midterms, with just under $215 million already reserved or spent on advertising. Its affiliated nonprofit, One Nation, is already in for another $53.5 million. It's big money — and it shows how seriously Republicans are taking the fight for Senate control, even with a favorable map this cycle.

One of Democrats' messiest House primaries comes to a head tomorrow, when voters in the exurban and heavily Latino CO-08 will choose their nominee to challenge vulnerable freshman GOP Rep. Gabe Evans. And it's looking like it will be the latest victory for progressives in Democrats' ideological tug-of-war. Former state Rep. Shannon Bird racked up early endorsements from some of the Democratic Party's biggest establishment players, from the centrist Blue Dogs to The Bench to to EMILYs List.

Maine oysterman Graham Platner cruised on Tuesday night, scandals be damned, and Democrats in Washington were quick to pledge their support. Even if they weren’t thrilled about it. Rather than explicitly praise Platner, national Democrats broadly focused more on slamming Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Maine oysterman Graham Platner is all but sure to win his Democratic primary on Tuesday and face Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). But his latest round of scandals has some Washington Democrats fantasizing about some highly unlikely scenarios that would let them avoid being stuck with him as their nominee in their top-target Senate race. Their first and most straightforward, if unlikely, dream would be that Gov.

Democrats didn't take many chances in critical November battlegrounds on Tuesday. Voters played it safe in picking establishment-backed Josh Turek to take on GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson for an open Senate seat in Iowa and putting up mainstream military veteran Rebecca Bennett against Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in one of the most competitive House districts in the country. The results were more mixed in bluer territory.