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Today, Chris Taylor is sworn in to replace Rebecca Bradley on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, giving liberals a 5-2 majority. As recently as 2020, conservatives had a 5-2 edge on the court, but four straight double-digit victories for liberals shifted the balance—and the court could go 6-1 next year.

Father of the year

And as we write in this Digest, a completely different governor primary is looking more and more interesting. A new poll unexpectedly shows Sen. Marsha Blackburn with only a small lead in GOP nomination contest to lead Tennessee.

Wisconsin's volatile Democratic primary for governor takes another turn as Mandela Barnes exits the race. But state Rep. Francesca Hong remains tough to beat even as her remaining opponents get the chance to consolidate the vote.

Morning Digest: Mandela Barnes drops bid for governor just ahead of Wisconsin's volatile Democratic primaryFour major candidates have now quit the race, including one who got back inwww.the-downballot.com

Mandela Barnes drops out of #WIGOV Democratic primary.

Mandela Barnes ends Democratic campaign for governorFormer Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes has ended his campaign for governor.www.jsonline.com

Achilles argues Risch "has supported policies that have driven up the costs of food and gas and gutted the Forest Service to sell our public lands to the highest bidder."

Independent Todd Achilles is now Republican Sen. Jim Risch's only serious opponent in Idaho now that the Democratic nominee has dropped out. It's now up to Achilles to put together a crossparty coalition to win a challenging race to represent one of America's reddest states.

Morning Digest: It's independent vs. Republican in Idaho after Democrat drops outThis Senate battle now mirrors Nebraska's, but in an even redder statewww.the-downballot.com

NEW: The Downballot has closely tracked special elections for years, but it turns out they can tell us even more than we realized. Specials can act as an early-warning system, as @marshak1.bsky.social shows, that tell us when the political environment is shifting—and they can do so very quickly.

Special elections can tell us when the electoral winds are changing—faster than ever beforeWith new tools, we can detect shifts in the political weather after just a handful of electionswww.the-downballot.com

Lots more in our new Digest: • Republicans are meddling in still another Democratic primary. • A pair of Democratic candidates for governor go on the air. • Polls. Lots and lots of polls.

Trump wants South Carolina Republicans to nominate appointed Sen. Darline Graham next month. Now she needs to convince them to pick her over several far better-established primary foes.

Morning Digest: Darline Graham may be Trump's choice, but she doesn't have an easy path to a full termSeveral better-known Republicans are running in the two-week sprint to the GOP nominationwww.the-downballot.com

It's a blowout in South Dakota's first-ever runoff. Gov. Larry Rhoden, who was elevated from the LG spot after Kristi Noem joined Trump's cabinet (seems like a long time ago, huh?) blows out wealthy businessman Toby Doeden. Doeden actually led 31-25 in the first round.

Marcye Scott didn't run in the primary for a full term because her father was running for reelection. David Scott died in late April, around six weeks after the filing deadline for the regular primary had already passed. Marcye Scott briefly mooted running indy in Nov but didn't follow through.

Special election tonight for the vacant #GA13, previously held by the late Dem Rep. David Scott. His daughter, Marcye Scott, is running for this safely blue Atlanta-area seat. Question is whether she can avoid a runoff by winning a majority—she's at 50.2% at the moment.

This might be the perfect encapsulation of No Labels. The candidate who won their primary (yes, they had a primary) for #AZGov last week says on her website, "I rejected the No Labels Party endorsement because I stand for Arizona and not for a political party!"

Teri Ann 4 AZ Governor | Get Involved Now — Support ChangeSupport Teri Ann for Arizona Governor advocating for transparency, community welfare, and government reform. Join the movement for a better Arizona today.teriann4azgov.org

Per WisPolitics, the GOP's spending to help state Rep. Francesca Hong win the Democratic primary for #WIGov has now reached $3.6 million. Initial reports had it at ~$2 million.

FRI AM Update: RGA adds another six figures to its effort to boost Hong in the Dem gubernatorial primaryFrom WisPolitics ... -- The Republican Governors Association has added another six figures to its effort to boost Dem Francesca Hong in the gubernatorial primary. That pushes its overall investment in...www.wispolitics.com

We've got a fantastic announcement: The Downballot has just released a new version of our one-of-a-kind "hexmap," which shows every congressional district as the same size. @donnermaps.bsky.social has been hard at work updating it for all 10 states with new maps. Check it out here! 🧵

The Downballot releases our latest House 'hexmap,' updated for redistrictingBy making every district the same size, we eliminate that misleading sea of redwww.the-downballot.com

Also in the newest Digest: • Republicans are already attacking Maine's new Democratic Senate nominee. • Influential GOP legislator won't run for Kentucky governor next year. • Democratic Justice holds huge financial edge in reelection campaign for North Carolina Supreme Court.

Republican Rick Jackson says he'll spend $87 million on ads for the general election for Georgia governor. That spending spree, plus an expensive Senate race, could make it tougher for other candidates to buy up enough ads to get their message out during the crucial final weeks of the campaign.

Morning Digest: Georgia's airwaves are about to get very crowded—and very expensiveRick Jackson's wealth and Jon Ossoff's war chest could make it tough for others to reach voterswww.the-downballot.com

The GOP meddling story in #MI07 keeps getting weirder. From Robbie Jaeger x.com/RobletoFire/...

So what *do* we know about the apparent GOP meddling here? • Top GOP super PAC in House races (CLF) didn't comment when asked • Sunrise Michigan PAC is using the same tiny bank as some prominent South Dakota GOP politicians • The Sunrise *Movement* has its own PAC—it's not Sunrise Michigan