Trump-Backed Candidates See Mixed Fates in Florida and Wyoming Gubernatorial Primaries

Ahead of the midterm elections coming up this November, two gubernatorial primary candidates backed by President Donald Trump experienced mixed fates in Florida and Wyoming.

U.S. Representative Byron Donalds, who secured the endorsement of President Trump early on, won the Republican primary for Florida governor held on the 18th local time with 47.8 percent of the vote, defeating second-place Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins (25.2 percent).

Donalds, who is Black, would become the first Black governor of Florida if he wins the general election in November.

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, former U.S. Representative David Jolly easily advanced to the general election with 61.0 percent of the vote to face Donalds.

Jolly was originally a Republican, but switched his party affiliation to the Democratic Party during Trump's first term.

This marks the second consecutive time that the Florida Democratic Party has chosen a former Republican as its gubernatorial candidate, following former Governor Charlie Crist in 2022.

The Associated Press noted that the general election matchup between Donalds and Jolly will serve as "a test of whether President Trump still exerts strong influence in his second home of Florida, and whether Democrats can revive Florida as a national political battleground."

Unlike in Florida, Megan Degenfelder, the Superintendent of Public Education backed by President Trump, lost the Republican gubernatorial primary in Wyoming, garnering only 29.7 percent of the vote.

Instead, the Republican Party selected mainstream conservative State Senator Eric Barlow (45.1 percent of the vote) as its gubernatorial candidate.

Wyoming is a traditionally strong Republican state, and Kenneth Casner, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, was selected as the gubernatorial candidate.

In the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate special election in Florida to serve the remaining two-year term of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ashley Moody—who filled Rubio's vacant seat early last year—easily secured the nomination with 79.6 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, State Representative Angie Nixon, a candidate from the far-left Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) faction, pulled off an upset by defeating Alexander Vindman, an Army veteran and key witness in President Trump's impeachment trial.

According to The New York Times, Nixon raised a mere $975,000 in campaign funds and ran a grassroots campaign to defeat Vindman, who had raised over $16.3 million.

In the Republican primary for Florida's 7th Congressional District, Representative Cory Mills, who has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations including sexual misconduct and dating violence, lost to Larian Eliza.

In Alaska's U.S. Senate primary, where the top four candidates advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation, incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan (42.8 percent of the vote) and former Democratic U.S. Representative Mary Peltola (48.0 percent of the vote) easily advanced.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.