Throughout the country, increasingly contentious primaries for governor are emerging as central battlegrounds in the broader struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party. And unlike congressional races, where the parties’ campaign committees have intervened in primaries, there’s no national group that takes sides in choosing the nominee. In many cases, establishment candidates and incumbents are being pulled to the left by an energized party base and surprisingly strong liberal challengers. In similar fights last year in New Jersey and Virginia, the Democratic Party’s preferred candidates in gubernatorial races prevailed against challenges by insurgents from the left. Democrats who had not anticipated the size of the 2010 Republican wave have invested early in governors’ races.

Source: Washington Post April 29, 2018 20:36 UTC