(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Five Inspiring Lessons From This Week’s Primaries GNR [1] ['Greg Dworkin', 'Crimson Quillfeather', 'Dan K', 'Bill In Portland Maine'] Date: 2026-08-15 This week’s primaries were full of reasons to be hopeful about the future of our country. Check them out! 1. We Saw That Their Racist-Mandering Is Backfiring The awful and disgusting Jim Crow moves to erase Black votes may be backfiring. Check it out: Voter turnout surges in Tennessee after Black-majority district is erased Democratic turnout for House primaries in a majority-Black Tennessee county surged to the highest level in a decade Thursday. A fifth of active registered voters cast a ballot in three Democratic U.S. House primaries held Thursday in Shelby County, which includes Memphis. That’s more than double the turnout percentage for similar contests in 2024. High Democratic turnout for House primaries in Shelby County, which includes Memphis, is the latest sign that redistricting may be energizing Black Southern voters. Organizers said the outpouring was motivated by anger over the Republican-led legislature’s action to break up the state’s only majority-Black congressional district after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated minority voter protections in the Voting Rights Act this year. 2. Democrats voted in record numbers What we need are signs that we are motivated and likely to vote. And we are seeing just that: Minnesota sets primary voting record with 1M+ ballots cast, officials say More than a million Minnesotans voted in the primary, setting a new state record, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State. Officials said more than 1,103,000 Minnesotans cast a vote on Tuesday, about 25% of eligible voters in the state. The previous record was in 2018, when 925,554 ballots were cast. and… DNC Boom!!! 3. We Have a Big Tent Hey, guess what?! Some great progressives won! Hey, guess what?! Some great centrists won! We have a big tend and we showed it again this week and, honestly, that is GREAT! Would I have voted for all of our candidates to be MY representative? Nope. But people are winning in the areas that they can win in. Our voters are concentrated, like lasers, on November and that is perfect. Hopium Democrats’ Big Tent Bodes Well for November The primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota and a special Republican Senate election in South Carolina held on Tuesday demonstrated that Democrats are coalescing around a theme of economic populism and reform, while Republicans are struggling to figure out how to please their overlord Donald Trump without getting blown out in November. In sum, Democrats remain a big-tent party gravitating toward an aggressive, anti-oligarch economic message. Republicans, meanwhile, remain depressingly predictable — running as unblinking foot soldiers in an authoritarian cult that repudiates science, the rule of law, and pluralistic democracy. That might fly in deep red South Carolina, but it alienates large swaths of the electorate looking for sane, decent leadership. If Democrats run solid campaigns against MAGA extremists, Republicans will face historic losses around the country in November. 🙏🏻🤞🏻🙏🏻🤞🏻🙏🏻🤞🏻 4. Trump’s Waning Power Was on Full Display Its been a long time since a trump endorsement meant anything in the general election. But now, he can no longer move the republican base. That is very bad news for them and very good news for democracy. For example the My Pillow loser lost In Minnesota yesterday, close Trump ally Mike Lindell, the former chief executive officer of MyPillow, lost the Republican primary for governor to Republican state house speaker Lisa Demuth. Mike Lindell’s defeat is also Trump’s Trump just suffered one of his biggest endorsement losses of the cycle. Former MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — a close ally of the president who was at the forefront of his 2020 election denialism — fell to Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth in Minnesota’s gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. and that wasn’t his only loss! He backed Andy Ogles and Ogles lost to A CANDIDATE WHO HAD DROPPED OUT 🤣😆🤣😆🤣 5. They are moving more races in our direction One of the things that happens when we have strong showings in the primaries and run good candidates (and they have the opposite) is that races get moves in our direction. And we saw that this week –> Three Republican Incumbents Move From Solid to Likely Republican Ohio’s 10th District: Held by Republican Representative Mike Turner, anchored around Dayton. Ohio’s 15th District: Held by Republican Representative Mike Carey, stretching from Columbus into southwest Ohio. Colorado’s 3rd District: Held by Republican Representative Jeff Hurd, covering the western slope of the state. Analysts note potential coattails from strong Democratic statewide contenders in Ohio are putting these GOP seats in tighter competition. Polarizing top-of-the-ticket dynamics in Colorado are causing previously safe Republican seats to face higher competitive pressure. Other Good News A Judge Blocked It Everywhere Trump tried to stop the US Postal Service from delivering mail ballots this November, but on Tuesday Judge Indira Talwani blocked him in all fifty states. Trump’s order demanded states hand over a list of everyone expecting a mail ballot, forcing the Postal Service to screen every envelope against that list before delivering it. If you’re not on the list, you don’t get a ballot. Judge Talwani’s ruling was clear—the executive branch has no authority to regulate elections. Millions of Americans vote by mail. All of them still can. They’re Suing Him For Selling His Own Posts Since August 1, Trump’s social media company has charged $100,000 a month to those who want to see what he posts before it goes public. He names companies. He announces tariffs. Get the words a few seconds early and you can trade on them before anyone else can. More than ten firms have signed up, and now Trump’s company is looking at selling the same access to gambling sites. That way people can bet on what he’s about to announce—whether it be a war, a court challenge, or a tariff that can move the markets. On Wednesday, The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued Trump in federal court over the scheme. Rep. Jamie Raskin, who has been investigating it, was clear: Trump is “selling advance access to that market-moving information to the high bidders.” He also called the whole arrangement “the depraved essence of insider trading.” Add this to the long list of investigations Democrats will launch into Trump if they win back the House. With the majority comes subpoena power, and subpoenas don’t ask nicely. Epstein judge: ‘The public has a right to know what the hell is going on’ A federal judge gave a chilling warning to Justice Department lawyers fighting the further releases of documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein: If they don’t comply with court orders, contempt proceedings could ruin their futures. Nebraska court throws out RNC lawsuit targeting overseas voters A Nebraska court Wednesday rejected the Republican National Committee’s lawsuit seeking to block certain U.S. citizens abroad from voting in the state, handing the national GOP another major loss in its escalating legal campaign against overseas voters. I never bet against us What can you do? You can donate. One way to do it: I set up a new fundraiser for down ballot races. You know what the best use of your donated money is? Down-ballot races. Research shows that getting people to vote for down-ballot candidates (local races and state races) ALSO gets them to vote up-ballot (but the opposite is not true). So if you want us to win the House and Senate, donating down-ballot in key districts is actually a very smart strategy! Why else? First, these are the smaller races that allow us to gain control of states and allow states to actually do things to increase voting and help people. Second, they are races that build candidates for other races in the future. Third, these races are notoriously underfunded so your donation can make a huge difference. This fundraiser divides donations between three organizations that target down ballot Democrats. Plus no annoying follow up texts and emails from a bazillion House and Senate candidates! It is a win win win!!! Here is the link: Support Down Ballot Candidates to Support All Democrats Thanks! Donate a lot. Donate a little. Just DONATE! You’ll feel great!! Also, Amanda Nelson has an amazing checklist that recommends one thing to do a day from right now until the midterms. You can find it here Finally, Vote Save America has all kinds of opportunities — big and small — to make a difference in the midterms. Sign up here to learn more. That is it for this week. I am so lucky, proud, and grateful to be in this with all of you. ✊🏼✊🏾✊🏽✊🏿💙🩷💜💛✊🏽✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/15/800084280/community/inspiring-lessons-from-this-weeks-primaries-gnr/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/