Between the many ballots cast Tuesday night, here are a few of the biggest takeaways from 2026 primary night in Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming.

Democrats back both DSA candidate and incumbents

Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, defeated Vindman, a centrist Democrat, in the blue primary for U.S. Senate by a 12.2-point margin. Vindman, who boasted a much larger war chest and is the twin brother of a sitting U.S. congressman, was expected to take the primary as the party’s favorite in the race.

But firebrand socialist Nixon roused up enough grassroots support to overcome the odds in the primary. Nixon drew statewide attention this year for staging a sit-in over redistricting in Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) office, which ended with her arrest. She was nearly $7 million behind Vindman in cash on hand as of election day.

However, socialist candidates did not see the type of success that Nixon had throughout the Sunshine State. Establishment-backed incumbents like Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) each fended off progressive challengers to defend their spots in the U.S. House.

Wasserman Schultz, who has served in Congress since 2005, ran in the Historically-black 20th district after the state’s redistricting. She won the race with a 22-point margin over her next closest challenger, defeating former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness, progressive Elijah Manley, and embattled former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in the district.

Moskowitz also handily defeated socialist activist Oliver Larkin, who was backed by the DSA, by nearly 30 percentage points.

Online politics struggles in real life

Several candidates who have large online presences struggled to turn their social media energy into actual votes.

Candidates like Wasserman Schultz, Moskowitz, and Donalds were hit hard by their primary opponents on social media, but that online chatter failed to translate when it mattered. They each saw double-digit margins, blowing their challengers out of the water.

GOP candidate for governor in Florida James Fishback came hard at Donalds during the primary, teasing major allegations on social media, then accusing the congressman of being the target of a Justice Department investigation, even though the DOJ itself denies any investigation into Donalds.

Though he garnered lots of clicks on X and views on Instagram, Fishback came in third in the primary, garnering just 10.5% of the vote, while Lt. Gov. Jay Collins (R-FL) came in second with 25.2%, and Donalds pulled far ahead with 47.8%.

Dan Bilzerian, a famous social media personality, also fell by double digits to Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) after he mounted an outwardly antisemitic campaign against the sitting Jewish congressman, mired in social media attacks. Fine crushed Bilzerian by nearly 40 points in the race, while Bilzerian claimed on X, without any evidence, “they literally took away my votes.”

“Thank you President Trump for your unwavering support,” Fine wrote on X after the Tuesday night results. “And thank you to Senator Scott, Speaker Johnson, Senator Cruz, and every Republican who stood up for what is right and true. And even to the Democrats who said a Nazi is not welcome in our politics no matter what party. There are some angry Jew haters right now.”

Trump loses another governor’s race in Wyoming

Despite Trump’s endorsement reigning supreme in Florida’s gubernatorial race with Donalds, it fell short in Wyoming.

Trump had backed Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Degenfelder to defeat state Sen. Barlow in the GOP gubernatorial primary, but Degenfelder ultimately fell to Barlow by over 15 points. Degenfelder had largely run on Trump’s endorsement and energy-related issues, while Barlow campaigned on more economic issues and focused on a limited-government approach.

The race is the latest blow to Trump’s endorsement power in gubernatorial races this year, as Degenfelder followed the losing fate of Trump-endorsed candidates like Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R-GA) in Georgia and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in Minnesota.

Cory Mills’ scandals proved too much to overcome

Embattled Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) did not share the same fate as many of his fellow incumbent Sunshine State congressmen on Tuesday. Mills lost to GOP challenger Ryan Elijah on Tuesday night by a 13.2-point margin.

Mills’s effort to overcome the series of assault allegations and ethics probes he is facing fell flat on Tuesday. Despite an early Trump endorsement, which occurred before Elijah entered the race, Mills could not get past the backlash facing his candidacy due to his ethics investigation. Mills faces allegations of domestic violence, stolen valor, and financial impropriety, all of which he denies.

Elijah is a former local news anchor from Florida running on affordability issues. He will face Navy veteran Bale Dalton in the general election in the “likely Republican” district.

Alaska sets up race between Sullivan and Peltola

In Alaska, the state’s open primary system has teed up former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) to take on incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in the state’s U.S. Senate election.

Peltola, one of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) prized recruits of the Democratic primary season, earned 48% of the vote in the primary as of Tuesday morning, while Sullivan earned 42.8% of the vote. Trailing far behind in third and fourth place with single-digit numbers are Republican Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and Democrat David B. Leslie.

The top four candidates advance to the general election, but with only 80% of the vote in as of press time, it remains too early to call who the last two candidates will be.

SULLIVAN AND PELTOLA ADVANCE IN ALASKA SENATE PRIMARY, SETTING UP NOVEMBER SHOWDOWN

Incumbent Sullivan has faced a frustrating situation this primary season, with another GOP candidate with his same name on the ballot. Despite mounting a legal challenge over the could-be-confusing two Dan Sullivans, a judge ordered that the second Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., could not be removed from the ballot.

Cook Political Report pings the race as a toss-up, though Trump won the state by 13.1 points in 2024.