The vast majority of Democratic primary results are in across Wisconsin and Minnesota, and they’re showing a notable split across educational lines: Progressive candidates are again performing best in highly educated areas, while moderates perform better where voters are less likely to have college degrees.
In Wisconsin, establishment-backed Milwaukee County executive David Crowley was winning by more than 11 points across those counties where less than 20 percent of adults had college degrees, according to a POLITICO analysis of results from counties where at least 90 percent of results had been reported by 1 a.m. In counties where between 20 and 30 percent of adults had college degrees, he was winning by 5 percent.
Democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong had the advantage across counties where more than 30 percent of adults were college-educated, the data show.
However, Hong’s numbers in highly educated counties were significantly behind last week’s performance of progressive public health official Abdul El-Sayed, who narrowly won the Michigan Democratic Senate primary while dominating in well-educated areas.
If Hong loses, her failure to run up the score in college towns will be part of the reason why.
The role of education in Democratic primaries was also on display in Minnesota, where progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan built out a strong statewide lead over Rep. Angie Craig, who ran as a moderate. While Flanagan was winning across most types of counties, including those with fewer college-educated voters, her strongest numbers were in places with a highly educated electorate.
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