In a primary contest Tuesday, Wisconsin Democrat state Rep. Katrina Shankland was defeated by local business owner Rebecca Cooke, setting up a race to unseat Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in November. 

Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL, narrowly defeated Democrat state Sen. Brad Pfaff to flip the seat for the GOP last year after longtime Democrat incumbent Ron Kind chose not to seek reelection. Pfaff has decided not to challenge Van Orden in 2024.

Prior to Van Orden winning the seat in 2022, Wisconsin's 3rd District was represented by Kind for more than two decades. 

The race for the Democrats eventually turned ugly between candidates Cooke and Shankland. The Wisconsin Examiner reported that in the final days of the race, the election became "more combative as outside super PACs have injected money into the race on behalf of Cooke, while Shankland cries foul and touts her experience as a legislator."

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"This is a dramatic shift in tone from the 2022 primary, and that could be for a number of reasons," UW-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky told the Examiner. "One reason could be, I think, Democrats are no doubt fired up about the prospect of defeating Derrick Van Orden, and that means that the opportunity to be the party standard-bearer is a highly coveted opportunity, and so Shankland and Cook have gone negative."

Military veteran Matthew Corey has won the Republican primary to face Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy in the fall.

Corey, who owns a bar in Hartford, Connecticut, was runner-up in the state GOP’s nominating convention in May. He previously lost to Murphy in 2018.

He defeated insurance agent and small-town official Gerry Smith, who was favored by the Connecticut Republican Party. 

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Smith managed to outraise Corey during the primary cycle, with the latter bringing in just over $30,000 in individual contributions compared to Smith’s roughly $62,000 haul, according to campaign finance data.

But Smith ended the primary cycle with less cash on hand than Corey did – roughly $4,200 compared to $32,000.

The primary winner now faces an uphill climb to the U.S. Senate, however – Connecticut has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1982, according to the CT Mirror. 

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President Biden won the state by roughly 20 points in 2020 over former President Trump, and there’s not a single Republican in its seven-member congressional delegation.

Murphy’s war chest is also significantly larger than his opponent’s, having brought in nearly $13 million in individual contributions in this election cycle. 

He is also heading into the general election with $9.7 million in cash on hand.

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The Democratic senator came to national attention as the congressman representing Newtown in 2012 when the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took place.

Murphy is seeking a third term in the Senate, having been first elected in 2012.

While he’s the runaway favorite to win his seat again, the victory is nevertheless welcome padding for Democrats as they face the prospect of losing their razor-thin Senate majority.