Liberal Democrats, Trump loyalists, and women win in U.S. nominating contests

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans loyal to Donald Trump scored victories in nominating contests for Florida and Arizona, giving momentum to the insurgent wings of America’s two main parties ahead of the November mid-term election.

FILE PHOTO: Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum speaks at a Florida League of Cities Gubernatorial Candidates Forum in Hollywood, Florida, U.S. August 15, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

Here are several takeaways from contests that will be pivotal in November, when Democrats hope to wrest control of Congress from Republicans and win back influential statehouses.

A few weeks ago, Andrew Gillum remained relatively unknown to Florida voters despite a historic bid to be the state’s first black governor. Most opinion polls through Election Day showed him trailing in a crowded field of better-funded competitors.

But he pulled off an upset with an unapologetically liberal agenda and grassroots campaign in a battleground state, where Democrats have failed to hold the governor’s office for two decades after successive losses by white, centrist candidates.

Gillum defied that conventional wisdom with his fiery calls for expansive government-run healthcare and Trump’s impeachment. The 39-year-old son of a bus driver highlighted the power of his historic candidacy to rouse younger and more racially diverse voters who often sit out midterm elections.

“This is a kind of young Democrat that can actually, for a change, spike turnout,” said Susan MacManus, a political analyst and retired political science professor at the University of South Florida, noting that many Democrats have grown uneasy with their party’s aging national leaders. “This is exactly the antidote that a lot of progressives were hopeful for.”

In Arizona, David Garcia, a Latino progressive candidate, secured the Democratic nomination for governor in a contest seen as a longer shot for the party to win.

An educator and veteran, Garcia has called for tuition-free college and reform of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. He was immediately blasted by Republicans as too radical for the electorate in the November general election, when he will face incumbent Republican Governor Doug Ducey.

In Florida, President Donald Trump’s endorsement helped catapult a conservative once seen as a longshot candidate for governor to a 20-percentage point win in the Republican nominating contest.

Congressman Ron DeSantis’ trouncing of the early establishment favorite, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, underscored the president’s popularity with the Republican base.

DeSantis, 39, is the latest in a string of Republican candidates elevated this year by the president’s engagement in intraparty fights.

While Trump held off endorsing any of the three Republicans in a contentious U.S. Senate battle in Arizona, the candidates all spent the final stretch of the campaign touting their allegiance to him.

Establishment favorite U.S. Representative Martha McSally fended off two hardline conservatives, former state senator Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, in a southwestern state that Trump won by about 4 percentage points.