It was the last big set of primary contests before the summer hiatus – and it delivered more drama and change than expected.

New York

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, beat 10-term incumbent and Democrat House Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District. As her party’s nominee in the heavily Democratic district, she will likely become the youngest person in Congress in 2019, and one who arrives in Washington with a clear progressive agenda: to push for “Medicare for all,” for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and for legislation restraining the influence of money in politics.
• In New York’s 11th Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan successfully fended off a challenge from former Congressman Michael Grimm, a convicted tax evader whom Donovan succeeded in 2015.

Maryland

• Former NAACP President Ben Jealous won Maryland’s Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, promising to deliver on a progressive agenda that makes college free, legalizes marijuana and raises the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Jealous emerged from a six-way primary as the Democratic alternative to popular Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
• Meanwhile, three of Senate President Thomas Miller’s most valued allies – Sens. Joan Carter Conway and Nathaniel McFadden of Baltimore and Sen. Thomas Middleton of Charles County – fell to progressive challengers.

Colorado

• Rep. Jared Polis won Colorado’s Democratic primary for Governor, with 44.6% of the vote. If he wins in November, he will become the first openly gay elected governor in the United States. Polis has run on a bold progressive platform, proposing Medicare-for-all and universal full-day preschool and kindergarten for Colorado’s public-school kids.
• On the Republican side, Walker Stapleton cruised to victory in his primary, with 47.9% of the vote in a multi-candidate field. Stapleton, a two-term state treasurer and Bush family relative, is competing to become only the second Republican elected governor in 44 years.

Oklahoma

• Oklahoma voters, by a 56-43 margin, adopted a ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana. The state becomes the 30th in the country to do so.
• Teachers emerged as a force in Oklahoma electoral politics, as nearly 100 ran for office and dozens won their primaries. Teachers’ unions have been leading a statewide campaign for higher pay and increased school funding. Six Republican incumbents, including two state representatives who recently voted against raising taxes to pay teachers, were unseated Tuesday. Several others were forced into runoffs.

Utah

• Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney easily won his primary in the contest to succeed retiring Senator Orrin Hatch. Romney, a Mormon with longstanding ties to Utah, is heavily favored in the November general election.