Florida Primary Results, US-Canada Tariffs, Meta Trial Begins

Up First from NPR

This episode of Up First covers the Florida primary results, where progressive candidates scored a surprise win in the U.S. Senate race but

Key takeaways

• Progressive candidate Angie Nixon won Florida's Democratic Senate primary despite being vastly outspent, signaling grassroots mobilization can overcome financial disadvantages.
• The outcome of Florida's gubernatorial race remains a long shot for Democrats, as the state has become increasingly conservative under Governor Ron DeSantis.

Main topics

• Florida primary election results
• U.S.-Canada trade tensions and tariffs

Notable quotes

"Just like a generation ago with big tobacco, Meta has engaged in behavior to maximize its profits while harming the public health." – Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser

Conclusion

As Florida's political landscape reveals a split between progressive and moderate forces, U.S.-Canada trade

Transcript preview

Speaker 7 (0:02) Alaska, Florida and Wyoming held primaries last night. In Florida, the tug of war between Democratic progressives and moderates continued. Progressives took a surprise win in the U.S. Senate primary, but moderates prevailed in several key House races. I'm Sasha Pfeiffer. That's Michelle Martin. And this is Up Speaker 6 (0:17) First from NPR News. Speaker 6 (0:20) President Trump pushed back a new tariff on Canada at the last minute, but only by three days. He says the two countries may restart the Keystone pipeline, but the broader trade relationship Speaker 7 (0:30) is still up in the air. And a group of states is suing Meta. They accuse the tech giant of designing apps to be addictive and hiding the risks. Speaker 1 (0:37) Just like a generation ago with big tobacco, Meta has engaged in behavior to maximize its profits. while harming the public health. We Speaker 7 (0:47) hear how the states made their case on the first day of trial. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day. Three states held primaries last night, Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming. Speaker 6 (1:02) In Alaska, results are still being counted in a U.S. Senate race. Incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan and former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola each has about 45 percent of the vote, according to the AP. Two more candidates will move on, but which ones remain undetermined. The next closest candidate is the other Dan Sullivan in the race with Speaker 7 (1:22) less than 3%. In Florida, there's a mixed picture in the contest between progressives and moderates across races for House seats and the Senate. Here to fill us in on those races is NPR political correspondent Ashley Lopez. Ashley, good morning. Good morning. Let's start with a Democratic U.S. Senate primary where there was a win for a progressive candidate there. And I take it that that win was seen as a surprise? Speaker 2 (1:42) Yeah, it was. So state representative Angie Nixon beat Alexander Vindman in that race. Vindman became a national fake. after he was a witness in President Trump's first impeachment trial. Nixon, in comparison, did not have a national profile. But, you know, I was a local reporter in Florida over a decade ago, and I often came across Nixon because she has been very active in state politics for quite a long time. Not only is she a member of the Florida legislature, but she's fought some high-profile labor and voting rights battles as an activist in the state. And that was apparently quite an asset in a race where she was drastically outraised. Vindman raised more than $6 million $16 million in this race, and Nixon barely raised $1 million, and yet she won decisively. During her victory speech last night, she said her win was an example of what organized people can accomplish. And Speaker 7 (2:28) what about in the general, though? Like, what are the odds for a candidate like Nixon in Florida these days? Speaker 2 (2:34) I mean, she faces long odds, obviously. Florida has become a pretty solidly conservative state in recent years. I should say this seat isn't one that national Democrats have been optimistic about flipping, unlike Alaska, which also had its primary last night. The top four vote getters in that race will move on to the general later this year. But in Florida, Nixon will be running against Republican Senator Ashley Moody, an incumbent who was endorsed by President Trump. And moving forward, a big question is how Nixon positions herself as she tries to get votes from a broader electorate in a red state. And she ran on a lot of progressive ideas like Medicare for All, universal