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Who to watch in tonight's primaries

Rep. Carlos Curbelo, one of 15 millennials running in tonight's primaries. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Trump-backed candidates, diverse groups of Democrats, and 15 millennials are all competing in tonight's primaries across Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma.

Why it matters: We're seeing a pattern across the country where Democratic candidates offer more diverse, groundbreaking "firsts" in primaries, while Republican candidates are often differentiated by the strength of their loyalty to the president.

Be smart: Of the 15 Trump-endorsed candidates in battleground primaries, 12 have won, only one has lost, one has a primary tonight and the other will have a primary in November.

  • Trump has endorsed Doug Ducey running for Arizona governor; Ron DeSantis running for Florida governor; current Florida Governor Rick Scott who's running for U.S. Senate; incumbent GOP Rep. Ted Yoho in Florida's 3rd district; and incumbent GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida's 1st district.

Who to watch:

  • Two Democratic candidates for Florida governor would make history if elected. Andrew Gillum would be the state's first African-American governor; Gwen Graham would be the state's first woman to serve as governor.
  • Sean Shaw would be the state's first African-American attorney general.
  • Cedric McMinn could become the state's first openly gay African-American lawmaker if he wins his state legislature race.
  • 15 millennials — defined as 40 and under by the Millennial Action Project, the largest nonpartisan organization of millennial policymakers in the country — are running for the House, and five are Republicans. Of those, six are running in Arizona and eight in Florida. "The average age of Congress reflects the backwards policymaking we’re currently seeing," said Steven Olikara, president and founder of the Millennial Action Project. "It’s more stuck in the past than on the future."

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CIA Director Gina Haspel. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Why it matters: The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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John Weaver, Lincoln Project co-founder, acknowledges “inappropriate” messages

John Weaver aboard John McCain's campaign plane in February 2000. Photo: Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

John Weaver, a veteran Republican operative who co-founded the Lincoln Project, declared in a statement to Axios on Friday that he sent “inappropriate,” sexually charged messages to multiple men.

  • “To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry. They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you,” Weaver said.
  • “The truth is that I'm gay,” he added. “And that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place.”
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