Smith. Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images
Former Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith was sworn in to replace Al Franken in the U.S. Senate Wednesday, making her the 22nd woman currently serving in the body. That's a record-breaking number.
The big picture: As recently as 40 years ago, there were zero women in the senate. Minnesota is also now one of four states in the nation that has two female senators. The others are Washington, California and New Hampshire.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Primary elections are being held on Tuesday in Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut, Vermont and Wisconsin.
The big picture: Georgia and Wisconsin both struggled to hold primaries during the coronavirus pandemic, but are doing so again — testing their voting systems ahead of the general election. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is facing a strong challenger as she fights for her political career. In Georgia, a Republican primary runoff pits a QAnon supporter against a hardline conservative.
A volunteer in Moderna's vaccine clinical trial receives a shot. Photo: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The U.S. government has agreed to buy 100 million doses of Moderna's experimental coronavirus vaccine for $1.5 billion, or $15 per dose.
Why it matters: The Trump administration, through Operation Warp Speed, has now bought initial batches of vaccines from Moderna, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi, Pfizer, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca before knowing whether they are safe and effective. The federal government also appears to own some of the patent rights associated with Moderna's vaccine.