Senator thwarts progressive push in Delaware primary

Longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Carper easily won his party’s primary Thursday in Delaware, fending off a challenge from a progressive political newcomer. Carper, 71, defeated Kerri Evelyn Harris, who had hoped to ride a growing anti-establishment wave within the Democratic Party to victory.

“We need to reunite as a party,” Carper said after his win. “We need to keep in mind that we are not one another’s enemies.” Carper’s victory set up a November race against Republican Rob Arlett, President Donald Trump’s former state campaign chairman. Arlett, a Sussex County councilman, defeated former PayPal executive Gene Truono in Delaware’s Republican primary. GOP voters on Thursday also chose businessman Scott Walker as their nominee for Delaware’s lone U.S. House seat. He will challenge first-term Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester.