Platner Wins Maine Primary, Anchors Democrats' Senate Hopes

House Passes $70 Billion Immigration Bill; Homan Readies NYC Surge

GOP Pro-Labor Shift Powers Union Bill Through House

US Strikes Iran Over Downed Apache; Tehran Retaliates

Xi and Kim Vow Closer Ties in Pyongyang

Platner Wins Maine Primary, Anchors Democrats' Senate Hopes

Voters in Maine, South Carolina, Nevada and North Dakota cast ballots in midterm primaries Tuesday, June 9. In Maine, Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine combat veteran and oyster farmer backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, won the Democratic US Senate nomination with about 72% of the vote, with roughly 55% counted; Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in April but remained on the ballot, drew 20%. In South Carolina, Sen. Lindsey Graham won renomination in a crowded Republican primary, while the GOP gubernatorial race headed to a June 23 runoff between Trump-endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who led with 29.5% of the vote, and state Attorney General Alan Wilson at 26.2%. Rep. Nancy Mace, once a rising star in the party, finished a distant fifth at 11.6%, behind Rep. Ralph Norman and businessman Rom Reddy. In California, the Associated Press on Tuesday called the final spot in the governor's race from last week's primary, with Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton, endorsed by President Trump, advancing to face Democratic former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in November.

Platner's nomination carries outsized stakes for control of the Senate. Republicans hold 53 seats, meaning Democrats must defend every seat they hold and flip four more to win the chamber in November, and party leaders have long viewed their most plausible path as running through North Carolina, Ohio, Alaska and especially Maine — the only one of the four states that voted against Trump in 2024. Platner, a political newcomer who outraised and outpolled Mills before her exit, ran on a populist, tax-the-rich economic message that resonated with primary voters seeking a new generation of leaders. Democrats are nonetheless making a significant bet, nominating an untested candidate who has faced significant controversies and now confronts intense Republican scrutiny in his challenge to incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins.

MSNBC / WSJ / NYT

House Passes $70 Billion Immigration Bill; Homan Readies NYC Surge

The House on Tuesday narrowly passed Republicans' $70 billion immigration enforcement bill on a 214-212 party-line vote, with every Democrat opposed, sending President Trump legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through the end of his term. Republicans used a procedural maneuver not designed for routine spending after Democrats refused to fund the agencies without changes following the fatal shooting of two Americans by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis. Passage was a major victory for Republican congressional leaders, who had worked for weeks to unite their conference ahead of midterm elections in which the party is fighting to keep control of the House and Senate. The same day, White House border czar Tom Homan said he has approved an operational plan to deploy "more ICE agents than you have ever seen in New York City," in response to a New York state law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul barring local police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Homan declined to give a date but said the operation "is coming," telling SiriusXM the deployment would avoid the tactics used in the earlier Minnesota surge in which two US citizens were killed by federal agents. The Hochul law took effect in late May.

NYT / The Hill

GOP Pro-Labor Shift Powers Union Bill Through House

The House on Tuesday approved a Democratic bill to fast-track contract negotiations between employers and newly created unions, passing the measure 230-193 after 20 Republicans defied their leaders to force it to the floor. The vote offered fresh evidence of a gradual shift among some Republicans toward organized labor, as the party's increasingly working-class voter base has made pro-union positions politically viable — and for several GOP members from competitive districts facing difficult re-election fights, potentially necessary. The bill would impose an initial 90-day deadline on contract negotiations for new unions and their employers, with paths to mediation and arbitration if the parties reach an impasse. Sponsor Rep. Donald Norcross, Democrat of New Jersey, said he wrote the measure to prevent employers from dragging out negotiations to undercut workers' leverage. The measure faces slim odds in the Senate and a near-certain veto from President Trump if it reaches his desk.

NYT

US Strikes Iran Over Downed Apache; Tehran Retaliates

The United States launched military strikes against Iran on Tuesday, June 9, in retaliation for the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman by an Iranian one-way attack drone; both crew members were recovered safely by a US Navy drone boat. US Central Command said the operation, directed by President Trump and beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern time, was a "proportional response" to attacks on US forces and international commercial ships in regional waters. Air Force and Navy fighter jets conducted three waves of strikes over several hours, dropping precision munitions on Iranian air defenses, surveillance radar sites and ground control stations near the Strait of Hormuz, according to Centcom and a senior US official. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it responded with a drone attack on the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, and Iran also launched attacks against Kuwait, with both countries hosting US military facilities. Bahrain's Interior Ministry warned citizens to seek shelter, Kuwait's army said it was intercepting incoming fire and Jordan's state TV reported its armed forces shot down five missiles. The exchange marked the sharpest escalation since the April 2026 ceasefire that paused the US-Israel-Iran war and reopened questions about transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

WSJ / PBS NewsHour / CBC News

Xi and Kim Vow Closer Ties in Pyongyang

Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a two-day state visit to Pyongyang on Tuesday, June 9, his first foreign trip of the year, pledging with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to deepen "strategic coordination" between the two countries. Xi said China stood ready to expand cooperation on trade, agriculture, science and technology. Kim called the friendship with China his "most important top-priority strategic work." It was the seventh meeting between the two leaders and Xi's second state visit to North Korea. The summit came as Pyongyang has drawn closer to Moscow during the Ukraine war.

Al Jazeera

JUNE 10, 1692: FIRST SALEM WITCH HANGING

Bridget Bishop, the first colonist tried in the Salem witch trials, was executed by hanging in Salem Village after being found guilty of practicing witchcraft. Her death marked the beginning of a wave of hysteria that would lead to more than 150 accusations and 19 executions before the trials were halted.

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Sources

1. MSNBC / WSJ — Maine / NYT / WSJ — South Carolina / WSJ — California
2. NYT / The Hill
3. NYT
4. WSJ / PBS NewsHour / CBC News
5. Al Jazeera