SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

UTAH – FROM THE SALT LAKE CITY TRIBUNE – Mitt Romany hardly broke a sweat on his way to capturing the Republican nomination in Utah’s U.S. Senate race, according to unofficial results Tuesday, earning 73 percent of the vote.  Romney’s opponent, state Rep. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine, drew only about one of four votes counted by Tuesday night. Late-arriving by-mail ballots will continue to be tallied in coming days.  “Well, it looks like our team won the primary,” Romney said to a cheering crowd.  In a highly Republican state it's likely that Romney will be elected to the Senate in November, providing an interesting situation where a former presidential candidate will be in a position to challenge the incumbent president of his own party.

NOT QUITE ASTOUNDING – FROM CNN:  The out-of-nowhere upset of Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley in Tuesday's New York primary has stunned the Democratic establishment and shook up the party's likely line of succession to become the next House speaker.  Crowley was ousted from his Queens district by Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Latina running her first political campaign. She is now likely to be the youngest woman ever elected to the House.  It was the most shocking result of 2018's political season so far, and -- though Democrats have avoided intra-party feuds so far this year -- could signal a restive base as the 2020 presidential primary approaches.  "I'm floored," a senior Democratic House aide told CNN.  No need to be floored. Crowley was an old-time Dem stalwart who thought he had a lifetime job.  Ocasio-Cortez is a serious nutcase, a Marxist, an Israel hater, but running in a majority-minority district in an off-year primary.  This kind of upset actually is rather common.  She'll be the woman of the moment, and the CNN types will slobber all over her.  But now that the spotlight will be upon her, people will learn what she really believes, and how extreme it is. 

APPROPRIATE – FROM CNN:  White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is expected to receive Secret Service protection as soon as Wednesday, two sources familiar with the decision tell CNN, but they did not specify how long it will last.  The Secret Service declined to comment, telling CNN: "For operational security purposes the Secret Service does not comment on its protective operations."  The news comes days after Sanders was asked to leave a small Lexington, Virginia, restaurant because of her role with the Trump administration, a move that has since sparked a national conversation on civility and public service in the age of Trump. 

June 26, 2018