Among the interesting results of lower-profile races in yesterday’s primaries was the victory of progressive incumbent Ako Abdul-Samad over a well-funded socially conservative challenger in Iowa’s 66th House District. The victory is significant because the Des Moines district is at the center of the marriage equality battle, and Abdul-Samad’s challenger was well-funded by a group intent on axing the state’s new same-sex marriage law:

In the Democratic primary for House District 66 — considered by many to be ground zero in the battle over same-sex marriage — incumbent Ako Abdul-Samad of Des Moines won by a huge margin over social conservative Clair Rudison Jr. 75-25. Despite numerous attack mailers in the closing days of the race, as well as support from the anti-gay group Iowa Family Policy Center, Abdul-Samad emerged victorious in one of the most heavily Democratic districts in the state.

As the New York Times reported yesterday, the tidal wave of voter outrage against same-sex marriage that Iowa social conservatives had hoped to see this year never materialized. Abdul-Samad’s sound victory in a race that had been making progressives nervous is a small but significant indicator of that.