Voters in five states will head to the polls as both Republicans and Democrats aim to grab power in Congress. These are the key races.Show Caption
Voters head to the polls in five states on Tuesday, Aug. 4 in primaries that will determine the nominees heading to general elections for statewide offices in hotly contested swing states and congressional seats that are in play after Republican gerrymandering wins.The Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Washington and Missouri primaries will test the grasp that President Donald Trump's endorsements hold over the Republican base and shape the power balance in Congress, with three Senate seats, two open governor's races and 46 U.S. House seats in the mix. In Michigan, the bitter Democratic Senate primary has become the latest test of the party's ideological direction.Michigan’s Democratic Senate race latest testBy far the highest-profile race nationally is between Abdul El-Sayed, a Detroit-based public health officer, and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens for the Democratic nomination to succeed Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat who has held the Michigan seat since 2015. Peters announced in April that he was not seeking reelection.El-Sayed has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America against the more-moderate Stevens. A July 30 Emerson poll showed El-Sayed leading Stevens by 15 points on the Democratic side. The Democratic primary was a three-way race until state Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped her bid in early July. Despite El-Sayed's support from democratic socialists such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, he told CNN that he is "not somebody who is a socialist," adding, "I believe in capitalism. I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated."In April, El-Sayed drew criticism for campaigning with Hasan Piker, a staunchly anti-Israel streamer who has made comments supporting Hamas. The appearance prompted pushback from Jewish groups and moderate Democrats, who questioned El-Sayed's judgment and electability in the fall.Stevens' campaign is more in line with the established, moderate Democratic platform, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed her campaign. The race is taking a combative turn with personal attacks. El-Sayed called Stevens the "least capable candidate in America." Stevens slammed El-Sayed's competitiveness in the general election in a post that accused the Muslim candidate of wanting to "blame all of your problems on Jewish Americans.""I was capable of winning my competitive primary and general election. You lost. You lost by over twenty points to Gretchen Whitmer and you will lose to Mike Rogers by talking like this," Stevens said in the Thursday, July 30 post.On the other side of the aisle, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is the only Republican on the ballot in Michigan. Both Michigan Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2002, but President Donald Trump carried the state in both the 2016 and 2024 elections. In 2024, Rogers lost the general election to Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin by around 19,000 votes, or 0.3 percentage points. Rogers is leading El-Sayed by 10 points in a poll on the possible November matchup, but in the same Michigan Education Association poll from July 28, Stevens is leading Rogers by 2 points. Also racing for Senate: Ruby-red Kansas and blue VirginiaKansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall and Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner are up for reelection and the opposing parties are deciding who to run against them.Both Kansas seats have been held by Republicans since 1939, but Kansas City-area pastor Adam Hamilton, who preached at Obama’s second inauguration, leads the pack of 11 Democrats in a GBAO poll of 600 likely Democratic voters, and he leads Marshall in spending.One lesser-known GOP primary challenger, Pond Naramore, will be up against Marshall on Tuesday. Warner will advance to the general election, as he is uncontested in the primary. On the Republican side, three challengers – Kim Farrington, Bert Mizusawa and David Williams – face an uphill battle to oust the three-term incumbent. Republicans haven't held a Virginia Senate seat since 2009, and the Virginia’s 2025 governor’s race has shown that the state's political trajectory has only grown more challenging for the GOP. “After Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the governor’s race in November 2025 by 15 points, Republicans putting this race into play looks incredibly doubtful,” the Cook Political Report wrote in its race rating, which lists the seat as solidly Democratic. Democrats defend governor seats as Trump tests his endorsement power Both Democratic governors in Kansas and Michigan are leaving office after being termed out from back-to-back wins in states that Trump carried. Now both seats are open, and the question is whether Democrats can hold on without their incumbents on the ballot. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won races in 2018 and 2022 despite Trump flipping the state red in the 2016 presidential race and again in 2024. In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly pulled off the same 2018 and 2022 feat in a state Trump won by double digits in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Looking to succeed Whitmer, Democratic Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is the leading candidate. According to the Detroit Free Press, Benson is leading in the polls over both her Democratic opponent, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, and Republicans vying for the seat. Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat, dropped his independent bid in late May, citing surging Democratic energy nationally. Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. John James is leading the Republican pack with 40%, according to an Emerson poll. Perry Johnson, multimillionaire and former gubernatorial candidate, is still vying for the seat, polling 8 points behind James, while 17% of Republican voters are still undecided.Trump also endorsed a gubernatorial candidate in Kansas: state Senate President Ty Masterson, who is running alongside state Sen. Jeff Klemp. Masterson will take on six Kansas Republican opponents, including Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who has served in his role since 2018. The race will test if the Republican base in Kansas remains tied to the president, or if Schwab’s popularity in the state will win him another GOP nomination. On the Democratic side, voters will also weigh an endorsement by Kelly, the current governor, for Kansas state Sen. Ethan Corson, who is battling Cindy Holscher, another Kansas state senator. Holscher is leading Corson in recent polls. Missouri could hand Republicans a new congressional seat Voters in all five states will also cast ballots for U.S. House of Representatives seats, as both parties battle to control the lower chamber of Congress.GOP-led efforts to redistrict the Kansas congressional map failed in the fall of 2025. Trump urged the state to redraw the districts and give an edge to Republicans to pick up a Democrat-held seat in the 3rd congressional district, currently held by Rep. Sharice Davids. Masterson, the Trump-endorsed governor candidate, led the redistricting charge, according to KCUR. Davids and the three Republican Trump-endorsed incumbents – Reps. Tracey Mann, Derek Schmidt and Ron Estes – each face challengers from their own party. All eight Missouri House of Representatives seats are on the ballot, just months after a court upheld new maps drawn by Republicans in the state legislature in the fall, although legal challenges continue to play out and could yet invalidate the map. The 5th congressional district, currently held by Democrat Rep. Emanuel Cleaver in the Kansas City metropolitan area, was carved up to favor a Republican challenger. Cleaver, who is still running, is one of two Democrats representing the state in the House. Six Republican candidates are on the primary ballot seeking to oust the Congress member, including state Sen. Rick Brattin and Navy veteran Taylor Burks. "The reason all these Republicans have announced is because there's blood in the water. It looks like there's a good chance with this redistrict that it will go to a Republican," Charles Zug, a political science professor at the University of Missouri, said to KMIZ ABC 17. Virginians will vote in the same 11 districts as 2024, after a chaotic few months for the state's political map. In April, voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment allowing mid-decade redistricting, which Democrats hoped would give their party an edge and potentially flip several seats. But in May, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down the specific maps Democrats had drawn, thus leaving the old lines in place for this cycle.Democrats currently hold six of the state's 11 seats, with Republicans holding the other five. Two of those Republican Virginia seats are on a list of 30 seats nationally that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is trying to flip from red to blue.In Virginia's first district, seven Democrats, including prosecutor Shannon Taylor, are on the primary ballot to oust incumbent Rep. Robert Wittman. In a March poll, Taylor trailed Wittman by 4 percentage points in the general election, but voters were also 2 points more likely to vote for Democrats.A former House of Representatives member and retired Navy commander, Elaine Luria, is on the primary ballot against three other Democrats vying to flip incumbent Rep. Jennifer Kiggans' seat in Virginia's second district. A Tulchin Research poll in July showed Luria and Kiggans split even, both at 47%.Kansas Supreme Court ballot measure and Washington stateIn the Washington state’s top-two primary system this week, the top two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of if they are from the same party. Nine of the 10 incumbents in the U.S. House of Representatives will seek reelection, excluding Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse who is retiring from his post representing the 4th Congressional District. Newhouse held one of two Republican Washington seats in Congress, as the other eight representatives and both Senators are Democrats.Also in Kansas: voters will decide on a ballot measure that could make the Kansas Supreme Court a voter-elected office. $10 million has been spent by groups hoping to influence the vote, and Republicans are pushing for the amendment.
