
So far this year, 43 state legislative incumbents—eight Democrats and 35 Republicans—have lost to primary challengers. Across the 14 states that have held primaries, 2.6% of incumbents running for re-election have lost, or 11.4% of the incumbents who were contested. That represents a 31% decrease from 2024 and sits 23% below the average of 56…

With the summer fast approaching, the electoral heat is also rising as more and more states will soon hold their primary elections. Sixteen states have statewide candidate filing deadlines in the next two weeks. The map above and bulleted list below show which states have candidate filing deadlines scheduled between May 23 and June 5.…

Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) defeated six other candidates to win the Democratic Party primary for governor on May 19, 2026, receiving 58% of the vote. Lance and three other candidates — Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, and Michael Thurmond — led in polling, fundraising, and media coverage ahead of the primary. Bottoms was the Mayor of…

Ed Gallrein (R) defeated incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie (R) in the Republican primary for Kentucky's 4th Congressional District on May 19, 2026. Massie was the second member of the U.S. House of Representatives to lose re-election in a primary in the 2026 election cycle. At the time of the election, this race was the only…

Bob Brooks defeated Ryan Crosswell, Lamont McClure, and Carol Obando-Derstine in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District on May 19. Brooks will face incumbent Ryan Mackenzie in the Nov. 3 general election. Three independent race forecasters rated the general election as a toss-up. NBC News' Dylan Ebs and Melanie Jackson wrote that the…

Incumbents Charlie Bethel, Sarah Hawkins Warren, and Ben Land defeated challengers Miracle Rankin and Jen Jordan in the general election for Georgia Supreme Court on May 19, 2026. Bethel ran against Rankin. Warren ran against Jordan. Land was unopposed. The election was officially nonpartisan. Republican governors appointed each of the three incumbents. Both challengers ran…

Jasmine Clark (D) defeated Everton Blair Jr. (D), Emanuel Jones (D), Heavenly Kimes (D), and two other candidates in the Democratic primary for Georgia's 13th Congressional District on May 19, 2026. Clark, Blair, Jones, and Kimes led in fundraising, endorsements, and local media attention. Incumbent David Scott (D) died on April 22, 2026. Scott had…

Houston Gaines (R) defeated Jeff Baker (R) and Ryan Millsap (R) in the Republican primary for Georgia's 10th Congressional District on May 19, 2026. Gaines and Millsap led the candidate field in local media attention. Incumbent Mike Collins (R) ran for U.S. Senate rather than seeking re-election. As of the primary, major election forecasters rated…

In 2026, 70.5% of the state legislative incumbents running for election in South Dakota will face primary contests, a record high since 2010. In total, 55 incumbents face contested primaries across the South Dakota House and Senate. The average number of incumbents contested each election cycle since 2010 was 24. All 55 of the contested…

Christopher Rabb defeated Sharif Street, Ala Stanford, and Shaun Griffith in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District on May 19, 2026. Incumbent Dwight Evans did not run for re-election. Rabb, Stanford, and Street led in media attention, campaign fundraising, and endorsements. No Republicans ran in the district. Local media outlets framed the race…