Tag: primaries
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Arizona moves its primary from August to July
Arizona’s 2026 primary will now occur on July 21, after Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signed legislation on Feb. 6 that moves up the state’s primary date. Under HB 2022, primary elections will now take place on the second-to-last Tuesday in July. Previously, primaries occurred on the first Tuesday in August. HB 2022 passed on a…
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Ballotpedia identifies 21 battleground Republican primaries for North Carolina House
On March 3, 2026, North Carolina voters will vote in 39 contested Republican primaries for North Carolina House of Representatives. The News & Observer's Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi said this year’s elections "could be complicated by a group of candidates running in the upcoming primary election who switched political parties last year." According to Guinassi,…
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Oklahoma campaign submits signatures for ballot initiative to establish top-two primaries in the state
The campaign behind Oklahoma State Question 836 (SQ 836), Vote Yes 836, submitted more than 200,000 signatures on Jan. 26 to the Oklahoma secretary of state. If approved, the initiative would create a top-two primary system in the state. A top-two primary is a type of primary election where all candidates are listed on the…
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Record number of candidates and contested primaries in the 2026 Texas state legislative elections
Texas has 465 major party candidates running for state legislative office, the most of any election cycle since 2010. Of the 465 total candidates, 238 are Democrats, up 20% from 199 in 2024. There are 227 Republican candidates, up 7% from 212 in 2024. Texas also has 103 contested state legislative primaries this year, an…
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Above average share of state legislative incumbents saw primary contests this year
Thirty-eight state legislative incumbents faced contested primaries in 2025, representing 22% of all incumbents who filed for re-election. While that was two fewer than the 40 contested incumbents in 2021, it was larger by percentage than each of the three previous odd-year cycles following presidential elections. Twelve percent were contested in 2013, 16% in 2017,…
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Democrats to hold firehouse primary for Virginia's 11th Congressional District June 28
On June 3, 2025, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) called a special election for Virginia's 11th Congressional District to be held Sept. 9, 2025. Incumbent Gerald Connolly (D) died on May 21, 2025. Virginia law requires political parties to nominate their candidates 60 days before special elections, in this case by July 11. The 11th Congressional…
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136 state legislative incumbents have been defeated in primaries this year - four of which were legislative leaders
In the 37 states that have held primaries so far this year, 136 state legislative incumbents—3.4% of all incumbents seeking re-election—have lost. That’s less than at this point in 2022, when 174, or 4.6%, of incumbents had lost in primaries. Four of the 136 defeated incumbents were legislative leaders: three Republican state senators and one…
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Number of Delaware state legislative incumbents facing primary challengers near average from 2010-2022
Delaware has 13 contested state legislative primaries this year, one less than in 2022 when 14 state legislative primaries were contested. Of the 13 contested primaries, 10 are for Democrats and three are for Republicans. For Democrats, this is one less than in 2022 when there were 11 Democratic primaries. The three Republican primaries are…
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Most contested state legislative primaries in Wyoming this year since at least 2010
Wyoming has 54 contested state legislative primaries on August 20, 2024, the most the state has had since Ballotpedia began tracking in 2010. All contested primaries are Republican primaries, marking a record high for Republicans and a record low for Democrats. About 35.1% of all possible state legislative primaries are contested, the highest percentage since…
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Eighteen states considered legislation to open or close primaries in the first half of 2024
Lawmakers in 18 states considered bills this year that change who may vote in at least some statewide primaries or caucuses. Only one of these bills, Louisiana’s HB 17, was adopted. That bill changes Louisiana’s unique primary system and creates closed primaries for elections for Congress and several state offices, including the state supreme court, beginning…