Missouri, Michigan, Washington and Kansas primaries 2024: Cori Bush loses

The fields are set for Michigan's Senate and Missouri's governor contests.

By538 Staff via five thirty eight logo
Last Updated: August 6, 2024, 6:01 PM EDT

Three months out from the big November election, around a third of all states had yet to hold (non-presidential) primaries. On Tuesday, Democrats and Republicans in Missouri, Michigan, Washington and Kansas went to the polls to pick which candidates will appear on their ballots in the fall.

The electoral fate of a couple endangered House incumbents hung in the balance on this packed primary day. In Missouri, a progressive "Squad" member was defeated by centrist forces, and in Washington, one of only two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump was challenged by not one but two Trump-endorsed opponents from his right.

Meanwhile, both parties locked in their nominees for Michigan’s critical Senate race, and the outcomes of Republican primary contests are likely to determine Missouri’s next governor and attorney general. In battleground House districts, the fields were set for competitive fall contests, while in safe red and blue districts, ideological lines were drawn as candidates duke it out in primaries tantamount to election.

As usual, 538 reporters and contributors broke down the election results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Check out our full live blog below!

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Aug 06, 2024, 10:33 PM EDT

Checking in on anti-abortion candidates in Missouri

In Missouri, many of the anti-abortion candidates are leading in their races. Hall is leading in the Republican primary in the 1st Congressional District and Schaefer is leading in the 3rd, according to the AP. Wagner was just projected to win in the 2nd district, while Rep. Mark Alford, an incumbent, ran unopposed in the 4th and will go onto the general election. Graves and Smith are projected to win in the 6th and 8th Congressional Districts, respectively.

In the gubernatorial primary, the top three candidates, Kehoe, Eigel and Ashcroft are all anti-abortion, which means whoever prevails will count as a win for the anti-abortion candidates we're tracking.

—Monica Potts, 538

Aug 06, 2024, 10:23 PM EDT

Kehoe is maintaining his lead in Missouri

The AP now estimates that over half the vote is counted in the Republican primary for Missouri governor, and Kehoe is holding onto his early lead — and Ashcroft is still in last place. Specifically, it’s Kehoe 41 percent, Eigel 31 percent, Ashcroft 24 percent. Dozens of counties from all around the state are completely or almost completely done reporting results, so I feel pretty confident that this isn’t an artifact of absentee voting patterns or a regional advantage for Kehoe.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538

Aug 06, 2024, 10:23 PM EDT

Marlinga looking good

We're finally up to 10 percent of the expected vote reporting in Michigan's 10th District, and 2022 nominee Carl Marlinga looks likely to be the Democratic nominee for the second time in a row against GOP Rep. John James. He leads the field with 46 percent. Marlinga did not receive outside support from major Democratic groups in 2022, but lost by only 1,600 votes. The burden will be on him to convince those same players to invest in him against James this time around.

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

Aug 06, 2024, 10:14 PM EDT

St. Louis County gets in on the action

St. Louis County just reported its first tranche of election day votes too, and Bell won it by a margin similar to his districtwide lead. The AP now estimates that 40 percent of the vote is now counted in Missouri’s 1st District, and Bell still leads Bush 55 percent to 42 percent.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538