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, 11:54 PM EDT

Baumgartner advances in Washington's 5th District

In Washington's 5th District, the AP projects Republican Michael Baumgartner will advance from the primary to the general election. With 56 percent of the expected vote counted, Democrat Carmela Conroy (no relation) is in second with 20 percent of the vote, while Republican Jaquelin Maycumber has 12 percent. We're still waiting on the second candidate to advance in this top-two primary.

This was an open primary, after the incumbent, a Republican woman, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, announced she would not seeking reelection. A couple key GOP women's groups had thrown their endorsement to state Rep. Jaquelin Maycumber in the hopes of keeping the seat in the hands of a Republican woman.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor

Aug 06, 2024, 11:51 PM EDT

Thanedar may be in trouble in Michigan's 13th District

As we've discussed tonight, Wayne County in Michigan has been pretty slow to report results. However, based on the city of Detroit's running vote tally, Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar leads Detroit City Council member Mary Waters only 45.5 percent to 44.9 percent with around 29,000 votes reporting.

Now, what percentage of the expected vote is that? Unclear, but it'd be slightly more than one-third of the 2022 Democratic primary vote in this district. The AP has reported around only 2,000 votes so far, so we don't have that to rely on just yet.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538

Aug 06, 2024, 11:41 PM EDT

Cantwell and Garcia advance in Washington's Senate primary

To nobody's surprise, the AP projects incumbent Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Raul Garcia will advance from the primary to the general election for Senate in Washington. The two were the favorites to advance in this race, and with Cantwell winning 57 percent of the primary vote so far, she should be in a good position to walk away with this solidly blue seat in November.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538

Aug 06, 2024, 11:39 PM EDT

Republican women in open primaries not faring well, today

In Washington's 3rd District and Michigan's 8th District two more Republican women with backing from prominent women's groups are the projected losers — Leslie Lewallen, the former King County Prosecutor, and Mary Draves, a former executive at Dow Chemical. As we reported, through May 21 primaries, just 16 percent of Republicans nominees are women, compared with 41 percent of Democrats. We'll update these numbers soon to see if this partisan gender gap is growing, or not, but these losses don't bode well for increasing the share of women in the GOP conference.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor