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

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

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!


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That’s a wrap!

Election day Tuesday has turned into election hangover Wednesday, so we're calling it a night on our Aug. 6 live blog. Here's a recap of all the races that have been projected so far:

- In the night's marquee race, the Democratic primary for Missouri's 1st District, progressive Rep. Cori Bush became the second "Squad" member this cycle to lose renomination. Backed by millions of dollars from AIPAC, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell won the Democratic nomination and will almost certainly be the district's next congressman.
- In Michigan's Senate race, Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin won her party's nomination and former Rep. Mike Rogers won the GOP primary. The Slotkin-Rogers matchup will represent one of the key contests on the 2024 Senate map in November.
- Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe prevailed in the Republican primary for Missouri governor. He was the most moderate candidate in the field, which also included Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who surprisingly finished in last place despite leading in most polls.
- In the solid-red Missouri 3rd District, state Sen. Bob Onder, who was backed by Trump, prevailed in his race for the Republican nomination and is likely to go on to win the general election in November.
- In Kansas's 2nd District, former state Attorney General Derek Schmidt secured his spot on the ballot this fall — and most likely a seat in Congress in this safe red district. He defeated Shawn Tiffany, a rancher and feedlot owner, and Jeff Kahrs, who's held various positions in both state and federal government.
- In Kansas's 3rd District, oncologist and veteran Prasanth Reddy won the GOP primary but by a narrow margin over Karen Crnkovich. Reddy was endorsed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and outspent Crnkovich 6-to-1. He'll face an uphill battle in the fall against Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids.
- In Michigan's 3rd District, attorney Paul Hudson looks to have defeated financial adviser Michael Markey in the GOP primary. This sets up Hudson to face Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten in what could be a competitive tilt, although Scholten will start as a favorite.
- In Michigan's 8th District, state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet won the Democratic nomination over Army Ranger Matt Collier and State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, while 2022 nominee Paul Junge easily won the GOP primary over former Dow Chemical executive Mary Draves. Junge is hoping that third time's the charm after consecutive losses to Elissa Slotkin in the 7th District and Dan Kildee in the 8th District in 2020 and 2022.
- In Michigan's 10th District, 2022 nominee Carl Marlinga won the Democratic primary, setting up a rematch with Republican Rep. John James in this light-red seat.
- In the Republican primary for Missouri attorney general, incumbent Andrew Bailey prevailed over one of Trump's personal attorneys, Will Scharf.
- The AP has projected that the Washington governor's race will be between Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Republican former Rep. Dave Reichert.
- In Washington's 3rd District, the AP projected Republican Joe Kent and incumbent Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez to be the top two finishers, which means a rematch of 2022, when Gluesenkamp Perez eked out a win.

There are also a handful of races that didn't have projected winners when we put the live blog to bed.

- A slow count in Wayne County, Michigan, home to Detroit, has left us unclear as to who might win the Democratic primary in Michigan's 13th District. Based on the AP's results, Rep. Shri Thanedar leads 52 percent to 34 percent with only 9 percent of the expected vote reporting. But the city of Detroit's unofficial tally has reported a larger number of votes and has the two candidates running almost even. Either way, we're still in the dark.
- In Washington's 4th District, former NASCAR driver Jerrold Sessler leads in the top-two primary with 30 percent, ahead of Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse's 25 percent, with 55 percent of the expected vote reporting. Veterans advocate Tiffany Smiley is in third with about 20 percent. Trump endorsed both Sessler and Smiley here.
In Washington's 6th District, Democratic state Sen. Emily Randall leads the top-two primary with 33 percent with 62 percent of the expected vote reporting. That puts her just ahead of Republican state Sen. Drew MacEwen, who has 31 percent, and Democratic Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, who has 25 percent.
- In Washington's 5th District, the AP projected Republican Michael Baumgartner will advance to the general election, but we are still waiting to see who will finish second. With 57 percent of the expected vote reporting, Democrat Carmela Conroy has 20 percent, while Republican Jaquelin Maycumber has 12 percent.

—Monica Potts, Nathaniel Rakich, Geoffrey Skelley and Tia Yang, 538; Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor; and Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections


McDonald Rivet projected winner in Michigan's 8th District Democratic primary

The AP has projected state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet, who was the favorite in this race, will defeat former Army Ranger Matt Collier and state Board of Education President Pamela Pugh.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor


Final thought: Republican women in open primaries had a bad night

In a few notable races tonight, GOP women's groups put their support behind qualified women in open primaries, but their candidates failed to advance. Leslie Lewallen, a former King County prosecutor, in Washington's 3rd, Mary Draves, a former executive at Dow Chemical, in Michigan's 8th, and Karen Crnkovich, a small business owner, in Kansas's 3rd, were all defeated by men with backing from either Trump or the NRCC. Without more coordination, gender representation of the GOP will continue to skew heavily male, unlike Democrats, who have been adding women to their caucus steadily since 2018.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor


Final thought: It's a different campaign now

My final thoughts for the night are about something we haven't been covering in today's blog: Harris's selection of Minnesota Gov. Walz for her vice-presidential candidate, whom she introduced today at an energetic and crowded rally in Philadelphia. I bring it up because we've been covering a lot of primary nights this year, but as we're heading into the last few months of the campaign, it's a totally different race than what we expected it would be at the top of the ticket.

I have no idea how that's going to affect some of these downballot races, but the general election will provide a different context for every candidate than the one they expected earlier in the year. That's something I'm thinking about that as we go forward and shift toward the general election.

—Monica Potts, 538