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!
Latest headlines:
- McDonald Rivet projected winner in Michigan's 8th District Democratic primary
- Marlinga secures a rematch in Michigan's 10th
- Hudson projected to win GOP primary in Michigan's 3rd District
- Will Washington's 6th District get a bipartisan matchup or two Democrats in November?
- Baumgartner advances in Washington's 5th District
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
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
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
Michigan’s 8th is Junge at Heart
The AP projects that Paul Junge will win the GOP primary in Michigan's 8th District for a second time in a row. Junge is outpacing opponent Mary Draves, a former executive at Dow Chemical, 72 to 14 percent, with just 23 percent of the expected vote in. He'll face likely Democratic nominee Kristen McDonald Rivet in the fall.
—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections