Voters across Kansas, Missouri, Virginia, Michigan, and Washington headed to the polls on Tuesday, August 4th, 2026, for critical midterm primaries to select Republican and Democratic candidates for the November elections.

Several contests are pivotal in the fight for control of the US Congress, where Democrats aim to flip four Senate seats and three House seats to regain the majority. The primaries also test former President Donald Trump’s influence within the Republican Party and expose growing divisions among Democrats, particularly over issues such as Israel’s war on Gaza and the rise of a progressive faction.

In Kansas, Schwab has become a prominent challenger to Masterson after gaining national attention for defending the integrity of the 2020 elections against Trump’s claims of fraud and breaking with Republicans on voting rights, despite a generally conservative stance. Representative Sharice Davids, the sole Democrat in Kansas’s congressional delegation, seeks a fifth term despite redistricting efforts favoring Republicans.

The race in Kansas attracted significant outside spending from the political arm of the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, which reportedly spent about $3.1 million in July backing Bell and opposing Bush ahead of the primary, according to the Associated Press.

In Washington state, the strongest Republican contender is Trump-endorsed State Senate Minority Leader John Braun. Braun aims to succeed where Republican Joe Kent failed twice, after Kent narrowly won the seat in 2022 and held it again in 2024 by cultivating an independent-minded, working-class image and occasionally breaking with his party.

Other notable developments include a win by Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania energizing the Democrats’ progressive wing, anti-war candidates posing early tests for US Democrats following attacks on Iran, and US Arabs eyeing a historic Senate win for Abdul El-Sayed despite opposition from AIPAC.

These primaries are closely watched as they will influence the November midterm elections and the future balance of power in the US Congress.

Sources