April 29, 2026 Insider: Primaries Are Back

After a brief lull, primary season is kicking into high gear in May. We’ve got a rundown of the most competitive federal and state races below, plus a snapshot of where candidates stand after this month’s Q1 fundraising deadline.

But first, a last call for tomorrow’s Pre-Primary State Legislative Zoom.

Tomorrow: Pre-Primary State Legislative Zoom

This year, Democrats have the opportunity to flip or hold 15 competitive state legislative chambers, break GOP supermajorities, and build a base for future gains, from the more than 6,000 districts in play across 88 chambers.

Right now, we’re focused on 10 where women can make the biggest impact:

Arizona Sen. Kiana Maria Sears (Hold, LD-09)
Arizona educator Rockee Armstrong (Flip, LD-13)
Minnesota Sen. Judy Seeberger (Hold, SD-41)
Georgia nonprofit leader Laura Murvartian (Flip, SD-48)
Georgia immigration advocate Michelle Kang (Flip, HD-99)
Michigan doctor Theresa Brooks (Flip, SD-09)
North Carolina small business owner Jessica Bichler, (Flip, SD-07)
Ohio US Army veteran Shelby Kimball, (Flip, HD-60)
Pennsylvania land use attorney Brittany Bloam (Flip, HD-45)
Wisconsin state Rep. Robyn Vining, (Flip, SD-05)

We’ve also secured a generous match for $10,000 in donations to this Zoom event, thanks to one of our Electing Women Alliance members. Please join us tomorrow. More details below.

Date: Thursday, April 30
Time: 4 PM PDT / 7 PM EDT (via Zoom)
Suggested donation: $250.
Cohosts: Electing Women Alliance, WomenCount, Electing Women Wisconsin, EMILY’s List, The First Ask, MI List, Arizona List, LEAD Ohio and Women in Clean Energy
Link provided upon RSVP

And check out our prospectus to learn more about each candidate and district.

US Senate: May is for Men, Apparently

There is one Democratic US Senate primary featuring women worth watching, though it won’t be competitive in the general election:

Kentucky (May 19): US Sen. Mitch McConnell’s retirement set off a flurry of candidacies on both sides of the aisle. Retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Amy McGrath and state House Minority Leader Rep. Pamela Stevenson—both of whom have run for US Senate before—are the only women in this race, though both are running behind state Rep. Charles Booker, who has also run before. On the Republican side, US Rep. Andy Barr and former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron are neck-and-neck. Cook Rating: Solid Republican.

The three most competitive races feature only men:

Ohio (May 5): Former US Sen. Sherrod Brown is facing a nominal challenge in the primary to take on incumbent Republican Sen. John Husted in the general election. Cook Rating: Toss Up.
Georgia (May 19): The Republican primary in this race to unseat incumbent Democratic US Sen. Jon Ossoff features four Republicans, though the race is largely between Rep. Mike Collins (GA-10) and Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01). Cook Rating: Lean Democrat.
Texas (May 26): The primary runoff to determine who will face state Rep. James Talarico in the general election—incumbent Republican Rep. John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton—is finally here.

Men are also dominating the US Senate fundraising game.

Toss Up Races: Brown and Graham Platner (ME) are at $24.4 million and $12 million raised for the cycle, respectively, while the most comparable non-incumbent women—US Rep. Haley Stevens (MI), state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (MI) and Platner’s primary opponent, Gov. Janet Mills—are $8.9 million, $8.6 million and $5.4 million for the cycle, respectively.
Lean Democrat: There are only Democratic men in this less-competitive category, and yet they are some of the top fundraisers, with Ossoff at $57.3 million for the cycle and former Gov. Roy Cooper (NC) at $26.8 million. Chris Pappas (NH) is at $9.9 million.
Lean Republican: Former US Rep. Mary Peltola (AK) is the only Democratic challenger currently in this category. She has raised $8.7 million for the cycle.

📈Latest US Senate Polls

💵Latest US Senate Fundraising

News Clips

Dem Odds of Taking Senate Increase as Four Ratings Shift [Cook Political Report]

Democrats could actually retake the Senate [Washington Post]

Democrats Are Obsessed With the Wrong Senate Races [Politico]

In AK U.S. Senate race, Peltola takes aim at ‘crooked’ political elites [AK Public Media]

Abdul El-Sayed, Mallory McMorrow Tied for Lead in Senate Primary [Emerson]

Janet Mills has stopped running ads in her US Senate primary [Bangor Daily News]

Ken Paxton leads John Cornyn by 8 percentage points [Houston Public Media]

US House: Women Dominate in Competitive Contests

Competitive US House primaries are concentrated in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas (runoffs), though we will be watching Ohio to see which Republicans will face vulnerable incumbent US Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Emilia Sykes.

Jasmine Clark (GA-13): A slew of younger candidates, including Clark—a current state Representative—are vying for this now-open seat. Incumbent Democratic US Rep. David Scott passed away last week. Polling had her barely trailing Scott, though the race is likely to shift now.
Carol Obando-Derstine (PA-07, May 19): This is a crowded primary to flip the seat currently held by US Rep. Ryan Mackenzie. Obando-Derstine is tied for second place according to polls.
Julie Johnson (TX-33): Johnson will face former US Rep. Colin Allred in the runoff for this redrawn district. She is technically the incumbent but is struggling for name ID among new constituents. The latest poll had her down by double digits.
Maureen Galindo (TX-35): The San Antonio councilor will face sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia in this redrawn, newly competitive Democratic seat. With 29 percent, Galindo came out ahead in the primary among four candidates, versus 27 percent for Garcia.

A majority of toss up congressional races feature women, and it shows in fundraising, where women are still holding their own, though some lagging behind men is starting to show.

In the 17 races rated Toss Up by the Cook Political Report, leading female candidates raised on average $950,000 in Q1, while leading male candidates raised $1 million. The difference expanded slightly from 2025 Q4, when the average raise for both groups was $950,000.

Women are still outpacing men overall for the cycle, with the average raise being $1.1 million for men in toss up races versus $2.3 million for women. This gap isn’t driven by incumbency; when you take them out, the average is still $2.1 million for women and $1.1 for men. There are simply more women running in extremely competitive races, and it shows in the fundraising numbers.

📈Latest US House Polls

💵Latest US House Fundraising

News Clips

Democrats Are Dominating Fundraising in Critical Congressional Contests [NOTUS]

Josh Shapiro tests his clout in trying to flip US House seats in Pennsylvania [CNN]

Five Republican candidates running for Ohio’s 9th CD [Ohio Capital Journal]

Allred outraises Johnson in 33rd District race [Axios]

How Maureen Galindo went from housing activist to TX35 runoff [San Antonio Report]

Scott’s rivals take a break from politics after the longtime congressman’s death upends the election [GA Recorder]

State & Local: Statewide Wins, with More to Come?

Positive signs for this fall’s midterm elections continued this month, when Democrats notched two major statewide victories:

First, on April 7, appellate Judge Chris Taylor beat her Republican opponent in the race for Wisconsin’s open Supreme Court seat, expanding the liberal majority from 4-3 to 5-2. Taylor finished with 60 percent of the vote, a 10 point swing toward Democrats from prior Supreme Court elections, despite the race drawing less money and less media attention.
Then, on April 21, Virginians voted to temporarily redistrict their Congressional map, potentially netting Democrats four new seats in this year’s midterm elections. We’re now watching three new districts featuring women—Commonwealth’s Attorney for Henrico County Shannon Taylor in VA-5 (Solid R → Likely D); author Beth Macy in VA-6 (Solid R → Likely D); and state Rep. Adele McClure (HD-2) and former Virginia First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe in VA-7 (Lean D → Likely D)—in addition to former Rep. Elaine Luria in VA-2 (Toss Up → Lean D).

The major statewide election we’ll be watching next month is Georgia’s primary election for governor. Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is the frontrunner on the Democratic side, with polling showing her consistently leading all of her primary challengers by double digits. If she doesn’t get a majority, however, she’ll face the runner up in a run-off on June 16. Cook Political rates this race a toss up in the general election.

We’ll also be watching turnout in the Ohio gubernatorial primary, although former Ohio Department of Health director Amy Acton has no primary.

State legislative races we’ll be watching closely:

*Laura Murvartian (GA SD-48): Laura ran for HD-48 in 2024 but came up short. Now, she’s trying again in an R+3 state Senate seat, but first she’ll face a competitive primary.
Beth Fuller (GA HD-53): Beth is a former contractor for the Centers for Disease Control. The Republican incumbent won this seat 50 to 48 percent in 2024. She’s facing software engineer Tim Dorr in the primary.
*Michelle Kang (GA HD-99): In 2024, Michelle came within 2.2 percent of flipping this district, just 621 votes short. Now, she’s running again, but will have to face architectural engineer Shelly John Abraham in the primary.
*Shelby Kimball (OH HD-60): Ohio Democrats need six seats to break a Republican supermajority, and this is one of the most competitive seats. Kimball has one primary opponent, construction trainer Eli Wenzel.
Whittney Wood (OH HD-53): This is a reach district Republicans won with nearly 60 percent in 2024, but local activists think it could be much closer this year. Whittney is facing software engineer Andrew Foltz in the primary.
Brittany Bloam (PA HD-45): This is a lean Democratic seat currently held by a woman who’s retiring. Brittany is in a competitive primary with Allegheny County Council Member Patrick Catena Jr. She’ll be featured during our Pre-Primary State Legislative Zoom.
Jessica McClay (PA HD-121): This is an open, lean Democratic seat that would be a flip for women. Wilkes-Barre City Council Chairwoman Jessica McClay will face emergency medical technician Michael Stadulis in the primary.
Montserrat Garibay (TX HD-49): She’s running to fill this safe Democratic seat currently held by Texas governor nominee Gina Hinojosa. Garibay is a former US Department of Education assistant deputy secretary.

And in a last bit of sad news, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald lost her bid to become Michigan’s Democratic attorney general nominee after delegates at the state’s nominating convention selected her opponent. You may remember McDonald was a guest and speaker at last year’s convening.

📈Latest Governor Polls