March 30, 2026 Insider: Seeds of Victory

The first primaries of this election cycle are a wrap, and we once again saw multiple successes for women, and good signs for Democrats heading into the midterms. We’ll run through the results, plus preview the next round of congressional primaries.

🗓️The Downballot’s 2026 election calendar

Announcing our new Advisory Board

As part of the expansion and growth of the Electing Women Alliance and WomenCount that has marked our 10th anniversary, we are pleased to share the formation of a national Advisory Board.

This structure was designed in partnership with an external consulting firm to meet our evolving needs and to reflect best practices from peer political and advocacy organizations. In its launch phase, the Advisory Board will be providing guidance and support on strategic planning, financial oversight, and operational fundraising.

The new Board, which held its first meeting earlier this month, will be chaired by Jamie Van Horne, executive director of Electing Women Seattle. Other members include Elizabeth Bray (EW Texas), Shannon Hunt-Scott (EWBA), Gretchen Sisson (EWBA), and Cathy Solomon (EWNCR).

They are all fixtures within the EWA community—regulars at Convening and on our national Zooms—and were selected with their specific skills and expertise in mind. You can read more about them on the new Advisory Board section of our Electing Women Alliance and WomenCount web sites. We will add members incrementally over the next two years so as to ensure Board terms are staggered over time. We are excited about this new chapter in our evolution and grateful to these leaders in our community who have further stepped up to support our work in this way.

US Senate: Women Make History

After a hard-fought election, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton handily won Illinois’s Democratic US Senate primary. The final vote was Lt. Gov. Stratton with 40 percent, US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi with 33 percent, and US Rep. Robin Kelly with 18 percent. Let’s dive a little deeper into these results.

Urban versus rural: According to a geographic analysis from the New York Times, Stratton dominated in urban and suburban areas, while Krishnamoorthi pulled more votes in rural areas.
Outside spending: Crypto money was especially toxic in this race; one pro-cryptocurrency super PAC spent $9.6 million dollars against Stratton. Gov. JB Pritzker’s super PAC in turn spent $15 million supporting her.
Turnout bump: Total turnout statewide was up 50 percent from the 2022 midterms, with that bump holding down-ballot. This could be a result of so many open seats, though other March primary states saw similar increases in Democratic turnout versus 2022.

We will not see another competitive Democratic US Senate primary featuring a viable woman until Maine on June 9, so it’s good to have this win early in the season.

📈Latest US Senate Polls

💵Latest US Senate Fundraising

News Clips

Getting Deeper into Texas and North Carolina’s Primaries [Sabato’s Crystal Ball]

Five takeaways from the March 2026 Texas primaries [The Texas Tribune]

IL Senate Primary Features Millions in Outside Spending [The American Prospect]

The Uneven Rise Of Women In The U.S. Senate [The Chicago Crusader]

A millennial showdown in Michigan’s high-stakes US Senate race [Bridge Michigan]

Warren jumps into Democratic primary battles across the country [NBC News]

In attacking Graham Platner, Maine Gov. Janet Mills hopes women will energize her U.S. Senate bid [Maine Public Radio]

US House: Runoffs & Safe Seat Dems

March’s US House primaries have mostly given us results in safe, open Democratic seats, though a few races in Texas will be competitive in the general election. Plus, there are several Texas runoffs happening on May 26.

Competitive

In TX-15, Tejano musician Bobby Pulido defeated physician Ada Cuellar. He will take on incumbent GOP US Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the general election.
In TX-23—whose current US Rep. Tony Gonzales dropped out after revelations of an affair—extreme MAGA candidate Brandon Herrera will face attorney Katy Padilla Stout in the general election.
In TX-35, San Antonio City Councilor Maureen Galindo will head into a primary runoff with Bexar County Deputy Johnny Garcia for this open seat formerly held by Democratic US Rep. Greg Casar, who was redistricted out.

Safe D

TX-30, which is US Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s current safe seat, is on track to be held by pastor and activist Frederick Haynes.
In TX-33, incumbent US Rep. Julie Johnson will go into a runoff with former US Rep. Colin Allred, though with 34 percent of the vote to Allred’s 45 percent, she is the underdog.
In IL-2, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller handily beat former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. for this seat currently held by US Rep. Robin Kelly. Notably, AIPAC played big in several Illinois races, including IL-2 and IL-8, which has concerned many Democratic voters and activists.
In IL-8, former US Rep. Melissa Bean defeated progressive insurgent Junaid Ahmed to retake the seat she held until 2011, and that is currently held by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi.
In IL-4, another woman, Patty García—former aide to Rep. Jesús ‘Chuy’ García—won an uncontested primary for her former boss’s seat. The race was uncontested because Rep. García waited until the filing deadline to announce his retirement, giving his staffer a leg up. There are, however, left-leaning independent challengers in the general election, including the Executive Director at Building Back Together, Mayra Macías.

Looking ahead, the next state with multiple Democratic primaries for competitive seats will be Pennsylvania (PA-7, PA-8 and PA-10) on May 19. There’s also NE-2—an open seat Democrats are hoping to flip—on May 12. We’ll have more info about those races in April’s Insider.

📈Latest US House Polls

💵Latest US House Fundraising

News Clips

It Wouldn’t Take Much for 2026 to be a Big Year for House Incumbent Primary Defeats [Sabato’s Crystal Ball]

Democratic turnout doubles in Rio Grande Valley [The Texas Tribune]

Supreme Court preserves only GOP-held congressional district in NYC [PBS]

Democrats’ lead for Congress has narrowed [YouGov]

House retirements tied for most this century [Axios]

State & Local: Don’t Forget Wisconsin

While Congressional primaries won’t really start popping until later in the summer, May will see two major gubernatorial primaries:

Ohio: Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health, is the presumptive Democratic nominee to likely face Vivek Ramaswamy, who is the frontrunner on the Republican side. The seat is open; Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is term limited. The election is May 5.
Georgia: Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is the only viable woman in the seven-person Democratic primary. She’s leading the polls comfortably. Former state Sen. Jason Esteves is leading in fundraising, while former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan—who switched parties to run in the Democratic primary—also presents a formidable challenge. The Republican race is more fluid, though healthcare executive Rick Jackson currently leads in polling. Georgia has runoff elections if the winner does not win a majority, so the May 19 primary may not be conclusive.

And there’s one more major state election —on April 7, when Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judges Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar will face off for a Supreme Court seat left open by the retirement of Justice Rebecca Bradley, who is a member of the Court’s conservative minority.

A win for Judge Taylor will increase the Court’s liberal majority to 5-2 from 4-3.

In 2023, Roe v. Wade’s overturning drove a huge upset that broke the conservative majority and elevated Justice Janet Protasiewicz. In 2025, a retirement from the liberal wing drove the most expensive judicial election in American history, preserving the liberal majority and elevating Justice Susan Crawford.

There has been less buzz for this race, but it’s still critically important if you’d like to donate to Taylor’s campaign.

📈Latest Governor Polls