{"id":6333,"date":"2026-08-04T22:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=6333"},"modified":"2026-08-04T22:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:30:08","slug":"us-midterm-primary-elections-live-updates-high-stakes-michigan-senate-race-among-key-contests-in-five-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=6333","title":{"rendered":"US midterm primary elections live updates: High-stakes Michigan Senate race among key contests in five states"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good evening. In Michigan<\/a>, voters are casting ballots in a Democratic primary that has become a high-stakes test of the party\u2019s future. Polls close at 8 p.m. local time.<\/p>\n

Michigan is one of five states holding primary elections today, along with Kansas, Virginia, Washington and Missouri<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Voters in Michigan are choosing between Abdul El-Sayed<\/strong>, a progressive former public health official, and representative Haley Stevens<\/strong>, a centrist backed by Democratic leaders.<\/p>\n

The race has become the Democratic Party\u2019s most expensive and contentious Senate primary, with Stevens benefiting from more than $60m in outside spending from super PACs backing her campaign. Still, recent polls gave El-Sayed a slight lead as voting got underway today.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers are laser-focused on the race\u2019s outcome as it serves as a gauge of whether Democratic voters favor a more progressive, anti-establishment vision or a centrist path heading into the November midterm elections.<\/p>\n

In Kansas, the race is on to replace governor Laura Kelly<\/strong> as she leaves office due to term limits. Three Democrats<\/a> are pitted against each other for the role of Kansas governor, while Republican candidates include current secretary of state Scott Schwab<\/strong>, senate president and Trump-endorsed Ty Masterson<\/strong> and insurance commissioner Vicki Schmidt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Missouri, voters are deciding a slate of high-profile primary races and constitutional ballot measures. The most closely watched contest is a Democratic House primary rematch between incumbent Wesley Bell<\/strong> and progressive former representative Cori Bush<\/strong>, while voters are also considering multiple statewide amendments, including one that would phase out the income tax.<\/p>\n

Virginians are choosing nominees, in a delayed manner, for a US Senate race and several congressional districts after redistricting pushed back the election schedule. Democrats see two House seats<\/strong> as their best opportunities to help flip<\/strong> in November as they try to regain control of the US House. Republicans<\/a>, meanwhile, are choosing their nominee to challenge Democratic senator Mark Warner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Moving on to Washington state<\/a>, Democratic representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez<\/strong> is seeking a third term to represent the third congressional district, where she faces several challengers in the primary, including Republican state Senate minority leader John Braun<\/strong>, who has received President Trump\u2019s endorsement. Washington state has a top-two primary system in which all candidates compete on the same ballot and the two highest vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good evening. In Michigan, voters are casting ballots in a Democratic primary that has become a high-stakes test<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6336,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6333\/revisions\/6336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}