Takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries in Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, Virginia and Washington

2026-08-05T04:27:30.905Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/05/politics/takeaways-michigan-missouri-kansas-virginia-washington-primaries

Votes are being counted in Michigan, where Democratic voters are settling a Senate primary that has become the year’s most significant test of how the party’s electorate is weighing questions of ideology and electability.

Progressive former public health official Abdul El-Sayed faces the more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens in the race to take on Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November. Holding onto the seat, now held by retiring Sen. Gary Peters, is crucial to Democrats’ chances of the net four-seat gain they need in this year’s midterm elections to win a Senate majority.

The race was tight, with many votes left to count, as of early Wednesday morning.

“We knew this was going to be a close race, and that’s exactly what we’ve got,” Stevens told supporters at her campaign headquarters just before 1 am.

In remarks at his headquarters soon after, El-Sayed said he wished he was declaring victory, adding: “There is so much more that unites us than divides us. And so, to all of our supporters here tonight, watching on TV: Tomorrow we begin to mend fences.”

It was the most closely watched race — and one of multiple progressive vs. moderate contests — on Tuesday’s slate of primaries in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state

Voters set the matchups in the governor’s races in Michigan and Kansas. They also chose their nominees in key congressional races in Virginia. And an incumbent Democrat held off a democratic socialist former congresswoman vying to win back her old seat in Missouri.

Here are early takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries:

Progressives were unable to score a win in St. Louis, where moderate Rep. Wesley Bell easily fended off former Rep. Cori Bush, a democratic socialist and one-time member of the “Squad,” in a rematch.

This race, in a district where Black voters make up about half of the electorate, carried plenty of its own hallmarks beyond their ideological divide.

The two had faced off before: Bush defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2020, only to lose the seat in another primary four years later to Bell. And while the two have much different styles — Bush is a progressive brawler; Bell casts himself as a consensus-building problem solver — Bell doesn’t have the same long tenure in Washington that former Rep. Lacy Clay did when Bush ended his 20-year stint in the House in 2020.

There was also no generational-change factor in the race: Bush is 50 and Bell is 51.

| CANDIDATE | VOTES |
| — | — |
| Wesley Bell* Democratic | 59.2% 83,663 |
| Cori Bush Democratic | 36.9% 52,083 |

At least one key November race in Michigan this November will feature a left-wing candidate allied with Bernie Sanders.

Democratic socialist and climate activist William Lawrence won a three-way primary in Michigan’s 7th District, after two more establishment-oriented candidates — former US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Navy SEAL veteran Matt Maasdam — split the rest of the vote.

Lawrence now advances to a place some in the Democratic establishment have worried he might cost them: in a top-targeted race against GOP Rep. Tom Barrett.

Lawrence’s campaign was heavily criticized by the Congressional Black Caucus and even House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, after the Huffington Post published Lawrence’s 2024 remarks saying that Black political leaders “defang the White left.”

The race sets up a rare test of a Sanders-backed, left-wing candidate in a swing race – similar to what El-Sayed would be in the Senate race.

| CANDIDATE | VOTES |
| — | — |
| William Lawrence Democratic | 43.7% 55,007 |
| Bridget Brink Democratic | 28.8% 36,238 |
| Matt Maasdam Democratic | 27.5% 34,677 |

A GOP effort to make ballot measures harder crashes and burns

Republicans keep responding to the success of left-wing ballot measures by asking voters to pass ballot measures that would make ballot measures more difficult.

The problem? Voters keep rejecting these gambits. And Tuesday brought a big rejection — a spectacular one, in fact.

Voters in Missouri overwhelmingly rejected Amendment 4. This was a GOP-led effort to require ballot measures proposed by voters to get a majority of every congressional district in the state. That would greatly increase the threshold for passing such measures, which currently only require a majority of the statewide vote, instead allowing heavily GOP districts to effectively veto them.

As of late Tuesday night, the amendment was receiving just 20% of the vote.

The margin was bigger than usual, but the outcome was familiar. Ohio voters in 2023 rejected by double-digits a GOP effort to raise the threshold for ballot measures to 60%. Similar efforts also failed by huge margins in Arkansas and South Dakota. South Dakota also rejected raising it to 55% back in 2018.

The one recent exception? Arizona, whose voters in 2022 narrowly passed a measure requiring a 60% threshold, but only for raising taxes.

Republicans also failed Tuesday on another ballot measure push, with Kansas voters rejecting an effort to make state Supreme Court justices popularly elected. (As it stands, they are appointed by the governor, and Kansas has elected plenty of Democratic governors despite being a red state.) The move was aimed at trying to overturn a 2019 ruling on abortion rights.

Michigan wasn’t the only place where Democrats were wondering whether they would get the right nominee.

That was also true of the Kansas governor’s race, where state Sen. Cindy Holscher defeated state Sen. Ethan Corson.

Corson had been endorsed by moderate term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly as well as by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and other establishment figures. Holscher, while having something of a moderate record, ran with a more combative, populist style while promising to take Republicans head-on.

While Kansas is a red state, it has elected a number of Democratic governors over the years. Holscher now faces state Senate President Ty Masterson, who easily won the GOP primary with Trump’s endorsement.

| CANDIDATE | VOTES |
| — | — |
| Cindy Holscher Democratic | 48.6% 107,061 |
| Ethan Corson Democratic | 38.8% 85,570 |

The other gubernatorial primaries Tuesday night were in Michigan, and they turned out about as expected. Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson sailed to victory and will face Trump-endorsed GOP Rep. John James. James defeated businessman and former long-shot presidential candidate Perry Johnson.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited.

Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist megachurch pastor who has proven to be a prolific fundraiser, won the Democratic nod to take on Republican Sen. Roger Marshall — giving the party a long-shot chance at picking up a seat as they look for paths to the net four-seat gain they need to win a Senate majority in November.

He’s vying to be the latest example of Kansas occasionally showing a willingness to buck its deep-red reputation in recent years. Kelly twice beat Republicans in the red state during her two runs for governor in 2018 and 2022. And in the immediate wake of the US Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, voters in 2022 overwhelmingly rejected an amendment that said there was no constitutional right to abortion in the state.

Hamilton raised more than $3.6 million in the first two months of his campaign and closed the fundraising period that ended June 30 with $2.6 million in the bank. He bested 10 other Democrats on Tuesday, while Marshall also overcame nominal opposition.

The toughest task for Hamilton could be separating himself from a Democratic Party that is already unpopular in Kansas and rapidly shifting leftward.

To win, he could need huge numbers of voters to split their tickets between the Senate contest and a race for governor that represents potentially the GOP’s best opportunity to pick up a state executive seat in November.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, Hamilton said he doesn’t know that democratic socialists who have knocked off several Democratic incumbents this year have “a momentum across the country.” Kansans, he said, are “centrist people.”

| CANDIDATE | VOTES |
| — | — |
| Adam Hamilton Democratic | 34.9% 76,105 |
| Christy Davis Democratic | 14.2% 30,996 |

Christina Hines wins Democratic primary for competitive US House seat in Michigan, US media projects

2026-08-05 04:16:52 UTC / Reuters

Election workers tabulate absentee ballots at a polling station during the Michigan primary elections, in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., August 4, 2026. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

Aug 5 (Reuters) – Special ​victims prosecutor ‌Christina ​Hines ​won the ⁠Democratic ​nomination ​for a ​competitive ​congressional district in ‌Michigan, ⁠according to ​U.S. ​media.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Reporting ⁠by ​Ananya ​Palyekar ⁠in ⁠Bengaluru; ​Editing ​by Tom ​Hogue

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也门胡塞武装称袭击一艘沙特油轮

2026年8月5日 15:39 / 联合早报

7月27日，一艘商船驶过红海也门哈尼什群岛附近的国际航道。 （法新社）

也门胡塞武装星期三（8月5日）称，袭击了一艘位于红海海域的沙特油轮。

法新社报道，也门胡塞武装发言人萨里在一段视频声明中声称，他们“在红海北部延布（Yanbu）近海，成功用多枚弹道导弹击中了沙特油轮‘瓦法’（Wafa）号”。

这是自上个月胡塞武装宣布对沙特实施海上禁运以来，他们袭击的第八艘船只。

沙特官员尚未对此作出回应。

Socialist tenant organizer who blasted ‘sell-out Democrats’ loses Midwest primary

August 5, 2026 12:52am EDT / Fox News

The Kansas City tenant organizer backed by DSA failed to advance to the general election

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

Jordan Herrera, an attorney, Air Force veteran and former Missouri assistant attorney general, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday in Missouri’s newly redrawn 4th Congressional District, defeating better-funded democratic socialist Hartzell Gray in a seven-way primary.

Herrera prevailed over Gray, the 33-year-old former Kansas City radio host and tenant organizer who drew national attention after appearing on Hasan Piker’s Twitch livestream and blasting “sell-out Democrats.”

The result puts a more conventional Democrat on the November ballot against Republican Rep. Mark Alford in the GOP-leaning district, rather than Gray, who had framed his campaign as a left-wing challenge to the party establishment.

Jordan Herrera is an attorney, Air Force veteran and former Missouri assistant attorney general.(Jordan J Herrera for Congress)

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The new 4th District takes in part of Kansas City before extending south through a broad swath of suburban and rural Missouri. While the map made Alford’s district less Republican than it had been, it remains a solidly GOP seat.

Gray emerged as the clear financial leader in the Democratic field. FEC records showed his campaign had raised about $250,000 through mid-July — more than six times the roughly $40,000 raised by Herrera and far more than Cass, the 2024 Democratic nominee who again sought the seat.

The Kansas City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America said its backing of Gray marked its first endorsement in a federal race. The group praised Gray’s refusal to take money from corporations, developers and lobbying groups, while pointing to his support for universal health care, tenant protections and more progressive taxation.

Then-Sporting Kansas City host Hartzell Gray pumps up the crowd in 2022 during a watch party for the announcement of the FIFA World Cup 2026 host cities at Power & Light District.(Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)

BERNIE SANDERS, DSA REVEAL DEMANDS FOR DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK ELECTIONS

Gray, who has also called for rent controls, Medicare for All and ending the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, has framed his campaign as a rebuke of a Democratic Party he argues has become too closely tied to wealthy donors and corporate interests. The 2010 ruling allowed corporations and unions to spend unlimited sums independently to influence elections.

His appearance on Piker’s show helped turn an otherwise low-profile Missouri primary into a small test case for the party’s socialist left, which has increasingly relied on social media personalities, small-dollar donors and activist networks to build support outside traditional party structures.

HASAN PIKER MAKES AOC HIS 2028 PICK FOR PRESIDENT, SAYS IT’S ‘NOT EVEN A QUESTION’

Gray’s campaign said viewers gave more than $30,000 after the Piker appearance. He later appeared on The Majority Report , another left-leaning online program, as his campaign sought to translate national attention into turnout in Kansas City.

Members of the Democratic Socialists of America gather outside a Trump-owned building on May Day, May 1, 2019, in New York City.(Getty Images)

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The primary also included former Democratic nominee Jeanette Cass, attorney and Air Force veteran Herrera, radio host Randy Miller, Ashleigh Rogers, Wayne Russell and G. Rick.

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美国海关已退回约1000亿美元关税

2026年8月5日 15:59 / 联合早报

7月25日，在美国新泽西州巴约讷的自由港，一艘船从自由女神像前驶过。 （彭博社）

美国海关与边境保护局官员向美国国际贸易法院披露的数据显示，美国海关已退回此前根据美国《国际紧急经济权力法》征收的约1000亿美元（约1281亿新元）关税。

新华社报道，美国海关与边境保护局官员星期二（8月4日）说，超过1280亿美元的关税退款申请已经受理。当前，已退款金额大约占特朗普政府援引该法征收的1650亿美元关税的60%。

根据美国最高法院今年2月的裁定，《国际紧急经济权力法》不授权总统征收大规模关税。

美国国际贸易法院随后下令海关办理相关退款。海关与边境保护局4月20日启动第一阶段退款工作，首批退款于5月11日前后发放。

Democratic Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez and Trump-backed Republican advance in Washington’s 3rd District primary

August 5, 2026 / 1:02 AM EDT / CBS News

By Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican state Sen. John Braun will advance to the general election in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, CBS News projects.

Washington has nonpartisan primaries, with the top two candidates with the most votes appearing on the November ballot. Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun beat seven other candidates to advance.

The race is one of the closest-watched House contests this cycle and will help decide who controls the lower chamber as of early next year. It was one of 13 districts that voted for President Trump in 2024 while also electing a Democrat to the House.

University of Virginia’s Center for Politics rates the race as leans Democratic. The Cook Political Report rates it as a tossup.

Gluesenkamp Perez has represented the district in the southwestern corner of the state since 2023, twice defeating far-right conservative Joe Kent, who went on to become Mr. Trump’s counterterrorism chief before resigning in protest over the Iran war.

The two-term congresswoman has angered the left flank of her party with votes that have helped make her appealing in the rural district. She voted against President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, in favor of military support to Israel and supported a previous version of Mr. Trump’s voting regulations bill, now known as the SAVE America Act.

Mr. Trump endorsed Braun in April, calling Gluesenkamp Perez “a true radical left extremist.”

Braun, a Navy veteran who runs an emergency vehicle manufacturing plant, has served in various leadership roles since his election to the state Senate in 2012.

In a recent interview with local news station KGW, Braun disagreed with Mr. Trump on whether he lost the 2020 election, affirming that Biden won.

“That’s correct,” Braun said when asked to clarify that Biden won.

Braun also criticized Mr. Trump’s sweeping tariffs, saying the “broad, sometimes indiscriminate use of tariffs can be very harmful,” including on his own manufacturing business. He added that there are appropriate uses for the import taxes, such as “when you’re talking about some of the threats from China and from Russia.”

Michael Moore calls El-Sayed the ‘Midwest’s Mamdani moment’

Published 12:33 AM EDT, Wed August 5, 2026 / CNN

Michael Moore calls El-Sayed the ‘Midwest’s Mamdani moment’

Filmmaker Michael Moore believes progressive candidate Abdul el-Sayed is what Michigan needs as a leader in Congress. El-Sayed holds a narrow lead over Congresswoman Haley Stevens in the Democratic Senate primary. Moore says Michigan is ready for a progressive who can bring change and that traditional democrats were “unable to stop Trump twice.” On the heels of several progressive wins in key races, Moore told Laura he’s “very optimistic about what’s going on.”

4:05 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/05/politics/video/michael-moore-calls-el-sayed-the-midwests-mamdani-moment-lcl

Federal appeals court clears way for DeSantis-backed law restricting children at some drag shows

11th Circuit rules venue failed to show it would likely succeed in its First Amendment challenge

August 4, 2026 9:33pm EDT / Fox News

By Jasmine Baehr

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A divided federal appeals court cleared the way for Florida to enforce a Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed law restricting children from certain sexually explicit live performances, including drag performances the state argues are obscene for minors.

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled Tuesday 8-5 that Orlando restaurant Hamburger Mary’s had not shown it was likely to succeed in its First and Fourteenth Amendment challenge to Florida’s Protection of Children Act.

The court vacated the preliminary injunction in full and sent the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida for further proceedings. The ruling clears the way for enforcement, though Hamburger Mary’s could still seek additional review.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier celebrated the decision in a post on X.

DESANTIS SHUTS DOWN FLORIDA SCHOOL’S ‘DRAG & DONUTS’ EVENT FEATURING DRAG QUEEN ‘MOMMA’ ASHLEY ROSE: REPORT

Florida AG James Uthmeier, center, touted Tuesday’s decision in a post on X.(Rich Pope/Getty Images, File)

“Huge victory for our team at the 11th Circuit! After 3 years of litigation, the full court affirmed the constitutionality of Florida’s ban on children attending sexualized drag shows,” Uthmeier wrote.

The law makes it a misdemeanor to “knowingly admit a child to an adult live performance,” according to the court’s opinion.

The law defines an “adult live performance” as a live show that “depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or specific sexual activities … lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts” and that also predominantly appeals to a “prurient, shameful, or morbid interest,” is “patently offensive” for the age of the child present and, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for that child’s age.

Writing for the court, Judge Andrew Brasher called the law “a straightforward regulation of obscenity.”

“Preventing children from attending adult live performances obscene for them is rationally related to Florida’s interest in safeguarding the well-being of minors,” Brasher wrote.

TIKTOK IN LEGAL HOT SEAT AS STATE ACCUSES APP OF EXPOSING KIDS TO HARMFUL CONTENT WHILE MISLEADING PARENTS

A drag performer in Miami.(Getty Images, File)

The majority rejected Hamburger Mary’s arguments that the terms “lewd” and “the age of the child present” made the law unconstitutionally vague or overly broad.

Brasher wrote that Florida Supreme Court precedent limits the meaning of “lewd” to sexual conduct. He also wrote that all three parts of the law’s obscenity test must be met before a performance is prohibited.

The majority also ruled that using an age-variable standard did not make the law unconstitutional on its face.

Eight judges agreed that Hamburger Mary’s was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its constitutional claims. Six judges joined Brasher’s opinion in full, while Judges Kevin Newsom and Britt Grant joined all but the section addressing universal injunctions.

Grant wrote separately that the court did not need to rule on the scope of the injunction after deciding that Hamburger Mary’s was unlikely to succeed on the merits.

Five judges dissented.

FIRED SCHOOL COUNSELOR LOSES AGAIN AFTER FREE SPEECH FIGHT OVER GENDER-THEMED BOOKS IN HIS OFFICE

A drag queen performs onstage in Miami.(Getty Images, File)

Judge Robin Rosenbaum argued that the law forces venues to guess which performances are suitable for children of different ages while exposing operators to criminal penalties, fines and the possible loss of a business license.

“Today our Court embraces mess-around-and-find-out (‘MAFO’) First Amendment jurisprudence,” Rosenbaum wrote.

She argued that the law could chill protected speech by forcing businesses to risk prosecution before learning how officials would apply it.

Rosenbaum also argued that the statute effectively imposes strict liability over a child’s age and could expose violators to jail, fines and the loss of a business license.

US MONITORING ‘CONCERNING’ UK PROSECUTION OF RETIRED PASTOR WHO PREACHED JOHN 3:16 NEAR HOSPITAL

People take in a drag performance in Orlando, Fla.(Getty Images, File)

She wrote that the law “wields a Titanic-sized iceberg of chilling power against protected speech.”

Judge Nancy Abudu filed a separate dissent focused on the law’s legislative history.

Abudu argued that comments from the law’s supporters, along with warnings from legislative staff, supported Hamburger Mary’s claim that the measure would chill protected drag performances.

The majority rejected that argument, writing that courts generally do not strike down an otherwise constitutional law based on an alleged improper legislative motive.

INDIANA REPUBLICAN SENATOR MOVES TO BLOCK KIDS FROM ACCESSING PORN ONLINE

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks with reporters at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee.(Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, File)

The majority also wrote that nothing in the law targets performances simply because they feature drag.

Hamburger Mary’s filed the lawsuit in 2023 after Florida enacted the measure.

The restaurant said it had previously hosted Sunday drag performances advertised as family-friendly but canceled those shows and barred minors from its other performances because it feared enforcement.

[image_10]

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A federal district judge initially issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law. A divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit affirmed that decision before the full court agreed to rehear the case.

DeSantis’ and Uthmeier’s offices, as well as the ACLU of Florida, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Jasmine Baehr is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, legal debates surrounding life and family policy, as well as faith and culture.

Trump-backed candidate lands GOP nod, setting up high-stakes governor showdown

August 4, 2026 10:27pm EDT / Fox News

The two-time Senate nominee will face Democrat Jocelyn Benson in the race to succeed Gov Gretchen Whitmer

By Paul Steinhauser , Luke Trevisan, Fox News

Every ‘patriot’ needs to stand up for what’s right, Michigan gubernatorial candidate says

Michigan gubernatorial candidate Rep. John James, R-Mich., discusses the race ahead of the GOP primary and the influence of democratic socialists on ‘Fox News Live.’

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President Donald Trump’s kingmaker status in Republican primaries was on the line Tuesday in Michigan’s GOP gubernatorial nomination showdown – and the president passed the test.

Republican Rep. John James, a two-time U.S. Senate nominee in the crucial Great Lakes battleground state who was endorsed by Trump in late June, topped multimillionaire businessman Perry Johnson to win the GOP primary, the Associated Press reported.

The West Point graduate and Army Ranger who served multiple combat tours as an Apache helicopter pilot in the Iraq war will face off in a high-stakes and expensive general election battle with two-term Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Democrats’ gubernatorial nominee, in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

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Rep. John James of Michigan, a Republican candidate for governor, speaks to a voter at a campaign event in Harrison Township, Michigan, on August 3, 2026.(Luke Trevisan/Fox News)

James preached party unity in his victory speech.

“The primary is over now. We come together. One team, one fight, one mission to save Michigan. To those who supported me. Thank you. And for those who did not, I’m going to work every single day to earn your trust,” he told supporters.

The GOP primary between James and Johnson, a former gubernatorial and presidential candidate, turned combative. Johnson, who is White, referred to James, one of the few Black Republicans in Congress, as a “DEI candidate” and in a recent debate accused James of playing the “race card.” James, meanwhile, called Johnson “desperate.”

Johnson, who shelled out millions of his own money into his campaign, dramatically outspent James in the primary showdown.

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson campaigns on eve of the Michigan primary at a campaign event on August 3, 2026 in Novi, Michigan.(Luke Trevisan/Fox News)

But James told Fox News on the eve of the primary that “nobody outworks a ranger,” and “money isn’t the only thing. People want someone who resonates with them, someone who has the proven leadership capability to turn the state around.”

James and Johnson were the final two Republican candidates in a nomination race that previously included former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox and state Senate Republican leader Aric Nesbitt. They both suspended their GOP gubernatorial campaigns, but their names remained on the primary ballot.

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Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is running for governor in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.(Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Trump gave James a boost last month as he campaigned with the congressman at a rally in Michigan.

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries this spring and summer, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Kentucky and Texas, as well as the Louisiana primary.

But Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped in early June when his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Trump-backed candidates won two of the three top races in key GOP primary runoff elections in Georgia and Alabama in June, with the one setback coming against billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, who shelled out over $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign.

President Donald Trump, center, and GOP Senate candidate former Rep. Mike Rogers, left, listen as Rep. John James, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks at an event at the General Motors Proving Ground Monday, July 27, 2026, in Milford, Mich.(Paul Sancya/AP Photo)

A week later, Trump-backed first-time candidate Anthony Constantino, a businessman and former boxer, defeated Robert Smullen, a retired Marine Corps colonel and New York assemblyman who had the backing of the state party, in the upstate New York race to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.

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Meanwhile, in South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial runoff, Trump couldn’t lose.

That’s because, besides backing Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette a few weeks earlier, he also gave a last-minute endorsement to state Attorney General Alan Wilson, who ended up winning the late June showdown in a landslide.

The president also enjoyed victory in Louisiana, where Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, was ousted as he sought renomination. Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow ended up winning the nomination in the runoff election.

And last month, Trump-backed Rep. Andy Biggs, a former House Freedom Caucus chair, won Arizona’s primary for governor in a landslide.

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News

First polls close as socialist insurgents eye Midwest gains in Dem civil war

The power of President Donald Trump’s endorsements in GOP primaries faces new tests Tuesday in key nomination battles

2026-08-04 8:00pm EDT / Fox News

By Paul Steinhauser, Andrew Mark Miller, Luke Trevisan Fox News

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed shrugs off Haley Stevens’ establishment endorsements: ‘Endorsements don’t vote. People vote.’

Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan takes questions from Fox News in the final stretch ahead of Tuesday’s high-stakes primary in the Great Lakes battleground state.https://www.foxnews.com/video/6402685079112

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The polls are now closed in Kansas, Missouri, and most of Michigan, three of the five states from coast-to-coast holding primary elections on Tuesday.

The biggest spotlight is on Michigan, where the high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party is front-and-center.

Boosted by a string of victories this spring in mostly blue congressional districts across the country, the Democrats’ ideological war moves to the Great Lakes battleground state, where progressive victories could reshape the party and endanger must-hold seats in the midterm elections.

Also at stake as Michigan, Kansas, Missouri join Virginia and Washington State in holding mid-summer primaries is President Donald Trump’s immense clout over the GOP and the power of his endorsements in Republican nominating contests.

But taking top billing is Michigan’s divisive and expensive Democratic Senate primary, which is seen as the biggest stage to date in the fierce fight for the future of the Democratic Party.

THE MIDTERM SENATE RACES THAT COULD FLIP THE BALANCE OF POWER IN CONGRESS

Rep. Haley Stevens pushes back on electability attacks as Sen. Gary Peters says she’s Democrats’ best shot in Michiganhttps://www.foxnews.com/video/6402686759112

“This is ground zero in the battle for the future of the Democratic Party, pitting status quo corporate Democrats against shake up the system economic fighters, and we’ll see who wins,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading group on the left, told Fox News Digital.

The primary face-off pits Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County Health Department director, against Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate candidate backed by the establishment. The race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is backing Stevens, is a must-hold for the Democrats and one of roughly a dozen Senate races from coast to coast that will determine if Republicans hold onto their slim Senate majority.

Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, told Fox News Digital the Michigan showdown is “the first time the left is competing for a swing seat” and warned, “the significance is it could really put this seat in jeopardy.”

El-Sayed, who, if elected, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator, is an epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018. He has made support for “Medicare-for-all” a major component of his campaign.

The far-left candidate has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and is a vocal critic of Israel amid its war with Hamas — even characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians.

MIKE ROGERS ARGUES ABDUL EL-SAYED IS ‘A SPECIAL SAUCE OF CRAZY’

Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, speaks to supporters at a campaign event on Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

And El-Sayed, who is backed by top far-left leaders and teamed with progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on the Michigan campaign trail two weeks ago, and who served as a top surrogate on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has vowed not to accept PAC donations.

Stevens, who flipped a GOP-held district in her 2018 election to Congress, is backed by top national and Michigan Democrats, including Peters, term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer.

Schumer and the party establishment view Stevens as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments.

“I am the best Democrat to go forward. I am the only person in this race who has won tough primaries multiple times. You know, running with the Michigan grit, resilience and determination,” Stevens told Fox News Digital on Sunday, as she teamed up with Peters on the campaign trail.

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Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, right, and retiring Sen. Gary Peters, at a campaign rally on Aug. 2, 2026, in Madison Heights, Michigan.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Over $80 million has been spent on the primary showdown, making it the most expensive Democratic Senate nomination race in history. Much of the money has been shelled out by outside groups in support of Stevens and against El-Sayed. The biggest spending comes from United Democracy Project, a political action committee aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

El-Sayed, who has repeatedly attacked Stevens over the massive infusion of AIPAC-linked money, told reporters on Sunday, “If you need $70 million to come in here and help get you elected, then the question has to be, are you actually electable on your own terms.”

The winner will face off in the midterms against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who is on a glidepath to win the GOP Senate nomination.

The Trump-backed Rogers, who lost the 2024 Senate election in Michigan by a razor-thin margin, said in a Fox News Digital interview that he doesn’t care whom he faces off with in November.

“It doesn’t matter to us. We’ve looked at both candidates. We feel confident we’re going to beat either one of those candidates that come out of that race,” Rogers highlighted.

And Rogers claimed, “They are very radical, and they are way too extreme for Michigan. I mean, Abdul, he has his own special sauce of crazy.”

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Michigan GOP Senate hopeful Mike Rogers says he’d beat either Democrat, blasts rivals as ‘too extreme’https://www.foxnews.com/video/6402686175112

But Democrats are confident they can regroup after a combustible primary.

“Let’s make sure that anyone but Mike Rogers gets to the United States Senate,” Stevens told reporters on Sunday. “After the primary, you’re going to see a united Democratic Party. You are going to see us going full force, full fledged ahead.”

And El-Sayed told Fox News Digital, “I think we all understand the risk of Donald Trump. We all understand the risk of Mike Rogers.”

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed says he’ll unite party against Trump, Rogers after combustible primaryhttps://www.foxnews.com/video/6402684489112

The left-wing versus establishment battle is also playing out in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, a key Republican-controlled swing seat race that’s among roughly two-dozen that will impact whether the GOP holds onto its fragile House majority.

William Lawrence, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, which advocates for political action to tackle climate change, is on the rise against two more moderate Democrats. Lawrence is backed by Sanders and El-Sayed, as well as some top progressive groups. The primary winner will face GOP Rep. Tom Barrett in the general election.

The party civil war is also on display in Michigan’s deep blue 13th Congressional District.

MEET THE FAR LEFT INSURGENTS WAGING WAR ON THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN THE 2026 MIDTERMS

Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney rallied over the weekend in his bid to unseat Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., on Aug. 2, 2026.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)

Rep. Shri Thanedar, who is supported by top House Democratic leaders, is being challenged by state Rep. Donovan McKinney, who is backed by Sanders, El-Sayed, and “Squad” members Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.

And the ideological warfare is also front-and-center in Missouri, in the state’s St. Louis-based and heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District.

Rep. Wesley Bell is facing off in a rematch against former Rep. Cori Bush, a Squad member who Bell ousted in the 2024 primary.

Former Rep. Cori Bush is mounting a comeback bid to retake her seat in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District.(Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Trump’s endorsements are getting tested in two statewide showdowns on Tuesday, in Michigan and Kansas.

The president is backing Rep. John James in Michigan’s GOP gubernatorial primary. James, a West Point graduate and one-time Republican rising star, is facing off against multi-millionaire businessman Perry Johnson, a former gubernatorial and presidential candidate.

The winner will take on likely Democratic nominee and current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in the race to succeed Whitmer.

In Kansas, Trump is supporting state Senate President Ty Masterson in a crowded field of Republican gubernatorial contenders.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited, which makes the race to succeed her a top flip opportunity for the GOP.

In Washington State, the marquee primary showdown is in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, where Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a former auto shop co-owner, is facing a crowded field of challengers from both parties.

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Washington state has a top-two primary system in which all candidates, regardless of party, compete on the same ballot and the two highest vote-getters move on to the general election.

The race is another crucial House showdown that may decide the chamber’s majority.

In Virginia, voters head to the polls to cast ballots in Senate primaries and in a handful of House primaries in extremely competitive districts that may impact the balance of power on Capitol Hill.

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News