Incumbents in both parties are under pressure in the first 2026 midterm primaries, as voters in North Carolina, Texas and Arkansas weigh in on the debates within their parties and set the stage for the battle for control of Washington this fall.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw fell first, with conservative state Rep. Steve Toth projected to best him for the Republican nomination in Texas' 2nd District, where he accused Crenshaw of being insufficiently aligned with President Donald Trump's MAGA agenda. Crenshaw was also the only incumbent House Republican running for re-election across all three states voting Tuesday who did not get Trump’s endorsement.
Another incumbent in serious jeopardy is Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, who has faced allegations of having had an affair with a former staffer in his congressional office who subsequently died by suicide. He’s headed to a Texas runoff against pro-gun activist Brandon Herrera in a rematch of a 2024 primary, which Gonzales narrowly won after Herrera forced him to a runoff.
And another Texas House incumbent is guaranteed to lose, since redistricting forced Texas Democratic Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee into a member-versus-member primary that’s being fought along generational lines.
The two will advance to a runoff in May after neither received a majority in the first round of voting, as will Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson and former Rep. Colin Allred in their battle for a Dallas-area district that was also transformed by redistricting.
As Tuesday turns into Wednesday, the fate of other incumbent House members still hangs in the balance.
In North Carolina, Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee is locked in a tight rematch of the 2022 primary that sent her to Congress against Durham County Commission member Nida Allam. Foushee has a 1-point lead over Allam with nearly all of the projected vote counted.
Allam has argued Foushee is not progressive enough on issues including Israel and the role of artificial intelligence, and Allam’s allies have blanketed the airwaves with attacks on Foushee’s past support from pro-Israel groups, arguing that she’s in the pocket of special interests and big business.
Foushee has pushed back, framing herself as a productive progressive with the experience and seniority needed to counter the Trump administration. She has cast the attacks over outside money as hollow given Allam’s backing from outside groups, too.
It wasn't all bad news for potentially vulnerable incumbents. Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia held off a challenge from state Rep. Jarvis Johnson to win her primary outright.
And Texas Republican Rep. John Carter, 84, held off a crowded field of challengers to win his primary. While none of his opponents threatened to defeat him, Carter is pulling about 60% of the vote with three-quarters of the vote counted.
Key primaries on Tuesday also shaped the House battleground districts that will decide control of the chamber in the fall.
Republicans are looking to take on Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez in heavily Latino South Texas, which swung hard toward Trump in 2024, while Democrats are looking for a standard-bearer against GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz in a neighboring seat.
Cuellar will face off against Trump-backed Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, who is projected to win the GOP nomination in the 28th District, while Gonzalez is set for a general election against Trump-backed Army veteran Eric Flores, the Republican who will try to flip the 34th District in the fall.
In the 15th District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz, Tejano musician Bobby Pulido will be the Democrat's nominee after a victory over emergency room physician Ada Cuellar.
And in the 35th District, another seat Republicans targeted in redistricting, Republicans John Lujan and Carlos De La Cruz will move onto a runoff, with the crowded Democratic primary not yet resolved.
In North Carolina, meanwhile, GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards has held onto his party’s nomination for the 11th District, sending him to face off with Democrat Jamie Ager in November.
State Republicans also chose Laurie Buckhout, a former Defense Department official, for a rematch against Democratic Rep. Don Davis in North Carolina's 1st District, another key race this fall.
There are also open seat primaries across Texas to watch, too, particularly where Trump has weighed in to shape the future of the Republican Party in Congress.
In one of them, residents are poised for a lookalike transition: The congressman from Texas' 22nd District, Troy Nehls, is retiring at the end of the year, and his twin brother, Trever Nehls, is projected to win the GOP primary in the deeply Republican district.
Former Justice Department attorney Jessica Steinmann, who now works at the America First Policy Institute, won the Republican nomination and will likely become the next member of Congress from Texas’ 8th District.
Mark Teixeira, the Trump-endorsed former Major League baseball slugger making his first bid for political office, is projected to win the Republican primary for Texas' 21st District, which means he’ll likely cruise through the general election in the Republican-dominated district this fall.
Trump-endorsed military veteran Alex Mealer will move onto a runoff against state Rep. Briscoe Cain in Texas' 9th District, a district redrawn by Republicans where they're expected to win easily in the fall.
And Chris Gober, Elon Musk's attorney who had the support of Trump and a major super PAC backed by the AI industry, won the GOP nomination in Texas' 10th District, where he's the favorite to replace the retiring Rep. Michael McCaul for the heavily Republican seat.
