The 2026 Primary Primer 📕 📘
The holiday season is nigh and the New Year approaches, so DDHQ runs through the 2026 primary calendar
🍺 What’s on tap 🚰
Today’s newsletter features:
Opening Bell: Must-read items about elections and politics.
The Frontrunner: An overview of the 2026 primary election calendar.
Around the Corner: Upcoming elections we’re tracking at DDHQ.
🔔 Opening Bell 🐏
Must-read items about elections and politics.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she would resign from the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 5, 2026. The controversial Republican from northwest Georgia has drawn the ire of President Trump in recent weeks after she began openly criticizing some of his policies. Her departure will precipitate a special election in the dark-red 14th District, which will likely occur sometime in the spring of 2026.
The future of Texas’s newly-drawn congressional map is up in the air. Early last week, a federal judicial panel overturned the lines, ruling it an illegal racial gerrymander and ordering the state to use the boundaries drawn in 2021. However, Texas Republicans appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the high court has paused the lower-court ruling while asking the plaintiffs and defendants to submit their responses to the motion by the end of day on Monday. Still, as we discussed in our latest podcast episode, it seems more likely than not that the Supreme Court will allow Texas to use its new map.
Democrats are eyeing the expanded use of ranked-choice voting in the 2028 presidential primary. Axios reported on Sunday that Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin and other top leaders have been in discussions with RCV advocates about employing the voting method in the next presidential nominating contest. However, while this push could lead to changes in some states (especially blue ones), the state-by-state control of election rules could make it very difficult to broadly implement RCV in state-run primary elections.
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📈 The Frontrunner 🥇
DDHQ’s 2026 Primary Election Primer
Happy Thanksgiving Week, and welcome to Decision Desk HQ’s 2026 primary primer! Midterm election years are the busiest for primary elections because most states hold their elections for state-level offices (most notably governor) in those years rather than in presidential or odd-year cycles. Below, I have put together a rundown of some major primaries throughout the year while going over every state’s primary date. I have also included tables that details the executive and legislative races that will be on the ballot in each state.
(On mobile, please scroll to the right on each table to see all states listed. I plan to update this article if any states shift their primary dates or make other changes that affect the information in this piece.)
March
The 2026 primary season starts out with a bang on March 3 with votes in two large states — North Carolina and Texas — and also features a number of potentially highly-competitive contests in Illinois on March 17.
Texas and Illinois in particular have a bevy of top-tier primaries. Texas’s three-way Republican primary for U.S. Senate may decide Sen. John Cornyn’s fate, while Lone Star Democrats look to have their own intense nomination race brewing for that office. It’s possible that no candidate could surpass 50% in either party’s primary, which would force runoffs on May 26. And assuming Texas’s new congressional map remains in place, the new lines have provoked many high-stakes intraparty clashes.
In Illinois, Democratic retirements in solidly blue seats have teed up many crowded primaries. Longtime Sen. Dick Durbin’s departure has precipitated a three-way contest involving two U.S. House members and the state’s lieutenant governor. Those two House departures, along with other retirements in safe Democratic seats, have also sparked busy primary contests.
May
After taking a break in April (save potential runoffs in Mississippi on April 7), primary season bursts back onto the scene in the first half of May with five states. This includes a Saturday primary in Louisiana — one of two states with weekend primaries (Hawaii also votes on a Saturday in August).
Also, Louisiana may have the most noteworthy primary among the contests happening in the initial part of May. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy is seeking reelection, but he may have trouble attracting majority support in the Republican primary to avoid a late June runoff. After all, he voted to convict President Donald Trump in the impeachment trial following the events of Jan. 6, 2021, which has not endeared him to Louisiana Republicans. Moreover, Cassidy will face a more partisan primary electorate because Louisiana recently re-implemented party primaries for many offices (including U.S. Senate), replacing the state’s all-party “jungle primary.”
Six states then have primaries on May 19, which is tied with June 2 for the day with the most states holding nominating contests in 2026. Open-seat Senate races in Alabama and Kentucky look likely to have highly-competitive Republican primaries for safely red seats, while another major GOP contest will happen in Georgia, with the winner set to face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Both parties will also have very busy primaries for governor in Georgia in a race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Brian Kemp. In the Republican contest, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has Trump’s endorsement, but he still has to contend with Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the latter of whom resisted Trump’s efforts to alter Georgia’s vote count in the 2020 election. Meanwhile, Democrats have a crowded race involving a former Atlanta mayor (Keisha Lance Bottoms) and a former Republican (ex-Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan), among others.
June
With 16 states voting during it, June is the busiest primary month in 2026 based on the calendar as of late November. The month starts out with six states voting on June 2, including California, the most populous state.
Of the contests that day, the gubernatorial races in California and South Dakota stand out as potentially the most fascinating. In the former, it seems as if every Democrat besides Sen. Alex Padilla is running to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, including former Rep. Katie Porter and two 2020 presidential candidates, billionaire Tom Steyer and Rep. Eric Swalwell. With California’s top-two primary system, there is added uncertainty about whether one Democrat and one Republican or two Democrats could advance to the general election.
In South Dakota, meanwhile, at least three noteworthy candidates are running: Gov. Larry Rhoden, Rep. Dusty Johnson, and state Speaker of the House Jon Hansen. Rhoden rose to the governorship after serving as lieutenant governor until Trump appointed then-Gov. Kristi Noem to his Cabinet earlier this year. If this race proves to be very competitive, it’s possible no candidate could garner 35%, which would precipitate the first-ever use of South Dakota’s primary runoff law.
Six more states vote on June 9 and 16, and arguably the state with top billing is … Maine! There, Republican Sen. Susan Collins is seeking reelection in her blue-leaning state, and a high-profile Democratic primary has broken out for the chance to face her. The race features Gov. Janet Mills and oyster farmer Graham Platner — the former viewed by some Democrats as too old, the latter viewed by others as too controversial. With Mills running for Senate, the race to succeed her as governor has attracted a crowded Democratic field of candidates (she also is term-limited).
Elsewhere, the open-seat gubernatorial contest in South Carolina has a rigorous Republican primary that could produce a runoff. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, and two U.S. House members — Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman — are seeking the GOP nomination, which could make it difficult for one candidate to garner a majority in the primary.
The month of June finishes up with four states voting on June 23 and 30. On the earlier date, New York could play host to a number of major U.S. House primaries in deep-blue New York City-based districts. This includes open-seat races to succeed retiring Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velázquez, and potential progressive primary challenges to incumbents, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Colorado is also worth a mention due to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet’s decision to run for governor. He faces Attorney General Phil Weiser in what could be a very competitive Democratic primary. Should Bennet go on to win the primary and general, he would get to appoint his successor in the Senate.
August
After a quiet July, things heat up again in August, the second-busiest month with 14 states voting. The month kicks off with five states casting ballots on Aug. 4. Then Tennessee votes on Aug. 6 in the nation’s only Thursday primary.
The two most high-profile races happening in these states are arguably in Arizona and Michigan. In Arizona, a crowded Republican primary has broken out for the chance to face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November. The three-way contest involves Rep. Andy Biggs and 2022 gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson, who each have Trump’s endorsement, as well as Rep. David Schweikert. In Michigan, the retirement of Democratic Sen. Gary Peters has opened up a swing-state seat and sparked a three-way primary battle involving Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, who ran a notable race for governor in 2018. The winner will likely face former Rep. Mike Rogers, behind whom Republicans have largely rallied.
Five more states vote between Aug. 8 and 11, including the upper Midwest neighbors Minnesota and Wisconsin. In light-blue Minnesota, a head-to-head Democratic primary contest has developed between Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, with Craig occupying more of the center-left lane and Flanagan running as a progressive.
In swingy Wisconsin, meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’s retirement has sparked potentially competitive primaries for both parties. The Republican race mainly involves Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, but other candidates like 2022 GOP nominee Tim Michels could enter the contest, too. The Democratic side is also waiting to see if former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who narrowly lost a U.S. Senate race in 2022, will run for governor. But plenty of Democrats are already waging campaigns for the office, including Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez (Barnes’s successor) and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
Three states end the August slate on Aug. 18, including two states that couldn’t be much farther apart: Alaska and Florida. In Alaska, a huge field of Republican contenders is vying to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy, including Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. The state’s top-four primary could allow multiple high-profile GOP candidates to advance to the general election, where voters will use ranked-choice voting. As for the Democrats, everyone is monitoring what former Rep. Mary Peltola decides to do, although it’s unclear if she might run for governor or U.S. Senate against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
In Florida’s gubernatorial contest, Republican Rep. Byron Donalds has Trump’s endorsement and a clear lead in the GOP primary. However, outgoing GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is still trying to boost an alternative candidate to Donalds, without much success so far.
September
Four states leave their primaries until September. Of those, New Hampshire is the only one that is expected to be competitive in November, but it’s Massachusetts that may garner the most primary attention. There, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey faces a primary challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton, who is attempting to strike a generational contrast with the much-older incumbent. Still, this race could have another notable candidate: Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a progressive member of The Squad who is reportedly considering her own bid.
Lastly, Rhode Island Democrats could have another highly-contested gubernatorial primary. Gov. Dan McKee faces former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, who McKee only narrowly defeated in the 2022 primary here. But state House Speaker Joe Shekarchi could also enter the race, potentially creating a more unpredictable three-way race.
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There is obviously a lot more we could say about the primaries in each of these states — as the tables indicate, many places have a number of lower state executive offices on the ballot as well as state legislative elections. But I hope this piece has provided a helpful resource you can turn to again and again as primary season heats up in 2026. You can also find a master list with all 50 states listed here!
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📆 Around the Corner 📌
December 2, 2025
TN-07 Special Election
January 31, 2026
TX-18 Special Election Runoff
Would love to include filling deadlines on the master sheet to know when we’re waiting for candidates to still declare or not