2025/26/27/28 Elections

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AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Louisiana’s primaries

WASHINGTON (AP) — Louisiana voters will participate in a revamped and stripped-down state primary Saturday and decide the political fate of an embattled Republican U.S. senator targeted for defeat by President Donald Trump.

https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-senate-primary-cassidy-fleming-letlow-trump-294a7f4235ce3135c0c055c1394a7994?

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Sen. Cassidy knocked out of Louisiana Republican primary as Trump-backed Letlow, Fleming make runoff

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Sen. Bill Cassidy was decisively defeated in Saturday’s Republican primary in Louisiana, unable to convince voters that he deserved another term five years after voting to convict President Donald Trump during an impeachment trial over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-republican-senate-primary-2026-cassidy-letlow-1c8b927fd981c40cb4a538b0f89671dc?

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🏛️ Sitting senator finishes third

U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) speaks to supporters alongside her two children, Jeremiah and Jacqueline, during her victory party last night in Baton Rouge, La. Photo: Matthew Hinton/AP After being targeted by President Trump, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician, failed to finish in the top two spots in yesterday's Louisiana GOP Senate primary. The race now goes to a June 27 runoff between Rep. Julia Letlow, Ph.D., a former higher-education executive, and state Treasurer John Fleming, M.D. Why it matters: It's a win for Trump, who backed Letlow and urged voters to oust Cassidy, describing him as "very disloyal." ⚜️ Letlow got 45%, Fleming got 28% and Cassidy got 25%. Cassidy told supporters: "Our country is not about one individual … It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about the Constitution." President Trump's reaction last night. Screenshot via Truth Social Letlow said at her victory party: "I want to say thank you to a very special man who you all know — the best president this country has ever had, President Donald Trump." Letlow — born and raised in Monroe, La. — is the first Republican woman elected to Congress from the Pelican State. 🗳️ The big picture: Trump is now two-for-two on his political revenge tour, Axios' Alex Isenstadt points out. Earlier this month, Trump helped steamroll a bloc of Indiana Republican legislators who resisted his effort to redraw the state's congressional map. Next up: Kentucky, where Trump aims to unseat arch-nemesis Rep. Thomas Massie on Tuesday. Louisiana results ... Get the latest. ps:Disloyal to who? trump or the Country??

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Primaries

It's a big week in US politics. Several states are holding primary elections on Tuesday, but one of the biggest political battlegrounds is Georgia, where high-stakes House and Senate contests could shape key midterm races. The results may also test President Trump's grip on the Republican Party, especially after a Louisiana primary over the weekend showed the risks of opposing him. Read more.

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🥊 Trump's revenge tour arrives in Kentucky

Today's Kentucky primary is President Trump's biggest test yet of whether his iron grip on the Republican base can hold even as war and inflation batter his national standing, Axios' Kate Santaliz writes.

• Why it matters: Trump is trying to take out longtime antagonist Thomas Massie in the most expensive House primary in history — a test of whether Massie's iconoclastic libertarian politics still has a place in the GOP.

Trump's political operation launched an aggressive effort to unseat Massie last year.

• The fight between Massie and Trump-backed rival Ed Gallrein has drawn more than $32 million in ad spending, according to AdImpact.

Keep reading.

Election Day

Today marks one of the busiest primary days of 2026, with voters heading to the polls in six states: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania. One of the biggest storylines will be President Donald Trump's ongoing revenge campaign against Republicans who have opposed him — including Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a frequent target of Trump's vitriol.

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Trump endorses Ken Paxton in Texas GOP primary, boosting his challenge to incumbent Sen. Cornyn

ALLEN, Texas (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, supercharging his effort to oust incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in next week’s runoff.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-texas-senate-endorsement-paxton-cornyn-adb4c7213fc2d0db0b29d0ab65d49384?

US Rep. Thomas Massie loses Kentucky GOP primary to Ed Gallrein in another victory for Trump

HEBRON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie lost his Republican House primary Tuesday, becoming the latest Republican lawmaker to anger President Donald Trump and then fall to a primary challenger backed by the president.

https://apnews.com/article/massie-gallrein-trump-kentucky-republican-primary-03a658b1a45593ad04ebf6283a3fdb47?

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US Rep. Thomas Massie loses Kentucky GOP primary to Ed Gallrein in another victory for Trump

HEBRON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie lost his Republican House primary Tuesday, becoming the latest Republican lawmaker to anger President Donald Trump and then fall to a primary challenger backed by the president.

https://apnews.com/article/massie-gallrein-trump-kentucky-republican-primary-03a658b1a45593ad04ebf6283a3fdb47?

Georgia Republicans dig in for runoffs for Senate and governor as campaigns go into overtime

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Republicans will keep duking it out among themselves as they head toward a runoff to pick their candidates for governor and U.S. Senate in the battleground state after Tuesday’s primary failed to produce outright victors.

https://apnews.com/article/georgia-election-governor-senate-ossoff-jones-jackson-e1aa3d50ff478b02404c51e3f2ddc46a?

Former political rivals head to rematch in Alabama governor’s race and runoffs for US Senate seat

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will get a rematch between two high-profile nominees for governor while candidates of both major parties will head to runoff elections next month for an open U.S. Senate seat.

https://apnews.com/article/election-2026-alabama-republicans-redistricting-voting-maps-3298e8eef7f3128768a678af2bd0f28b?

2026 election results

https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/?

Alabama’s US Senate race heads to runoff as House primaries are in limbo over redistricting fight

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The runoff field for a U.S. Senate seat was set Wednesday in Alabama, a state that also will have a high-profile race for governor this fall and congressional seats that could be scrambled amid a wave of Republican redistricting.

https://apnews.com/article/alabama-election-2026-senate-governor-fdd3d5bfe3dd5a1135076070549984db?

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🥊 Trump takes down Massie

Rep. Thomas Massie lost his primary last night to Ed Gallrein by 10 points (55% to 45%) — a huge win for President Trump's relentless campaign to oust the Kentucky Republican, Axios' Kate Santaliz and Alex Isenstadt write.

• 💰 It was the most expensive U.S. House primary ever.

Why it matters: Massie's loss sends another warning to Republicans about the dangers of crossing Trump and shows that the president's broader political problems haven't diminished his power with the base.

🏛️ The big picture: Massie was the target Trump hungered for most on his revenge tour.

• Trump announced his desire to defeat Massie last June, and his political team immediately launched a PAC solely devoted to defeating the congressman.
• The White House recruited a Massie challenger, ultimately settling on Gallrein, whose military background Trump's advisers found appealing.
• The fight between Massie and Gallrein was the most expensive House primary in history, drawing more than $32 million in ad spending, according to AdImpact.

👓 Between the lines: Trump has taken out a number of Republican politicians who crossed him.

• Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a top target of the president, lost his reelection bid Saturday when he failed to finish in the top two in the state's GOP primary.
• Trump exacted retribution on a group of Indiana Republican state legislators who blocked his push to redraw the state's congressional map.

Kentucky results ... Takeaways from primaries in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania ...

ps:He must feel so proud of himself!!

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Election night takeaways

He wasn't on the ballot, but President Donald Trump is claiming victory after several Republicans who opposed him lost their primary races Tuesday. In Kentucky, Trump helped oust Rep. Thomas Massie, another GOP lawmaker he had deemed disloyal. The result marked the second time in a week that Trump successfully took down a member of his own party. Read more.

PLUS: Keisha Lance Bottoms aims to become first Black woman governor

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💰 OpenAI-linked PAC plows cash into Kentucky

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

A pro-AI super PAC, fresh off a string of GOP primary victories this week, plans to keep spending in Kentucky's Senate race as the AI industry tries to focus the public's attention on AI's possibilities, not its potential pitfalls. Why it matters: Leading the Future and its affiliated nonprofit, Build American AI, are looking for allies in the next Congress to pass a national AI framework, while selling voters today on AI's economic upside. The groups plan to spend $140 million during the 2026 midterms as part of a broader effort to establish a national framework for AI regulation and push back against a state-by-state approach to governing the technology. Zoom in: Leading the Future, which has close ties with OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz, has had more success in GOP primaries than Democratic ones. In the Georgia primary, the PAC spent $1.1 million helping two GOP House candidates — Houston Gaines in the 10th District and Jim Kingston in the 1st District — win in what will be safely Republican seats. In Kentucky's Senate race, the group has announced a $750,000 investment supporting Rep. Andy Barr that began during the Republican primary and will continue through the general election. In March, the group went 3-for-3 backing GOP candidates in Texas and North Carolina. But it went 1-for-2 backing Democrats in Illinois. The big picture: The group believes broader AI adoption — from daily use to app downloads — helps counter the "AI-doomer" sentiment reflected in many public surveys. New polling from the group found that 52% of Americans believe AI will have a positive impact, compared to 36% who say it will have a negative effect. Optimism was especially high among Republican voters, with 60% expressing positive views of AI, according to a survey conducted this month. — Hans Nichols