2025-2026 election thread for Senate, House, State and cities

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(From Bing co-pilot)

Here are the May 13, 2026 primary‑related results and updates, based strictly on officially reported or projected outcomes from news sources. Always confirm with your state or local election office for certified results.

Key Primary Results Reported Around May 13, 2026

West Virginia – U.S. Senate (GOP Primary)
Shelley Capito led decisively with 66.5% of the vote, with 99% of votes counted.

West Virginia – U.S. Senate (Democratic Primary)
Rachel Anderson led with 33.1% of the vote, with 99% counted.

West Virginia – U.S. House District 1 (Democratic Primary)
Vince George led with 53.0% of the vote, with 99% counted.

Nebraska – U.S. Senate (GOP Primary)
Pete Ricketts held a strong lead at 81.8%, with 96% of votes counted.

Nebraska – Governor (GOP Primary)
Walz led with 82.5%, with 92% of votes counted.

Newark, NJ – Mayoral Election (Nonpartisan)
Ras Baraka led with 70.3% of the vote, with 89% counted.

Additional Context for May 13, 2026
These items are not results, but were published on May 13 and relate to primary activity:

Iowa: Early voting for the 2026 primary opened May 13.

Lexington, KY: Early voting details and candidate lists were published May 13.

Montana Senate District 8: Candidate profiles and questionnaires were published May 13.

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In Victory for Democrats, There Will Be No Democrat in Nebraska’s Senate Race. Huh?
By Kevin Robillard
May 13, 2026

Introduction:

(Huffington Post) Nebraska Democrats nominated a candidate who has promised to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate ― and that’s exactly the outcome they wanted.

The Associated Press called the primary for Cindy Burbank, a retired pharmacy technician, not long after polls closed on Tuesday night. Burbank, who ran with the party’s endorsement, won 89% of the vote and has promised to drop out of the race to clear the way for independent candidate Dan Osborn.

Her opponent was William Forbes, a pastor who supported President Donald Trump in the past. Forbes was seen as a GOP plant who hoped to win the nomination and pull votes away from Osborn to help incumbent GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts.

Osborn, a union mechanic who mixes conservative views on social issues with economic populism and has promised not to caucus with either party, is seen as the state’s best chance of ousting a Republican senator. Osborn has raised nearly $3.9 million for his campaign, and only lost to the state’s other GOP senator, Deb Fischer, by 7 percentage points, even as Trump won the state by 21 percentage points.

A Democratic poll released Tuesday found Osborn with a 46% to 42% edge over Ricketts, with 12% of voters undecided.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politic ... 5d&ei=68

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Emulating Dan Osborne, Nebraska Independent Targets Corporate Greed in U.S. House Run
By Jessica Corbett
May 14, 2026

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) As the winner of the Democratic US Senate primary in Nebraska mulls dropping out to boost Independent Dan Osborn, another congressional candidate not tied to either major political party launched a campaign for the state’s 1st Congressional District on Thursday.
Joining incumbent GOP Rep. Mike Flood and Democratic primary winner Chris Backemeyer is Austin Ahlman, a 28-year-old investigative journalist, anti-monopolist, and self-described “insurgent Independent running in NE-01 to fight for the little guy.”

Ahlman’s launch video shares some struggles his family has faced—his parents working at the Tyson Foods meatpacking plant in Norfolk that closed in 2006, his dad’s cancer battle, and his mom’s suicide—and his work in journalism, “uncovering corruption among Democrats and Republicans, and taking on the corporations that are destroying our way of life.”

It also features his fights for loved ones: against a bank for his family home, to assist his grandmother, “who was getting cheated by utility and insurance companies,” and to help his brother “get his small business off the ground.”

“My family’s story isn’t unique,” he says in the three-minute ad. “Families all across our state are fighting, but the only ones who seem to be getting ahead are the elites on the coasts and the politicians who are selling us out to them.”

Additional extract:

As Nebraska Public Media reported Thursday:

Since Ahlman isn’t running with a party affiliation, he will need to petition onto the general election ballot. According to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office, Ahlman will need to collect at least 2,000 valid signatures from voters in the 1st Congressional District to get onto the ballot.

Read more here (and view Ahlman’s launch video): https://www.commondreams.org/news/nebr ... ons-2026

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How to Reach the Working Class in Red-State America
By Les Leopold
May 15, 2026

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) When the polls close next November, about half the country will flash red within seconds. That’s because there are more than 130 congressional districts where Democrats lose by 25 points or more.

So, what’s the strategy for changing that?

That question—and why so many of us seem unable or unwilling to answer it—is at the heart of my new book, The Billionaires Have Two Parties, We Need a Party of Our Own.

There are only two options. The first is to dramatically reform the Democratic Party so that it once again speaks to and for working people. The second is to build a new independent party of working people, distinct from the two major parties.

Neither path is easy. But which one actually has a chance?

Leopold goes on to discuss the independent party movement in Nebraska and the results of a YouGov survey on the topic in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/h ... -america

caltrek's comment: It is rather pathetic that in many areas the Democrat party has left a vacuum for independents to fill.

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I wonder if they might group up and form a third party.

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Senator Bill Cassidy’s Defeat in Louisiana Shows the Price of Dissent in Trump’s Republican Party
By Sahil Kapur
May 16, 2026

Introduction:

(NBC) Sen. Bill Cassidy’s primary loss on Saturday brings to an end a two-decade career in public office that was ultimately defined by tensions with President Donald Trump.

And when Republicans have tensions with Trump, the president usually wins.

Cassidy failed to advance in the Republican primary in Louisiana, as Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming are projected to face off in a June 27 runoff. The winner in the GOP contest will be the heavy favorite this fall in ruby-red Louisiana.

The result marks another trophy for Trump’s collection in his ongoing bid to oust Republicans perceived as disloyal to him.

Throughout Cassidy’s career, there were occasional signs that the physician-turned-politician wasn’t quite in lockstep with his party on a handful of issues, including around healthcare. But Cassidy’s cardinal sin, in the eyes of Trump and his supporters, was voting in 2021 to convict the then-former president on impeachment charges of inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6.

Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026 ... cna344950

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Trump Calls for GOP Challenger to Representative Boebert as She Campaigns with Massie in Kentucky
By Sophie Brams
May 16, 2026

Introduction:

(The Hill) President Trump threatened to pull his endorsement of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) on Saturday, as she campaigned with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) ahead of a tough reelection fight.

Trump railed against Boebert in a pair of back-to-back posts on Truth Social, calling her “weak-minded” and asking if there was “anyone interested” in challenging her in the GOP primary for Colorado’s 4th congressional district.

“Boebert is campaigning for the Worst ‘Republican’ Congressman in the History of our Country, Thomas Massie, of the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, and anybody who can be that dumb deserves a good Primary fight!” Trump wrote in one post.

“Even though I long ago endorsed Boebert, if the right person came along, it would be my Honor to withdraw that Endorsement, and endorse a good and proper alternative,” he said.

Additional Extract:

The filing deadline for Boebert’s seat was in March, and information from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office indicates she is running unopposed in the June 30 GOP primary.

Read more here: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/ ... -threat/

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The House Primary that is Giving Hints About Where the National Democratic Party is Heading
By Allan Smith
May 16, 2026

Introduction:

(NBC News) BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Bob Brooks kept his message to the point in a six-minute address to union leaders and supporters on Monday.

Brooks, the head of the state firefighters union and a Democratic candidate for a battleground House seat in the Lehigh Valley, described himself as a “working-class candidate” and “working-class person” who has been working since he ran a paper route at age 10. “The whole system is rigged against us,” he said — and the only way to combat such an imbalance of power is by “sending people like us to Washington, D.C., to represent us.”

Across town, Democratic rival Ryan Crosswell, a Marine veteran and former federal prosecutor whose headline-grabbing resignation from the Justice Department preceded his campaign, offered a very different message. In an interview with NBC News, he described leaving the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section — over an order to drop a corruption case against then-New York City Mayor Eric Adams — as “a real No Kings moment,” pointing to the anti-President Donald Trump protest movement.

The Republican-turned-Democrat said Trump “is literally trying to write Article 1 out of the Constitution — that is violating the law.” He decried a “lawless” administration and explained that he tries “to tell people corruption is a kitchen-table issue” and that lawlessness and corruption have “been a key focus in this race.”

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politic ... 7&ei=114

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Trump Endorses Paxton Over Cornyn in Texas Senate GOP Runoff
By Julia Mueller and Julia Manchester
May 19, 2026

Introduction:

(The Hill) President Trump has endorsed state Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas’ high-stakes Senate race, snubbing incumbent senior Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) ahead of next week’s GOP primary runoff.

“Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social
Trump also mentioned Cornyn in making the announcement, calling the Texas Republican a “good man” but one that didn’t endorse his 2024 run soon enough.

“John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency, itself,” Trump wrote.

“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to WIN. Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness,” Trump continued.

Read more here: https://thehill.com/homenews/5779709-p ... t-texas/

caltrek's comment: Some view this as increasing the chances of Democratic Senate nominee in the general election James Talarico as Paxton is seen as weaker candidate than Cornyn. In this line of analysis, Trump has underestimated Talarico's strength. A victory for Talarico in the general election would be huge regarding the chances of the Democrats gaining control of the Senate.

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A Kentucky Primary Has Become a MAGA Reality Show From Hell
By Stephanie Mencimer
May 19, 2026

Introduction:

(Mother Jones) Last summer, President Donald Trump orchestrated a primary challenge against Rep. Thomas Massie, who’d become the lone House Republican willing to occasionally stand up to the president—at least the only one who wasn’t retiring. But the race has turned into a proxy fight over, well, just about everything.

It’s a referendum on Trump. It’s a fight over Israeli influence in American politics. And the final frenzied days of the campaign, expected to be the most expensive primary in US history, have also set the stage for a MAGA vs MAGA showdown, providing a new opportunity for grifters, podcasters, and a cast of wannabe influencers to join in the fray—or leverage it for a comeback.

Ahead of today’s primary vote, Trump has used the full power of his office and his surrogates in right-wing media to pummel Massie in an unprecedented campaign against a member of his own party. On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took a break from the Iran war and attacking civilian vessels in the Caribbean to fly to Kentucky to rally against Massie. Trump himself issued a video:

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... m-hell/