Incumbents from both parties are under pressure as the polls begin to close 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.
One incumbent is guaranteed to lose their seat in these states, since redistricting forced Texas Democratic Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee into a member-versus-member primary that’s being fought on generational lines. But other incumbents are facing serious primary challenges too.
In North Carolina, Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee is fighting in a rematch of the 2022 primary that sent her to Congress, against Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam. Polls closed there earlier Tuesday, but results won’t be reported until after 8:30 p.m. ET due to a precinct elsewhere in the state where voting hours were extended.
Allam has tried to cast Foushee as 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 push back against the Trump administration. She has cast the attacks over outside money as hollow given Allam’s backing from outside groups, too.
While much of the national attention is focused on Texas’ competitive Senate races on both sides of the aisle, there are a wealth of competitive House races down the ballot.
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales’ re-election bid has drawn the most attention in recent weeks, as he faced allegations of having an affair with a former staffer in his congressional office who subsequently died by suicide. Most polls closed at 8 p.m. ET in Texas, but the final polls in this sprawling, southwest Texas district close at 9 p.m. ET.
Another Republican, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, also faces a competitive primary challenge in Texas, as do Democratic Reps. Julie Johnson and Sylvia Garcia.
Key primaries on Tuesday will also shape the House battleground districts that will decide control of the chamber in the fall.
Republicans are looking for nominees to take on Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzales in heavily Latino South Texas that swung hard toward President Donald Trump in 2024, while Democrats are looking for a standard bearer against GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz in a neighboring seat. Republicans will also anoint their candidate in North Carolina’s 1st District, who will square off against Democratic Rep. Don Davis in another key race this fall.
Meanwhile, there are open seat primaries across Texas to watch too, particularly where President Donald 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.