DemDaily: This Week’s Election Results! VA, WA, TN
August 7, 2026
Voters in six states went to the polls this week in Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, Virginia, Washington and Tennessee to determine their political parties' nominees in the 2026 midterm elections -- now just 88 days away!
A number of the high-stakes primaries were closely watched as a gauge of the electorate's mood amid internal ideological battles within both political institutions over the direction of their parties.
While Trump and conservatives celebrated their influence in several key contests, voters pushed back against GOP-led ballot measures in two red states. Among Democrats, progressives and moderates notched major wins across the six states, as the overall landscape continues to lean in their party's favor going into November.
| See: DemDaily: Tuesday's Five-State Primary Results! Michigan, Kansas, Missouri 8/7/26 |
VIRGINIA
US Senate: Senator Mark Warner (D), who first served as Virginia's 69th governor (2002 to 2006), is running for his fourth and final term in the upper chamber. Warner, who has a 59% job approval rating, serves as Vice Chair of both the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Warner is facing retired US Army Major General, national security consultant and former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor Bert Mizusawa, who secured the GOP nomination with 51.4%, followed by David Williams (29%) and Kim Farington (19.6%).
US House: Virginia is currently represented in the US House by six Democrats and five Republicans. Virginia Democrats picked establishment Democrats to take on incumbent Republicans in the Commonwealth's top two swing districts -- both rated as key targets going into the midterms.
CD-1: Moderate-leaning Richmond County prosecutor Shannon Taylor easily defeated six other primary contenders with 51.3% of the vote to win the nomination to take on incumbent Rob Wittman, a mainstream Republican seeking a 10th term.
CD-2: In the highly competitive Virginia Beach-based district, former Democratic Congresswoman Elaine Luria (2019-2023) is challenging incumbent Republican Jen Kiggans, who narrowly unseated her in 2022.
CD-5: The Central Virginia district is represented by freshman John McGuire, a former Navy SEAL and State Senator who unseated two-term incumbent Bob Good in the 2024 Republican primary.
McGuire is being challenged by former Congressman Tom Perriello (2009-2011), the last Democrat to hold the seat.
| There are 24 Democratic Governors and 26 Republican governors in the United States, 36 of whom are up this year, with each party defending 18. Among the Territories, Guam and the US Virgin Islands' Democratic governors are term-limited and Northern Mariana Islands' Independent (GOP) governor is seeking reelection. |
WASHINGTON
US House: Washington is currently represented in the US House by eight Democrats and two Republicans. The Evergreen State uses a top-two primary system, where the highest vote recipients advance to the general election, regardless of party or percentage.
CD-3: In the Vancouver-based battleground district, two-term Democratic Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (36.6%), a centrist, and Trump-endorsed Republican State Senate Minority Leader John Braun (39.6%) advanced to the general election. Progressive Brent Hennrich came in third with 16.8%, and the remaining six candidates came in under 2%.
The district was previously held by Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler for six terms until 2022, when she came in third in the top two primary, with Perez, now one of the Democrats' most vulnerable members, ultimately winning the general election.
CD-4: In the race to succeed retiring six-term Republican Dan Newhouse, Trump-backed Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney (35%) and retired Air Force Major and combat veteran John Duresky (30.4%) -- the sole Democrat in the race -- defeated nine other candidates to make the top two.
The central Washington 4th district is considered solid red territory with an R+10 rating, but Democrats are not dismissing the open seat opportunity.
TENNESSEE
US Senate: Republican incumbent Bill Hagerty, who was unopposed in the primary, is seeking a second term in ruby red Tennessee. He is being challenged by progressive activist and Sowing Justice Executive Director Marquita Bradshaw, who prevailed over four other candidates in the Democratic primary with 54.8%.
The general election is a rematch of the 2020 US Senate race, where Bradshaw became the first Black woman to win a major party's statewide nomination in Tennessee. She lost to Haggerty by 27 points
Governor: incumbent Governor Bill Lee (R) is term-limited, and Republican primary voters chose US Senator Marsha Blackburn (43.4%) as their nominee. A prominent conservative who would become the state's first female governor if she wins, she defeated four-term Congressman John Rose (CD-6), who garnered 32.9% of the vote, and State Representative Monty Fritts (23.4%).
Blackburn faces Memphis councilwoman Jerri Green, who defeated four other contenders to win the Democratic nomination with 69%.
US House: Tennessee is represented by eight Republicans and one Democrat in the US House. However, after the state's mid-decade redistricting, the new Republican-drawn congressional map, approved May 7, 2026, dismantled the 9th CD, centered in Memphis and represented by 10-term Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen. The heavily Democratic, majority-Black city of Memphis was carved up and divided across three separate congressional districts. Cohen is retiring.
CD-5: Despite the backing of President Trump, Republicans ousted controversial right-wing Congressman Andy Ogles in favor of former Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, who won the nomination by over six percentage points.
Democrats chose Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, who secured 45.5% of the vote, defeating four other contenders for the nomination in what may be the best chance of Democrats holding on to one seat in The Volunteer State.
DemList will keep you informed.
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