Cori Bush loses race, Michigan showdown is set: 4 takeaways from Tuesday's pivotal 2024 primaries
Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to serve as her running mate on Tuesday, but that wasn't the only critical 2024 moment of the day. States from Missouri to Michigan and Washington also held pivotal primary races that could set the stage for November.
Progressive Democrats were handed their second major defeat of the year when Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., lost her St. Louis primary. Anti-Trump Republicans, meanwhile, are trying to notch a victory after one of the few remaining lawmakers who voted to impeach the former president fights to advance to a general election battle against a MAGA-affiliated opponent.
A handful of other House and Senate primaries in Michigan and Washington paved the way for heated matchups that could determine the balance of power in the nation's capital next year.
Here are USA TODAY's top takeaways on how Tuesday’s results will influence the 2024 election.
Cori Bush loss marks second blow for the "Squad"
A second-term representative, Bush lost her primary Tuesday to St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell. It was a race largely defined by Bush's criticism of the Israeli government’s handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza and the way lawmakers have split on the conflict.
Bush was the first member of Congress to call for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, nine days after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on the country. In recent months, she has been one of Israel's most vocal critics in the House and accused Israeli officials of committing genocide.
A super PAC aligned with The American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent millions of dollars against her reelection bid, and Tuesday's Missouri race was the second most expensive House primary in U.S. history.
Her ouster was similar to that of Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who was defeated during a June primary by a more moderate candidate who received financial backing from similar pro-Israel groups. Bowman during a fundraising call for Bush this week blamed the result of his race partially on low turnout and the influence of “special interest” groups like AIPAC.
Bush and Bowman both belong to the progressive group of House lawmakers known as “the Squad,” which now will have less influence in Congress. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., also a member of the group, faces a tough primary race next week with similar challenges.
Will a Republican who voted to impeach Trump avoid defeat?
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and still remains in Congress, is still in the running in a nonpartisan primary contest despite challenges from Trump-backed candidates.
Eight of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for alleged "incitement" of a mob attack in 2020 are no longer in office. Four of those members have retired: Ohio’s Anthony Gonzales, New York’s John Katko, Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger and Michigan’s Fred Upton.
The other four, including Wyoming’s Liz Cheney, Washington’s Jaime Herrera Beutler, Michigan’s Peter Meijer and South Carolina’s Tom Rice, suffered midterm defeats against more conservative candidates.
Trump aimed to add Newhouse to the list of his detractors he has helped oust from Congress. In a post on Truth Social days ahead of the primary, the former president endorsed both of Newhouse's primary opponents: NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler and former Senate nominee Tiffany Smiley.
The race still hasn't officially been called as of Wednesday morning, but Newhouse was second in the race behind Sessler. But because of Washington's open primary system, which allows the top-two finishers of the nonpartisan primary to advance, Newhouse could still have the opportunity to go head-to-head with the athlete in November.
The Washington Republican and Rep. David Valadao of California are the only GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump in 2020 still left in the House.
Michigan’s swing Senate race is set
When Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the third-ranking party official in the Senate, announced her retirement last year, the GOP saw it as an opportunity to pick up another seat in the closely divided chamber. Michigan's Senate race is expected to be among the most competitive this year – with the Cook Political Report rating it as a toss-up between Republican and Democrats.
Now the candidates are set, and the winners of pivotal Democratic and Republican Senate primaries in the swing state are gearing up for a tough general election battle.
Democratic Rep. Elise Slotkin, a former intelligence official and acting assistant secretary in the Defense Department who currently represents Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, will face off against her fellow House member Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, a former law enforcement officer who represents Michigan’s 8th District.
Slotkin handily beat her primary opponent Hill Harper – an actor known for his roles on shows like “The Good Doctor” and “CSI: N.Y.” While Rogers defeated stiff challenges from ex-Congressman Justin Amash and physician Sherry O’Donnell.
A Real Clear Politics average of state polls shows Slotkin with a close to 6-point lead over Rogers in the race.
Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate and the results of the November match-up between Slotkin and Rogers could very well determine which party controls the chamber. Other tight Senate races to watch this fall include the contests in Ohio, Montana and Nevada.
Hotly contested House races
Control of the U.S. House in 2025 and beyond could also rest on just a handful of battleground races in November. And primaries in Washington and Michigan laid the groundwork for a few of those contests.
While Washington leans Democratic overall, some of its more rural areas tend to opt for Republicans. That’s the case for the third district, in the state’s southwest corner.
During the 2022 midterms, Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez pulled off an upset by winning against Trump-backed candidate Joe Kent in a district that hadn’t voted Democratic in over a decade. This year’s race will be a rematch between the two, and it’s expected to be a toss-up.
Michigan’s 8th District race is anticipated to be similarly close. The seat, which represents Flint, became open after Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee announced he was stepping down from Congress after six terms. The district has become more conservative leaning since 2022 redistricting efforts, making this year's race potentially more difficult for Democrats to win. The area is also grounds for a national debate after the 2014 Flint water crisis caused the city's drinking supply to become contaminated with lead from aging pipes
Republican Paul Junge, a former criminal prosecutor, will go head-to-head with Democratic state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet for the seat, which the Cook Political Report has also deemed a toss up as the GOP tries to hold on to their slim majority in the lower chamber.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cori Bush loses Dem race, Michigan matchup set: 4 primary takeaways
