Primaries abd ruboffs in AL, GA, ME, and OK, for Senate and/or Governor
This week's elections are all about "runoffs."
Alabama and Georgia both held runoffs for the top-two vote-getters from earlier primaries.
Oklahoma held its primary and set up for an August 25 runoff for the top-two Republican vote-getters.
Maine held its primary and avoided a runoff election by its "Ranked Choice Voting" RCV system, where the voters' second-ranked candidate gets awarded the vote of candidates below the top-two vote-getters.
The second-ranked counting takes a while -- the results were reported on June 18 from the primary on June 9-- it's called an "instant runoff" becaue that's a lot more "instant" than a runoff a month or two later!
Primaries in ME, NV, ND, and SC, for Senate and/or Governor
North Dakota did hold primary elections on June 9, but have no Senate race nor Governor's race this year, so we only report for ME, NV, and SC.
Click on the links below to match YOUR answers to 20 questions to the VoteMatch quiz, to the candidates' answers....
Primaries in CA, IA, NT, NJ, NM, and SD, for Senate and/or Governor
The VoteMatch quiz is ready for each of the races below (and all other states).
Click on the links below to match YOUR answers to 20 questions, to the candidates' answers....
California Gubernatorial "jungle primary" = non-partian election where two top vote-getters advance to the general election: (Click for VoteMatch quiz for the California Governor candidates).
Primaries for Senate and Governor in OH, NE, and WV; winners marked.
May 5: Ohio Senatorial and Gubernatorial primaries: (Click to answer 20 questions to match yourself to the Ohio Senate or the Ohio Governor candidates).
Massachusetts Legislative voting records for 2025-2026
The Mass Scorecard compares how Massachusetts legislators voted,
in comparison with issues in the 2025 Massachusetts Democratic Party platform (we score Republicans and Independents too!).
We then score each legislator by how many votes agree with the platform,
on the usual scale of an "A" for 90% or more, down to an "F" for 60% or lower.
Progressive Democrat groups worked with OnTheissues.org in the early 2000s to produce the
first Mass Scorecard; we repeat that for the 2025-2026 legislative session.
The partisan balance of the House gives the Republicans a potential 217-215 advantage over Democrats, so every seat matters. Several special elections have widened or narrowed that partisan balance....
House Shakeup: Three resignations and two special election results
April 21:Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL): first elected in 2022, resigned in a campaign finance scandal facing an expulsion vote by the House Ethics Committee.
Special elections to replace previous resignations:
April 20:Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer: Resigned in a corruption and sex scandal amid an inquiry by the Office of the Inspector General. Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling was appointed as Acting Labor Secretary.
State of the State speeches: Jan. 7 to Jan. 13, 2026
Early governors' messages
Every January, each governor delivers a "State of the State" speech to the state legislature.
Each state chooses their own schedule, so the speeches are spread out from January to March.
OnTheIssues excerpts them all, every year. Here are the early excerpts for 2026.
Democratic Governors
KY: Jan. 7 on
Health CareAndy Beshear: Mental health is just as important as physical health.
CA: Jan. 8 on
Energy & OilGavin Newsom: California finally ended its use of any coal-fired power.
AZ: Jan. 12 on
TechnologyKatie Hobbs: Should taxpayers subsidize the data center industry?
Republican Governors
VT: Jan. 7 on
EducationPhil Scott: We need far fewer districts each serving far more students.
ID: Jan. 12 on
Civil RightsBrad Little: We eliminated CRT and DEI.
IA: Jan. 13 on
Homeland SecurityKim Reynolds: Heroes in uniform on the front lines of fight against evil.
AL: Jan. 13 on
CrimeKay Ivey: Impose death penalty for those who rape or sodomize a child.
Districts without incumbents due to retirements or redistricting
The holiday season is a traditional time to announce political retirements -- a respectful time after the November elections, and a respectful time before the spring 2026 primaries, so that candidates can announce and plan.
These are NOT House members who are running for other office -- they are listed below -- which take place earlier than general retirements. We'll update this retirement list, but here are two examples with their rationale:
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX-37-D) announced on Dec. 5 that he was retiring due to redistricting:
According to RollCall.com,
the "Supreme Court said it would allow Texas to use the new GOP-drawn map...
Doggett took aim at Trump’s push for mid-decade redistricting to help House Republicans defend their majority."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14-R) announced on Jan. 5 that she was resigning Congress.
According to OpenSecrets.org,
Greene cited "frustration with party leadership and her fallout with President Donald Trump."
Both those rationales focus on efforts to maintain Republican control of the House of Representatives.
Currently the partisan split is 219 Republicans to 212 Democrats -- which means if four seats "flip", the Democrats gain the House majority.
With a House majority, Democrats can decide which bills come to a House vote --
i.e. the majority party determines the agenda, including calling for President Trump's impeachment.
(NY-12): Announced retirement Sept. 1; challengers: State Rep. Alex Bores (D); State Rep. Micah Lasher (D); Jack Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg (D); George Conway (D)
House members running for Senate and Governor: Nov. 15, 2025
House incumbents running for other office, and early House challengers
Now that the 2025 election is over, the 2026 election cycle begins.
We list some early retirement announcements below, for House incumbents retiring to run for other offices.
We also list "hot races": early candidacy announcements of serious challengers to House incumbents who are not retiring.
This list is disproportionately long on the Republican side -- which gives Democrats many more openings for re-taking the House majority. But most of these are "safe" seats; the "open" seats are more likely to "flip".
(MN-2): Running for Senator from Minnesota; House challengers: State Rep. Kaela Berg (DFL); State Sen. Matt Klein (DFL); State Sen. Matt Little (DFL); State Sen. Eric Pratt (R)
Reproduction of material from any OnTheIssues.org pages without written permission is
prohibited. Copyright
1999-2025 by Jesse Gordon, OnTheIssues.org , all rights reserved. OnTheIssues.org 1770 Massachusetts Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140
E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org, Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief