There was more at stake in Tuesday’s primary election than just the high-profile nominations for U.S. Senate seats in North Carolina and Texas. Further down the ballot were races that offered clues to how the electorate was reacting to the Trump administration’s rapid and sweeping changes in Washington, and whether Democrats were rebuilding popular support after suffering pivotal losses in 2024.
Here are some of the lesser-known results from Tuesday’s voting in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas, which also held primaries and special elections:
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1. Crenshaw becomes the first congressman to fall, against a candidate more aligned with Trump
Dan Crenshaw, a Republican congressman from Texas, became the first member of the House of Representatives to lose reelection this year, losing in his primary to Steve Toth, a right-wing state representative. Crenshaw, who has represented a Houston-area district since 2019, disagreed with Donald Trump’s baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen, signaled openness to negotiating with the Biden administration on immigration reform and feuded with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who had called for his ouster. Republican voters backed Toth with nearly 56% of the vote, while Crenshaw won only 41%.
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2. Voters turn against Green and Gonzales
Two other Texas congressmen are on the verge of defeat. Al Green, a longtime Democrat who was expelled for protesting Trump the last two times he spoke before Congress, is trailing fellow congressman Christian Menefee, who just took office last month after winning a special election. The two lawmakers were forced to compete against each other after being drawn into the same district by Texas redistricting in the middle of the decade, and their races will be decided in a runoff scheduled for May 26. Elsewhere in the state, Brandon Herrera, a conservative YouTuber, is ahead of Tony Gonzales, a Republican congressman who rejected calls from his colleagues to resign despite allegations that he pressured an aide, who later committed suicide, to have an affair. That race will also be decided in a second round.
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3. Surprising Democratic strength in Arkansas
In the latest example of a Democrat overperforming in a special election, Alex Holladay defeated Republican Bo Renshaw in the race for an Arkansas House seat, winning 57% of the vote to his opponent’s 43%. Just two years ago, another Republican defeated Holladay for the seat with just 51% of the vote to the Democrat’s 49%. The Republican Party is dominant in Arkansas, and Holladay’s victory will not break his majority in the state House, but it could be a sign of greater Democratic enthusiasm ahead of the November midterms.
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4. Rebel Democrats Fired Amid North Carolina Unrest
In North Carolina, voters ousted Democratic state legislators Shelly Willingham, Nasif Majeed and Carla Cunningham, who had occasionally worked with the Republican majority in the state House to override Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes. Meanwhile, Phil Berger, the state Senate Republican leader who was backed by Trump, is two votes behind Sam Page, the main rival and sheriff of his home county, but can request a recount. Page is known as a strong Trump supporter and challenged Berger from the right, even accusing him of being too lenient on immigration issues.
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5. Democratic Congresswoman Foushee faces a progressive challenger focused on a data center dispute, but the race is too close to call
Democratic Congresswoman Valerie Foushee’s primary is too close to call, according to the Associated Press, with progressive rival Nida Allam just 1,200 votes behind. Allam, the Durham County commissioner, focused her campaign on opposition to a massive data center proposed for the area, while Foushee said the issue should be decided by local leaders, although she does not personally support the project. The race saw significant outside spending and a recount may occur.
