McKee Falls, Markey Holds: What the Last Primaries of 2026 Settled

The 2026 primary season ended the way much of it had gone: with an incumbent losing to a challenger who ran on change, and with the biggest names in the biggest races mostly holding on. Four states voted between September 1 and September 15. Together they filled in the last major blanks on the November ballot. The one exception is Louisiana, whose House primaries were moved to November 3.

Rhode Island: an incumbent governor loses

Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes beat Gov. Dan McKee 81,314 to 48,872 in the Democratic primary on Wednesday, September 9 — 62.5% to 37.5%. Foulkes had narrowly lost to McKee in 2022. This time it wasn’t close.

The Rhode Island Current called it the first time since 1994 that a sitting Democratic governor of the state lost a primary, and the first loss by an incumbent governor anywhere since 2018. That 2018 loss was Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer, who had inherited the office and never won it at the ballot box. The last elected governor to lose a primary was Hawaii’s Neil Abercrombie in 2014. Either way, McKee is the only sitting governor to lose renomination in 2026. Earlier this year, Ned Lamont in Connecticut and Josh Green in Hawaii both won easily.

The Republican primary was the opposite kind of race. Aaron Guckian beat Elaine Pelino 11,691 to 11,432, a margin of 259 votes. That was just outside the 231-vote threshold for an automatic recount. The Board of Elections rejected Pelino’s request for a full manual recount on September 14, and a re-read of the voting machines’ memory devices on September 15 produced the same totals. In November, Foulkes faces Guckian plus three independents: Ken Block, Jay Gotra and C.D. Reynolds. Sen. Jack Reed was renominated without difficulty.

Massachusetts: Markey survives the generational challenge

Sen. Ed Markey beat Rep. Seth Moulton 580,628 to 314,198 on September 1 — 64.7% to 35.0% — and the AP called it about half an hour after polls closed. Moulton’s campaign argued it was time for a new generation. Voters kept the senator they had. Markey faces Republican John Deaton, who was unopposed and lost to Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2024. The seat is Safe D.

Gov. Maura Healey was unopposed. On the Republican side, Mike Minogue beat Brian Shortsleeve 75.8% to 24.2%. Because Moulton gave up his House seat to run, MA-06 was open, and Dan Koh won a five-way Democratic primary for it. Reps. Richard Neal and Stephen Lynch both survived contested primaries.

New Hampshire: a Toss-Up is born

Rep. Chris Pappas won the Democratic Senate nomination easily on September 8. Former Sen. John E. Sununu beat former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown by a wide margin, about 70% to 25% in early returns. That sets up a race for the open seat Sununu held from 2003 until Jeanne Shaheen beat him in 2008. Shaheen is now retiring.

Two raters reacted by moving the race to Toss-Up: Inside Elections on September 10 and Cook Political Report on September 15. The first post-primary polls cut the other way. UNH had Pappas ahead 50–42 among likely voters, and Trafalgar had him up 47–41. We cover the race in our Senate Toss-Up rundown.

Delaware: the quiet one

Sen. Chris Coons won renomination on September 15 with 78% against three challengers, including one who appeared on the ballot as E. “No-Trump” Hansen. Coons faces Republican Mike Katz, who beat John Shulli 77.3% to 22.7%. Rep. Sarah McBride (D) faces Republican Joe Arminio for the state’s at-large House seat. Turnout was 21.7%.

What the final primaries told us

Anti-incumbent energy had limits. Primary season ended with 11 House members, two senators (John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy) and now one governor denied renomination, according to NPR’s count of the House losses. Yet the highest-profile generational challenge of September, Moulton against Markey, fell short by nearly 30 points. Most insurgent wins this year came in open seats and House districts.

Rematches can flip. Foulkes lost to McKee by about three points in a crowded 2022 primary. In a head-to-head rematch she won by 25.

The November field is set everywhere but Louisiana’s House races. Early voting is already open in several states, and the next dates that matter are voter-registration deadlines, starting October 4 in Alaska and October 5 in five battleground states. Our guide to registration deadlines and early voting in the battleground states has the details.