The 75 Elections to Watch This March
The midterms really are starting, and Bolts is watching contests across 13 states this month.
The 2026 midterms really are starting. Five states hold all of their primaries for federal and state offices in March, and voters there face high-profile choices. They’ll decide which Democrat is likely to become the next senator of Illinois, and just how far to the right Republicans will go in Texas.
But there’s a lot to follow that’s drawn less attention. Supreme court justices are playing a strange game of musical chairs in Arkansas. North Carolina progressives hope to oust a Democratic lawmaker who helped the GOP pass pro-ICE legislation. And a party-switching county executive in Texas is trying to win his first GOP primary, right before his trial for money laundering charges.
Enter Bolts’ guide to the 75 elections to watch in March.
To be sure, the month is not all about primaries. Democrats are looking to flip GOP-held legislative seats in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and New Hampshire special elections. Some Arizonans and Californians will decide critical minimum wage and transportation measures.
But most of the action takes place within the major parties, settling stark ideological and generational disputes. Candidates who are 50 years apart in age face off for Congress in Mississippi. GOP incumbents in Texas face far-right challengers. And as Asheville and San Antonio elect new DAs, primary voters there have a range of policy profiles to choose from.
The guide starts with a very busy day on March 3 with elections all across Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas, plus a mayor’s race in New Mexico. On March 10, Mississippi has primaries, but also keep an eye on elections in Arizona, Georgia, and New Hampshire. Then, Louisiana has a legislative race on March 14, Illinois holds its primaries on March 17 alongside a Virginia special election, and California and Florida have local races on March 24.
As always, this guide is just our selection of key races to monitor—not an exhaustive list of all elections in March. There are hundreds of other primaries, and many will set up contests that could heat up in the general election, such as the contests for the Texas supreme court.
Return on and after each Election Day; we’ll update this page as the results are known. And if you missed our rundown of the key elections from February, check on those results here.
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FEderal Government
U.S. Senate
| North Carolina GOP primary | March 3 North Carolina’s expected November match-up is Roy Cooper, the former Democratic governor, versus Michael Whatley, the chair of the Republican National Committee running with Trump’s backing. But Whatley must first beat the archconservative Michele Morrow, GOP nominee for schools superintendent in 2024, who has suggested Barack Obama should be executed and who called on Trump to use the military to overturn the 2020 election. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas GOP primary | March 3 Senator John Cornyn, an establishment Republican who tends to frustrate ultra-conservatives, faces a stiff challenge from Ken Paxton, the far-right attorney general who championed Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, spent years under criminal indictment for fraud, and survived impeachment proceedings over a corruption scandal that triggered a staff revolt. A third candidate, U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt, joined the race this past fall, meaning the primary could go to a runoff if no one gets 50 percent. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas Dem primary | March 3 Democrats haven’t won any statewide race in Texas since the early 1990s but recent setbacks for Republicans in the state, combined with the prospect that the GOP may nominate Paxton, have at least opened the door to an upset. State Representative James Talarico and U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett, who shook up the race with a late entry, are running for the Democratic nod. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Illinois Dem primary | March 17 Senator Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer’s lieutenant in Senate leadership, is retiring and this Democratic primary is likely to decide his replacement since this is a staunch blue state. U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi has dominated spending and blanketed airwaves; he faces U.S. Representative Robin Kelly and Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, who has generally run on a more progressive message, including her call to abolish ICE. | ||
| Result: Check after March 17. |
U.S. House: Dem primaries
| North Carolina’s 4th District March 3 In 2022, in a fierce primary for this blue district, then-state Senator Valerie Foushee won a very narrow victory over Nida Allam, a Durham County Commissioner. Allam ran with vocal backing from the party’s left wing, while Foushee benefited from heavy support from AIPAC, which she has sworn off this year as she faces a rematch against Allam. The Assembly reports on the contrasts in style and ideology between Foushee and Allam, whom Bernie Sanders just traveled to support. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas’s 18th, 29th and 33rd districts March 3 The GOP’s new Texas gerrymander shook up Democratic incumbents even in districts that remain left-leaning. In fact, two members of Congress are facing off in the Houston region’s TX-18, with the newly-elected Christian Menefee up against Al Green, a longtime representative whose district was just redrawn to be staunchly red. The new map has also changed the demographics of another Houston-area district, TX-29, and the Houston Chronicle reports that it has endangered the region’s only Hispanic representative, Sylvia Garcia, who faces Jarvis Johnson, a former state lawmaker who is Black. Meanwhile the primary for TX-33, which covers Dallas, features a clash between Colin Allred, a former congressman now attempting a comeback, and Julie Johnson, a sitting member of Congress trying to move into a new seat after the GOP’s gerrymander made her current seat very difficult for any Democrat (see above). | ||
| Results: Check after March 3. | ||
| Mississippi’s 2nd District March 10 It’s a generational battle within the Democratic Party: Bennie Thompson, a civil rights leader and member of Congress for over three decades, faces Evan Turnage, an attorney who points out he was only one year old when Thompson was first elected. The primary is unfolding against the backdrop of the possible demise of the Voting Rights Act; if the Supreme Court lifts protections for majority-minority districts this spring, the state GOP may try to eliminate this district and redraw it to elect a Republican in 2028. | ||
| Result: Check after March 10. | ||
| Illinois’ 2nd, 7th, 8th, and 9th districts March 17 In the Chicago region, four safely blue seats are open, and these primaries will effectively decide four new members of Congress. In IL-02, the ten candidates include state Senator Robert Peters, who sponsored the state law that eliminated cash bail and has championed other criminal justice reforms, as well as former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller. In IL-08, Melissa Bean, a former member of Congress known for her moderate Blue Dog politics, is making a comeback; her opponents include Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, a prominent local politician, and Junaid Ahmed, who has accumulated endorsements from left-leaning politicians and groups like the Chicago Teachers Union. In IL-07, endorsements and resources appear split in a very crowded field to replace Danny Davis. And in IL-09, two leading candidates, journalist Kat Abughazaleh and Evanston Mayor Dan Biss, drew headlines in January for joining a protest in which they were shoved or pulled by federal agents. They face 14 opponents, including three state lawmakers. Super PACs are pouring large amounts of money into the races. Groups tied to AIPAC are spending heavily to help Miller in IL-02, Bean in IL-08, Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in IL-07, and state Senator Laura Fine in IL-09. A pro-crypto organization with ties to Trump supporters is trying to defeat Peters in IL-02 and another state lawmaker, LaShawn Ford, in IL-07; Ford and Peters each supported regulations on crypto in the state legislature. Other PACs tied to pro-AI interests are also poised to play a major role. | ||
| Result: Check after March 17. |
U.S. House: GOP primaries
| North Carolina’s 1st District March 3 The North Carolina GOP just redrew the state’s congressional map to make the district currently held by Democratic incumbent Don Davis redder. Now a battery of Republicans (including Davis’ 2024 opponent Laurie Buckhout, Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck, and state Senator Bobby Hanig) are vying to take on the Democrat in this newly-gerrymandered seat. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas: Three primaries featuring incumbents March 3 Three GOP incumbents face intense challenges from their right, a testament to the ambitions of Texas ultraconservatives, who have already knocked out many state judges and lawmakers in recent cycles. The most vulnerable is probably Tony Gonzales (TX-23), who was censured by the state GOP in 2023 when he spoke out in favor of some gun control. Gonzales barely survived in 2024 against Brandon Herrera, a far-right gun activist who is seeking a rematch. Gonzales has recently faced an investigation regarding an affair with a staffer who committed suicide last fall, and some colleagues are calling for his resignation. TX-02 incumbent Dan Crenshaw, a critic of the far-right Congressional Freedom Caucus, faces state Representative Steve Toth, one of the most conservative lawmakers in Texas and a former member of the state’s Freedom Caucus. In TX-31, finally, John Carter faces a crowded field that includes Valentina Gomez, a far-right influencer last seen running for secretary of state in Missouri in 2024. Gomez launched her congressional bid by burning the Quran. | ||
| Results: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas: Nine primaries in open seats March 3 No less than nine GOP primaries in Texas are poised to decide a brand new member of Congress; these are races with no incumbent, in very red districts. Six will replace Republicans who are not seeking reelection: Morgan Luttrell in TX-08, Michael McCaul in TX-10, Jodey Arrington in TX-19, Chip Roy in TX-21, Troy Nehls in TX-22, and Wesley Hunt in TX-38. But three of these districts were recently redrawn by the GOP’s mid-decade gerrymander; the new map massively swung to the right the previously blue seats of Al Green in TX-09 (in the Houston region), Julie Johnson in TX-32 (in the Dallas region), and Greg Casar in TX-35 (in the Austin region). All three Democrats are now running for other seats. One race to spotlight: The race for the 9th District features Briscoe Cain, who has led the legislature’s far-right Freedom Caucus and sponsored new restrictions on voting after the 2020 election, which he tried to get overturned. Cain faces several rivals like Steve Stockman, a former member of Congress infamous for his climate denialism and other arch-conservative views who was sentenced to prison for misusing donations and then had his sentence commuted by Trump. | ||
| Results: Check after March 3. |
U.S. House: Special (general) election
| Georgia’s 14th District March 10 Marjorie Taylor Greene’s shock resignation late last year after clashing with Trump has sparked a special election to replace her in one of the nation’s reddest districts. The leading candidates are ultra–conservative champions of Trump—including local DA Clayton Fuller, who got Trump’s endorsement in February, and Colton Moore, a former lawmaker whose push to impeach the Atlanta DA who indicted Trump was so vitriolic that he was suspended by the Republican Senate Caucus. But there are over 20 candidates on one ballot, including Democrats’ 2024 nominee Shawn Harris, so the election may well go to an April runoff between the top two contenders. | ||
| Result: Check after March 10. |
State Governments
Governors
| Texas Dem primary | March 3 Democrats are deciding their nominee to try and stop Governor Greg Abbott from a fourth term. The party has largely rallied around Gina Hinojosa, a state representative who fought Abbott’s efforts to expand school vouchers. She faces a crowd of candidates including former U.S. Representative Chris Bell, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor two decades ago after a mid-decade GOP gerrymander not unlike this year’s forced him out of Congress. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Illinois GOP primary | March 17 Republican state Senator Darren Bailey, who lost to Democratic Governor JB Pritzker in 2022, is seeking a rematch. Bailey is a staunchly conservative, MAGA-style politician, and Democrats four years ago intervened in the GOP primary to help him, under the assumption he would be easy for Pritzker to beat. This year, Democrats don’t have to do much: Bailey is already the clear frontrunner in public polling for the GOP primary. Still, he faces multiple rivals, including James Mendrick, a suburban sheriff who has long opposed Illinois’ protections for immigrants and its criminal justice reforms. | ||
| Result: Check after March 17. |
Other state offices, from justice to AG
| Arkansas Supreme Court justice Nonpartisan general election | March 3 Nick Bronni was appointed to the Arkansas Supreme Court in late 2024 by Republican Governor Huckabee Sanders to help “cement” a conservative majority in the bench. He is now seeking to stay on the bench, and faces John Adams, an attorney who says he’s worried about the direction of this court. Bolts reports on a peculiar game of musical chairs happening in the state, where Bronni and another appointed justice, Cody Hiland, are trading spots as a way to work around a ban on appointed justices running for their own seat (Hiland is running uncontested). | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Arkansas secretary of state GOP primary | March 3 State Senator Kim Hammer last year sponsored a barrage of legislation that severely restricted ballot initiatives in Arkansas; now he is running for secretary of state, a role that was given more authority to block initiatives by new laws that he championed. Hammer faces Cathy Hardin Harrison, a local judge, and Bryan Norris, a veteran who last year led an effort to mandate hand-counting in his local county and who is (proudly) endorsed by prominent far-right purveyors of false claims about U.S. elections, such as Mike Lindell. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas attorney general GOP and Dem primaries | March 3 Who will replace Ken Paxton, the far-right Trump ally who has been attorney general for over a decade? U.S. Representative Chip Roy, a prominent figure of the Freedom Caucus who has long frustrated GOP leadership, may be the frontrunner. He faces state Senator Mayes Middleton, who is running on anti-trans legislation he sponsored last year, and attorney Aaron Reitz, the Paxton-backed candidate who has said a prominent Democratic lawmaker should be stripped of his citizenship, as well as state Senator Joan Huffman, who authored the recent law to make it easier to remove reform-minded DAs from office. The candidates are largely looking to outbid each other on far-right rhetoric, including competing for who can spread the most anti-Muslim messages during their campaign. Meanwhile, in their quest for their first statewide win since the 1990s, Democrats are deciding between state Senator Nathan Johnson, former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski, and attorney Tony Box. | ||
| Results: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas controller GOP primary | March 3 In the race to oversee Texas finances, candidates are predictably flexing their right-wing bona fides—while benefiting from connections to ultrawealthy donors, as Texas Monthly reports. Former state Senator Don Huffines is campaigning on the slogan “DOGE Texas” and promising to target “woke DEI” initiatives. Kelly Hancock, the interim incumbent, boasts that he’s already made cuts to public spending and diversity programs. Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick is also running. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas agriculture commissioner GOP primary | March 3 Sid Miller, the Texas agriculture commissioner since 2015, has been beset by serial scandals, including allegations that he has misused public funds, and that he instructed a friend to dispose of marijuana, possession of which still allows for serious criminal charges in the state, in order to evade the Drug Enforcement Administration. He faces a challenge from Nate Sheets, a wealthy ranch owner who used to be a donor to his campaigns. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas Board of Education GOP primary | March 3 Across the eight elections for seats on the Texas Board of Education this year, Republican candidates are largely aligned with right-wing rhetoric against “woke” teachers and educators. The GOP primary for District 2, which covers the Gulf Coast, stands out because Abbott has chosen to endorse Victoria Hinojosa, a challenger to incumbent LJ Francis who also has support from other prominent ultra-conservative politicians in the state like Briscoe Cain (see the section on U.S. House primaries). A third candidate in that race, Carrie Moore, has led a local Moms for Liberty chapter in the Corpus Christi region and has championed restrictions on book access. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Illinois Controller Dem primary | March 17 This is the only executive office in Illinois where the incumbent is not running for reelection, and that’s created a highly competitive Democratic primary between lawmakers Margaret Croke, Stephanie Kifowit, and Karina Villa, and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim. WBEZ lays out that Villa is running on the most progressive lane, with support from some left-leaning groups like the Chicago Teachers Union, while moderate Democrats have coalesced around Croke and Kifowit. | ||
| Result: Check after March 17. |
Legislative seats: General elections
| Arkansas’ 26th Senate District March 3 Championed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a proposal to build a new mega prison in Arkansas’ rural Franklin County has sparked major opposition from local residents. Bolts’ Lauren Gill reports on this special election, being held in Franklin County, to replace a GOP Senator who passed away last September. A Republican who opposes the prison faces an independent who is a local organizer who has long been fighting it. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Arkansas’ 70th House District March 3 This Arkansas vacancy is a rare GOP-held seat in a district that Kamala Harris carried in 2024, an opportunity for a Democratic gain. The Republican governor initially called the special election in June, but a court ordered the contest rescheduled, and Democrat Alex Holladay now faces Republican Bryan Renshaw. (The GOP will retain a supermajority regardless.) | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| New Hampshire’s 7th Carroll County House District March 10 Democrats have won many legislative districts nationwide since Trump’s return to power, but none so far in New Hampshire despite a golden opportunity in November. Can they now flip this red-leaning seat that Republican Glenn Cordelli resigned from last fall? Democrat Bobbi Boudman, who lost to Cordelli by 13 percentage points in 2024, is running again, this time against Republican Dale Fincher. | ||
| Result: Check after March 10. | ||
| Louisiana’s 69th House District March 14 In February, Democrats easily defended a state House seat in the Baton Rouge region, winning it by 24 points despite Trump having carried it by 13 points. They are aiming to repeat the feat in March. GOP lawmaker Paula Davis resigned from another Baton Rouge-region seat, this one in a district that’s even redder. Democrat Angela Roberts will face three Republicans on March 14; if no one tops 50 percent in March, the top two will face each other in an April runoff. | ||
| Result: Check after March 14. | ||
| Virginia’s 98th House District March 17 The death of Delegate Barry Knight, a Republican, sparked a rapid special election in his Virginia Beach district. This is a red-leaning district that voted for Trump by 15 percentage points, which is a deficit that Democrats have overcome in two legislative special elections so far this year, but even Abigail Spanberger failed to carry the district last fall. | ||
| Result: Check after March 17. | ||
| Florida’s 14th Senate District, and 51st and 87th House districts March 24 Could Trump end up represented by a Democratic state representative? The district that contains Mar-a-Lago is holding a special election for its state House seat, a red-leaning area of Palm Beach County, and Democrats are mounting a robust effort to flip it. This special election in the 87th House District is one of three contests for Florida seats that the GOP is defending in somewhat competitive districts. The others are the 14th Senate District and the 51st House District. In a regular cycle, all three seats would be red enough for the GOP to be strongly favored, but Democrats have been winning seats with a similar partisan lean. Upsets in these specials could make Florida leaders nervous about aggressively redistricting the state later this year. | ||
| Results: Check after March 24. |
Legislative seats: Primaries
| Arkansas’ Senate District 10 GOP primary | March 3 The conflict over the construction of a mega prison in Arkansas (see above) is spilling over in Republican primaries as well. Senator Ron Caldwell, who voted against funding the project, faces businessman Trey Bohannan, a challenger endorsed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has championed the prison, Bolts reports. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| North Carolina’s 1st Senate District GOP primary | March 3 A Dare County resident accused Jerry Tillett, a former local judge who is running for state Senate, of using a racial slur, posting a recording that allegedly featured Tillett’s voice. The Assembly reports that Tillett responded by asking local law enforcement to investigate the person making the allegations. The Assembly also notes Tillett has issued several injunctions against local governments who intended to remove Confederate monuments. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| North Carolina’s 29th Senate District GOP primary | March 3 Two GOP figures are clashing in this primary. Incumbent Phil Berger has led the chamber since 2011 and has scored a whirlwind of conservative wins since. His challenger, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, has partnered with ultraconservative sheriffs nationwide and championed the law that cracked down on the state’s Black sheriffs who opposed ICE. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| North Carolina’s 23rd, 27th, 99th, 106th House districts Dem primaries | March 3 Lawmaker Carla Cunningham cast the decisive vote in favor of pro-ICE legislation last year, which she justified on the House floor at the time with a speech that derided immigrants. Her record has come under scrutiny as she faces a challenger Rodney Sadler in the 106th House District, Bolts reports. She is one of several Democratic lawmakers who have helped Republicans override the vetoes of Democratic governors and now face primary challengers, alongside Shelly Willingham (23rd district) and Nasif Majeed (99th). Meanwhile, Michael Wray, a former lawmaker who similarly helped the GOP override vetoes until he lost to a progressive in 2024, is now attempting a comeback in the 27th district. | ||
| Results: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas’ House District 121 GOP primary | March 3 The contest between incumbent Marc LaHood and challenger David McArthur has drawn huge amounts of spending, a proxy for a broader war over tort reform. Some conservatives in Texas have long championed the cause of making it even more difficult to sue for medical malpractice or other forms of liability, but LaHood has helped stall legislation on this issue. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Illinois’ House Districts 40 and 42 Dem primaries | March 17 Two Democratic lawmakers face challenges from their left. In Chicago’s Northwest side, where democratic socialists have been gaining many local offices, community activist Miguel Alvelo-Rivera is challenging incumbent Jaime Andrade (HD40), an establishment ally who has long clashed with public unions. In suburban DuPage County (HD42) Margaret De La Rosa, who was appointed by party leaders to fill a legislative vacancy last fall, now faces DuPage County Board member Lynn LaPlante, who is faulting the appointment process and has drawn support from a local DSA chapter. | ||
| Results: Check after March 17. |
Local Governments
Prosecutors
| North Carolina: Buncombe County Dem primary | March 3 Three Democrats are vying to replace the retiring DA of Buncombe County, the liberal enclave that’s home to Asheville. But as they try to make their case to voters, they must deal with new state-level requirements that constrain their discretion, Piper French reports in Bolts. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| North Carolina: Durham County Dem primary | March 3 The reform–minded DA Satana Deberry faces local attorney Jonathan Wilson, whom she beat handily in 2022; Wilson has supported some of her policies like not prosecuting simple drug possession but has also faulted her for being too lenient in some cases. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas: Bexar County Dem primary | March 3 In this open Democratic primary in blue-leaning Bexar County (San Antonio), eight candidates are jostling for the two runoff spots. Defense attorney Shannon Locke is doubling down on a promise to prosecute ICE agents who commit crimes, while Jim Bethke, a past director of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, is backed by the major progressive group Texas Organizing Project. On the other end of the policy spectrum are candidates like Luz Elena Chapa Meredith Chacon who say the incumbent DA has been too progressive. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas: Dallas Dem primary | March 3 DA John Creuzot, who recently joined a nationwide group of prosecutors to discuss prosecuting federal immigration agents over violent acts, faces Amber Givens, an embattled former judge who faced state sanctions before stepping down from the bench to run for DA. Creuzot, who launched a slew of reforms after his 2018 win but has since rolled back some of his initiatives, has been a frequent target of police unions and state Republicans. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. |
Sheriffs
| North Carolina: Alamance County GOP primary | March 3 Terry Johnson, a staunchly anti-immigrant sheriff, has long drawn accusations for racist practices and rhetoric against Latinos; more than a decade ago already, the Obama administration accused him of engaging in an “egregious pattern of racial profiling” during traffic stops. He is slated to face two opponents in this GOP primary, neither of whom address immigration on their campaign websites nor responded to Bolts’ requests for comment on their views. (No Democrat filed by the deadline, but an independent is trying to petition himself onto the November ballot.) | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| North Carolina: Mecklenburg County Dem primary | March 3 Sheriff Garry McFadden has been a constant target for ICE and state Republicans angry that he limited collaboration with the feds. He’s also responsible for overseeing a jail that’s marred by deaths and lawsuits alleging brutal conditions. In his bid for reelection, he faces three challengers, all of whom have worked for local law enforcement; they’ve said they don’t want to help ICE beyond what’s required in state law, but they also faulted McFadden for being too vocally antagonistic toward ICE and state Republicans and drawing backlash. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| North Carolina: Orange County Dem primary | March 3 IndyWeek reports on the sheriff’s primary in this liberal enclave (home to Chapel Hill) between Sheriff Charles Blackwood and challenger David LaBarre, who works in a neighboring county’s sheriff’s office. Amid state mandates that they collaborate with ICE, the candidates are debating how committed they are to protecting residents, as well as other initiatives such as alternatives to police responding to emergency calls. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Illinois: Sangamon County GOP primary | March 17 When a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy killed Sonya Massey in 2024, it sparked nationwide protests. As Bolts reported in December, a local citizen commission met over a year to recommend reforms. Voters now have to decide their next sheriff, the person who would be the official to actually implement and oversee many of the proposed changes. Paula Crouch, the GOP sheriff appointed in the wake of those protests, is now calling for rollbacks to the state’s bail reform; she faces GOP challenger David Trimm, backed by the sheriff’s deputies union. | ||
| Result: Check after March 17. |
County executives
| Texas: Bexar County judge Dem primary | March 3 In a clash of prominent local figures looking to lead Bexar County, incumbent Peter Sakai faces Ron Nirenberg, who served as San Antonio’s mayor for eight years. The primary has revolved around tensions surrounding a prominent development project, and attacks on each other’s commitment to transparency and experience. | ||
| Result: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas: Fort Bend judge Dem and GOP primaries | March 3 Fort Bend County voted against Donald Trump in three consecutive presidential elections. But in 2025, County Judge KP George switched parties to join the GOP and vowed to “fight against the radical leftists.” His announcement came shortly after he was indicted for money laundering; his trial is set to start in March, right after this primary. (He has also faced allegations that he authorized a political consultant to create social media attacks to threaten people online.) George’s switch was greeted with derision by some conservatives, but he is now running for reelection and faces a crowded field of GOP challengers. Democrats are also choosing their nominee to reclaim the office in a five-way race that could go to a runoff. | ||
| Results: Check after March 3. | ||
| Texas: Harris County judge Dem and GOP primaries | March 3 Harris County Democrats, who not so long ago drew national headlines for choosing the young progressive Lina Hidalgo to lead their county, could now elect former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, a more moderate Democrat. More left-leaning organizations have endorsed Letitia Plummer, who resigned from her seat on the Houston City Council to run. Republicans held the position until Hidalgo’s win in 2018, and Abbott has said he intends to spend big this year to win it back. He endorsed Marty Lancton, the president of the local firefighters union, but Lancton faces a crowded primary, including Houston City Council Member Orlando Sanchez. | ||
| Results: Check after March 3. | ||
| Illinois: Cook County president and Champaign County executive Dem primary | March 17 It’s an oddity in Illinois: Out of all 102 counties, only three ask voters to directly elect a county executive or president. The first is Will County, which just elected a county executive in 2024; the other two are Champaign and Cook counties, who are doing so this year. The Democratic primary is the decisive contest in each. In Cook County, the longtime president of the county board faces a challenge from her right, in the form of an alderperson who stresses a tough-on-crime agenda. (Cook County voters are also voting for seven other members of their powerful commission.) In Champaign County, two Democrats are facing off in an election defined—like many other local contests recently—by anxiety over how to respond to federal budget cuts and immigration crackdowns. | ||
| Results: Check after March 17. |
City officials
| New Mexico: Rio Rancho mayor Nonpartisan election | March 3 The Republican mayor of Rio Rancho, New Mexico’s third most populous city, is running for governor. While the race to replace him is nonpartisan, the candidates include at least three Republicans (Michael Meek, Corrine Rios, Paul Wymer), and one Democrat (Alexandria Piland); the race could go to an April runoff if no one reaches 50 percent. | ||
| Results: Check after March 3. | ||
| Arizona: Tempe city council Nonpartisan election | March 10 Tempe has a contract with Flock, a surveillance company that maintains a sprawling camera network to collect information on residents that gets shared with law enforcement, including ICE. Local activist Bobby Nichols spoke at a city council meeting in October, urging councilors to terminate the contract with Flock. Now, he is running for council himself, and says ending Flock is a priority. Nichols, three incumbents and three other challengers are running for three spots on March 10; challenger Brooke St. George has also questioned the city’s relation with Flock. | ||
| Results: Check after March 10. |
Local ballot measures
| Pima County, Arizona Propositions 418 and 419 | March 10 Voters in Arizona’s second most populous county, home to Tucson, are voting on a spending plan of $2.67 billion to fund local transportation, including roads, streetcars, and buses. AZPM reports that, while a victory for the ‘no’ could lead to major cuts, some public transit advocates also say it could force the region to consider better funding models and dedicate funding streams. | ||
| Result: Check after March 10. | ||
| Ontario, California Measure V | March 24 Organized by the union Unite Here in this Southern California city, the measure would increase the minimum wage for hotel and hospitality industry workers until it reaches $30/hour by 2030. | ||
| Result: Check after March 24. |