Primary season has officially concluded in the United States, with Democrats leading the polls among voters amid widespread economic anxieties, a war with Iran and Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda continuing into the end of the year. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

Democratic and Republican voters have selected contenders for key races in the 3 November midterms that will decide the balance of power in Congress, and the future of both parties. Democrats have been rocked by the primary victories of leftwing candidates. Republicans have doubled down on backing the president's policies, despite his low approval ratings. And both parties are navigating the fallout from a series of scandals that have forced some candidates from the race, while others decided to press on.

House turnover

Viewed as the chamber of Congress most likely to change hands in the midterms, the House saw significant turnover this cycle, with 74 members departing, the most since 1992, according to a tally from the Pew Research Center. Some outgoing lawmakers retired, while others ran for other offices, but generally didn't fare particularly well – only 13 made it through primaries for governorships, the Senate or other offices, with the remaining 15 were rejected by voters.

Among representatives who sought re-election to the House, 11 lost their primaries, the second-highest total since 2022. Seven of these were Democrats, two of whom – Julie Johnson and Al Green – were unseated by other Democratic incumbents after they were redistricted by Texas Republicans to compete against each other.

Of the five House Democrats who lost their primaries to newcomers, four were booted by leftist candidates with ties to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). In New York, Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair Adriano Espaillat fell to DSA member Darializa Avila Chevalier and congressman Dan Goldman was ousted by former DSA member Brad Lander, while DSA member Claire Valdez also won the primary to replace retiring congresswoman Nydia Velazquez.

In Colorado, DSA member Melat Kiros unseated 30-year incumbent Diana DeGette, and in Michigan, the DSA-endorsed Donovan McKinney beat congressman Shri Thanedar. All are expected to win their seats in the midterms, as their districts are heavily Democratic.

"A lot of people were hoping that it was a blip, like oh well, this is a special case," said the DSA-endorsed Chris Rabb, who is expected to be elected to the House after winning the Democratic primary in deep-blue Philadelphia. "We showed them a different way. So I think all of those things make this election cycle uniquely powerful in ways that most people could not anticipate, myself included."

The fifth sitting Democrat to lose renomination was John Larson. His challenger, Luke Bronin, 47, successfully argued to voters that it was time to replace the 78-year-old incumbent with a younger candidate.

Battleground districts

The battle for the House will not be decided in safe blue seats, but rather the 21 districts that the Cook Political Report considers to be toss-ups. In those districts, the nominees are almost entirely backed by the Pacs of either the center-left New Democrat Coalition, or the moderate Blue Dogs, which centrists say bolsters their arguments that their policies most closely align with the voters who determine control of Congress. "If Democrats are to win the majority in the House and/or the Senate, it will be because moderates flip seats from red to blue," said Matt Bennett, an executive vice-president at the thinktank Third Way.

There are exceptions to the trend: former DSA member William Lawrence won the Democratic nomination to take on Republican incumbent Tom Barrett in a swing Michigan congressional district, while in that state's Democratic Senate primary, Abdul El-Sayed beat congresswoman Haley Stevens, who was backed by much of the party establishment.

The DSA's wins reintensified debate among Democrats over the political direction of the party, but the left-wing movement's momentum was not absolute. In Missouri, DSA member Cori Bush failed in her primary challenge against congressman Wesley Bell, who had unseated her two years ago. Hawaii congressman Ed Case fended off state senator Jarrett Keohokalole, who had challenged him from the left and argued it was time for generational change. In Massachusetts, congressman Seth Moulton made a similar argument about the Democratic senator Ed Markey, though in this case Moulton was the moderate candidate and Markey the progressive.

It didn't work, and Markey won renomination, as did other congressional Democrats in the state who faced primary challenges. In Colorado, state senator Julie Gonzales mounted an unsuccessful left-wing challenge to Democratic US senator John Hickenlooper, while in Washington, moderate congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez again won the Democratic nomination in her right-leaning district against several challengers.

Trump as kingmaker

As always, Trump sought to play kingmaker in the primaries, endorsing candidates who hewed to his agenda and seeking revenge against those who had broken with him, however small their transgressions. Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie lost his primary after the president campaigned against him, and the president's decision not to make an endorsement in Texas repres...