Tuesday Delivered Big Wins for People Power!

Record AIPAC spending failed in Michigan, Republican-backed amendments collapsed in Kansas and Missouri, and Washington set up a critical House race.

Aug 05, 2026

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TL;DR

Voters in Michigan, Kansas, Missouri and Washington went to the polls yesterday (Tuesday 8/5/26)

In Michigan, progressive physician Abdul El-Sayed defeated establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic Senate primary after AIPAC’s affiliated super PAC spent a record $30.6 million supporting Stevens or opposing him. 🎉 A Detroit state representative unseated a sitting member of Congress. In Missouri, voters rejected two Republican-backed constitutional amendments, including one that would have required citizen-led constitutional amendments to win in all eight congressional districts, but the night was not a complete sweep: Rep. Wesley Bell, backed by AIPAC-aligned spending, defeated former Rep. Cori Bush. Kansas voters rejected direct elections for their state Supreme Court, about 61% to 39%.. In Washington’s most competitive House district, Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican state Sen. John Braun both advanced to November. Results remain unofficial until each state certifies them.

Michigan

Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate primary. He will be running against Republican Mike Rogers this November in the Midterms
Jocelyn Benson won the Democratic nomination for governor. She will face Republican Rep. John James this Novemeber
Donavan McKinney defeated Rep. Shri Thanedar in the 13th District
William Lawrence won the Democratic primary in the battleground 7th District
Rashida Tlaib easily won renomination in the 12th District

Kansas

Voters rejected the constitutional amendment to directly elect state Supreme Court justices, about 61% to 39%
Cindy Holscher won the Democratic nomination for governor and will face Republican Ty Masterson this November
Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton won the Democratic Senate primary and will challenge Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in November in the Midterms

Missouri

Amendment 4, which would have imposed a district-by-district requirement on citizen-led constitutional amendments, it failed with more than 80% voting no
Amendment 5, which would have begun phasing out the individual income tax based on revenue growth triggers, failed with about 83% voting no
Rep. Wesley Bell defeated former Rep. Cori Bush

Washington

Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican state Sen. John Braun advanced from the top-two primary in the 3rd District
Washington will continue counting mail ballots, so their final percentages and primary vote margin will change before certification

$30.6 Million AIPAC Money

AIPAC’s affiliated super PAC, the United Democracy Project, spent more than $30.6 million supporting Haley Stevens or opposing Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary.

This was the largest amount AIPAC’s political operation has ever invested in a single race. Federal Election Commission records also showed that other outside groups supporting Stevens and spent more than $50 million altogether. However, Abdul El-Sayed still won. 🎉

The Associated Press called the race Wednesday morning with El-Sayed leading by 14,893 votes, under one percentage point, out of more than 1.5 million ballots.

The AIPAC-funded ads focused on manufacturing and featured old footage of Barack Obama praising Stevens work on the auto industry rescue. Sure, Obama said those things back in 2018, when she was running for the House. He didn’t endorse Stevens in this Senate primary.

Former Rep. Andy Levin, who lost to Stevens in a 2022 primary after redistricting said: “AIPAC never runs on AIPAC. They never even talk about Israel and Palestine.”

Stevens didn’t personally “receive $30 million from AIPAC.” However, United Democracy Project and other outside groups made independent expenditures supporting her or attacking El-Sayed. Those groups are legally prohibited from coordinating those expenditures with a candidate’s campaign.

Stevens conceded Wednesday morning and pledged her support to El-Sayed for November and Sen. Gary Peters, who had endorsed Stevens in the primary, called on Democrats to rally around El-Sayed. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer congratulated him and emphasized party unity, although she didn’t issue the same kind of explicit endorsement. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who suspended her campaign in July but remained on the ballot, gave El-Sayed her “full endorsement and support” shortly after 2 a.m., hours before the Associated Press officially called the race.

AIPAC will keep opposing Abdul El-Sayed:
After El-Sayed won, AIPAC announced that it plans to oppose him again in November, when he faces Republican Mike Rogers.

The most money AIPAC has ever spent on one race. The candidate it backed still finished second.

Detroit

State Rep. Donavan McKinney defeated Rep. Shri Thanedar, 51.9% to 48.1%, a margin of nearly 4,200 votes out of about 112,000. The results remain unofficial until certification, but all precincts have reported. (Michigan Public)

The money story here is actually kind of funny when you think about it. Thanedar is a wealthy businessman who has poured millions of his own money into his political campaigns. Federal campaign-finance records through July 15 showed him with just over $5 million in cash on hand. McKinney had about $143,000.

Thanedar had the endorsement of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and support from AIPAC PAC, which had raised approximately $155,000 for his reelection campaigns since 2023. McKinney had Michigan’s organized labor movement, the Michigan Chronicle, Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, and former Rep. Brenda Lawrence. (FEC & Michigan Chronicle)

McKinney, a democratic socialist endorsed by DSA, is now heavily favored in November. The Cook Political Report rates the district Solid Democratic. If elected, he would restore Black representation to Detroit’s congressional delegation, which the city lost after Thanedar won the seat in 2022. 🎉 Before that, Detroit had been represented by a Black member of Congress for nearly 70 years.

McKinney said afterward that the campaign had shown how “the poorest district in the state can come together to defeat the richest lobbies and multimillionaires.”

The Seventh

William Lawrence, a community organizer who co-founded the Sunrise Movement, won the Democratic primary in Michigan’s 7th District by double digits. He received roughly 43% of the vote, defeating two more moderate, establishment-aligned opponents: former U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink and former Navy SEAL and Obama military aide Matt Maasdam.

William Lawrence. Unbought. Michigan-made. Proven leader.

Lawrence will face Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in November in a district the Cook Political Report rates a toss-up. Trump carried it by about one point in 2024, and Barrett won his first term with just over 50% of the vote.

Lawrence campaigned on Medicare for All, stronger labor rights, taxing billionaires and corporations, and perhaps most importantly for communities across the district, demanding the end of unchecked construction of massive AI data centers, which became a central part of his campaign and helped him win strongly in Mason, where a new data center has been proposed.

Missouri said no twice, and it wasn’t close

Republican lawmakers referred two major constitutional amendments to voters, and Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe placed them on the August primary ballot. Both got torched. 🔥

Amendment 4 would have required citizen led constitutional amendment to win a majority in every one of Missouri’s eight congressional districts, not just a statewide majority. Based on 2024 turnout, the Missouri Independent reported that as few as roughly 5% of all votes cast statewide, concentrated in one district, could have potentially blocked an amendment supported by statewide majority.

Missourians have used citizen-led constitutional amendments to legalize medical and recreational marijuana, expand Medicaid, legalize sports betting and restore abortion rights. Amendment 4 would have made wins like those dramatically more difficult and, based on past election results, would have blocked every citizen-led constitutional amendment approved in Missouri since 2020. It lost with about 80% voting no.

Amendment 5 would have required lawmakers to phase out Missouri’s individual income tax based on revenue growth triggers. It also would have authorized lawmakers to expand sales and use taxes and weakened existing constitutional limits on taxing goods and services. It lost with about 83% voting no.

Two other Missouri amendments passed.
Amendment 1 renews an existing 0.1% sales tax supporting state parks and soil and water conservation, it’s a renewal, not a new tax.
Amendment 2 requires all charter counties, including Jackson County, to elect their county assessors and comply with state training requirements.

Kansas and the Court

About 61% of Kansas voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have abolished the state’s Supreme Court Nominating Commission and replaced the current selection system with direct elections for six-year terms.

Kansas Republicans hold supermajorities in both legislative chambers and placed the amendment on the August primary ballot, when turnout is typically lower and the electorate generally leans more Republican. Unaffiliated voters could still vote on the amendment, but they had no partisan primary of their own drawing them to the polls. It was the same strategy used for the August 2022 abortion amendment and Kansans rejected that one too.

Republican lawmakers and conservative groups have spent years attacking the court over decisions protecting abortion rights and requiring the Legislature to meet its constitutional school-funding obligations. After voters refused to remove abortion protections directly in 2022, Republicans pursued a different route by changing how the justices are selected.

Retired Justice Carol Beier said: “The Kansas Supreme Court must remain fair and impartial for every citizen. It cannot and will not be bought to give a few an unfair advantage.”

Kansas has now rejected two Republican backed attempts to weaken that protection. Both were placed on August primary ballots and both failed.

Washington uses a top-two primary in which every candidate appears on the same ballot, regardless of party.

In the 3rd District, Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican state Sen. John Braun have both been projected to advance from a nine-candidate field.

Early returns showed Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun nearly tied for first place, but both were comfortably ahead of the rest of the field and secured places in November.

Trump endorsed Braun in April and called Gluesenkamp Perez a “true Radical Left Extremist”, an unusual description for a Democrat who has repeatedly broken with her party and ranked among the House Democrats most likely to vote with Republicans.

Washington conducts its elections almost entirely by mail, so the totals will continue changing. Counties are scheduled to certify the primary on August 18, followed by state certification on August 21, the November matchup has been projected.

Reminder!!

Check your registration at vote.org, and check your household’s too because purges DO happen.
Look up who’s on your next ballot. Check the School board, county commission, assessor, everyone. Learn about them and what they stand for to help be a community voice.
Read the Missouri results and the Kansas results

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