Democracy '26: Live primary results as Trump-backed candidates win key races

Rep. Kevin Hern, a President Donald Trump-backed candidate who won Oklahoma's Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, said "Oklahomans deserve strong conservative leadership and a Senator who will fight for our values."

"I look forward to earning your support again in November and serving as your next United States Senator!" Hern wrote on X following his victory.

In June, Trump said Hern, who is "from the Wonderful State of Oklahoma (where I won all 77 out of 77 Counties, in 2016, 2020, and 2024!), is a Great Patriot, and FANTASTIC Congressman."

"A true friend of MAGA, Kevin is now running for the United States Senate, where I know he will continue to do an incredible job," Trump added.

FIRST ON FOX: Senate candidate James Talarico lavished praise on a left-wing activism group that worked to eliminate Texas' oil and gas industry, in an unearthed video obtained by Fox News Digital. 

Talarico participated in a June 2024 organizing call celebrating the expansion of Third Act, a climate advocacy and protest group for individuals over 60, into the Lone Star State. At the time, the organization was ramping up efforts to isolate the fossil-fuel industry by pressuring major banks to cut financial ties with the sector and targeting the buildout of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals on the Texas Gulf Coast. 

"This is the frontline in the fight to save democracy and save our planet, and so your arrival couldn't come at a better time," Talarico, who was serving in his third term as a state representative, told the group in pre-recorded remarks. "I look forward to working alongside all of you in this important work, and I just want to thank you for coming to Texas."

Later on the call, Talarico described the climate activists' efforts as the highest calling, describing it as "as the most important work in the most important time in the most important place."

Two weeks after that call, Third Act Texas called for a transition to "100% renewable resources as soon as possible."

Talarico’s comments appear to complicate his recent efforts to position himself as a defender of Texas energy workers while sharply criticizing Democrats who advocate eliminating oil and gas production.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump but came up short in the state’s Republican runoff election for governor, said in a video message on Wednesday that he is “Moving onto the next chapter of life.” 

“Last night was election night and it did not turn out like we wanted it to, but I wanted to take the time to thank all of our supporters, all of our volunteers, all the many people who endorsed us along the way, from President Trump to Governor Kemp to all the sheriffs across the state that endorsed us, and elected officials, I greatly appreciate you more than you know,” Jones said on X after being defeated by billionaire businessman Rick Jackson. 

“Moving onto the next chapter of life. So life goes on and there is a life after politics, no question about it,” he added. 

Billionaire businessman Rick Jackson told Fox News Digital prior to his victory in Tuesday’s Georgia Republican runoff election for governor that he will “put in whatever’s necessary” to win in November. 

The remark comes as Jackson already spent more than $100 million of his own money to win the nomination. 

“I’ll put in whatever’s necessary. We cannot have somebody that doesn’t know how to run the city, that now wants to run the state,” Jackson said, referencing his Democrat challenger, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. 

“So from that standpoint, I’ll do whatever is necessary to win in November,” he added. 

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this post.

Janeese Lewis George has taken the lead in the District of Columbia mayoral primary as of early Wednesday morning. 

The Associated Press is reporting that Lewis George, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist candidate, has captured 52.8% of the vote, with Kenyan McDuffie, a more moderate Democrat, trailing with 36.6%.  

As of early Wednesday morning, 64% of the votes were counted, according to the AP. 

“What seemed like a distant dream not long ago is already history unfolding before our eyes,” Lewis George told supporters on election night. 

Two underdog candidates advanced to a runoff election in Oklahoma’s 2026 Democratic Senate primary after no candidate clinched a majority of the vote.

N’kiyla Jasmine Thomas, a nurse and Chickasaw Nation citizen, and Jim Priest, a lawyer and ordained minister, will compete in an Aug. 25 runoff election, according to The Associated Press.

Thomas won 45% of the vote, followed by Priest, who registered just under 24% support.

The winner will face Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who easily clinched the GOP nomination for the deep-red Senate seat and avoided a runoff election. Hern is endorsed by President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

Under Oklahoma law, if no candidate secures more than 50% of the primary vote, the top two vote-getters will compete in a runoff election.

Janeese Lewis George, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist candidate for mayor in Washington, D.C., said she believed recent comments President Donald Trump made about possibly ordering a federal takeover in the nation’s capital impacted the race, a report said. 

Trump suggested that he'd order another federal takeover of Washington D.C. if the "crazy socialist” mayoral candidate was elected.  

“I wouldn’t like it — and maybe we take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” Trump said when asked by reporters how'd he respond if Lewis George, a D.C. Council member, were to win her bid.  

As of Wednesday morning, the Democratic primary for D.C. mayor has not yet been called. 

“Some people who weren’t paying attention to this race until the very end, when Trump made those comments, people were (like) ‘Wait a minute I need to pay attention,’” Lewis George said, according to The Associated Press, which added that she believed Trump’s comments prompted people to go out and vote. 

Fox News Digital’s Elaine Mallon and The Associated Press contributed to this post. 

He wasn't on the ballot, but President Donald Trump's immense clout over the GOP faced more key tests in high-stakes Republican runoffs in Georgia and in neighboring Alabama Tuesday.

While the power of a Trump endorsement in Republican primaries didn't escape unscathed, Trump-backed candidates won two of the three top races, with the one setback coming against a billionaire businessman who shelled out over $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign.

Rep. Barry Moore, a House Freedom Caucus member and longtime Trump supporter who was endorsed by the president, comfortably defeated rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper who was supported by some top names on the right, in solidly red Alabama's GOP Senate runoff.

In battleground Georgia's Republican Senate runoff, an 11th hour endorsement by Trump this past weekend helped boost Rep. Mike Collins, a MAGA champion, to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was backed by popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

But in Georgia's GOP gubernatorial runoff, the candidate Trump backed, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was also endorsed by Kemp this past weekend, was defeated by Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider.

Jones regularly showcased his Trump endorsement, but Jackson, who launched his bid in February long after the president had endorsed Jones, repeatedly said that Trump had inspired him to run.

"I just thought, you know, if you had somebody doing business solutions for the state of Georgia, just like Trump is for the United States, I just felt like I would have a major impact on the state of Georgia, and so that was one of the reasons I wanted to get in. I was inspired by President Trump," Jackson told Fox News Digital recently.

President Donald Trump vowed early Wednesday that he will be hosting “Big TRUMP Rallies” in Georgia after Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., won the state’s Republican Senate runoff. 

Collins, a two-term member of the House of Representatives, defeated Republican challenger Derek Dooley, a football coach and attorney, on Tuesday evening for a chance to challenge incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. 

“So happy for highly respected Congressman Mike Collins. He will win his Senate Race in Georgia against a pathetic failed Dumocrat Senator, Os(jerk!)off, who is a joke in D.C.,” Trump wrote early Wednesday on Truth Social. 

“Nobody even knows who he is!!! I’ll be doing Big TRUMP Rallies for Mike in Georgia!” Trump added. 

Ossoff last won election in a 50.6% to 49.4% victory over then-Senator David Perdue, R-Ga., in 2021. 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump congratulated Rick Jackson, a billionaire health care executive and political newcomer, on his runoff victory in the Georgia Republican gubernatorial primary.

"Congratulations to Rick Jackson, who very successfully campaigned on being 'TRUMP,' and won. He will be your next Governor of Georgia. Can’t wait!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump had endorsed Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who also received term limited Gov. Brian Kemp's endorsement in one of the most expensive and closely watched GOP gubernatorial contests of the cycle.

Jackson will now face Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor who also served in the White House under the Biden administration, in the general election.

Eleanor Holmes Norton’s 35-year hold on Washington, D.C.’s non-voting U.S. congressional seat moved closer to its end Tuesday as Democrats chose Robert White as their nominee to replace one of the city’s most entrenched political figures.

White won the Democratic primary for the district’s non-voting delegate seat, putting him on track to become the capital’s first new member of Congress since Norton took office in 1991.

Norton, 88, announced earlier this year that she would not seek another term after 18 terms in Congress. The decision marked a reversal for the longtime Democrat, who had previously resisted pressure to step aside and argued that her seniority remained important to the district.

The seat carries symbolic weight in Washington politics, even though D.C.’s House delegate can only serve on committees, introduce legislation and advocate for the district but cannot cast a final vote on the House floor.

Norton has long used the post to push for D.C. statehood, home rule and full congressional representation.

White will advance to the November general election in overwhelmingly Democratic Washington, where the party’s nominee is heavily favored. Republican Denise Rosado ran unopposed for the GOP nomination, while D.C. Statehood Green candidate Kymone Freeman is also seeking the seat.

Norton’s retirement opened a rare scramble for a seat that had been effectively frozen in place for a generation, giving D.C. voters their first real chance in decades to choose a new congressional voice.

Jena Nelson, candidate for Congress in Oklahoma’s 5th congressional district, won the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., on Tuesday evening.

Nelson now faces an uphill race to flip a solidly Republican-leaning district.

Like many Democrats, Nelson has framed her campaign as a referendum on affordability.

“Oklahomans are struggling, and our elected officials — they don’t care. They don’t care that they’re saddling our children and our grandchildren with crippling national debt,” Nelson said in a campaign video.

“I know struggle, and I know what good government could do to help people.”

On her website, she also lists national security, protecting social security and veteran affairs as key priorities.

Nelson is a former teacher, a nonprofit development professional and, most recently, has served as acting executive director and director of programs for the Oklahoma Faith Network.

Bice last won reelection in 2024 in a 60.7% to 39.3% victory over Democratic challenger Madison Horn, a cybersecurity consultant.

Mitchell Jacob won the Democratic nomination Tuesday for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District, setting up a long-shot general election fight in one of the state’s most reliably Republican House seats.

Jacob, an Army veteran, public defender and University of Oklahoma College of Law graduate, defeated retired Air Force Col. Jeff Pixley in the Democratic primary.

The district is currently represented by Trump-endorsed Republican Rep. Tom Cole, the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Cole has held the seat since 2003 and won re-election in 2024 with a significant margin of the vote. Jacob will face Cole, who also won his primary election Tuesday, in the general election in November.

Oklahoma’s 4th District stretches across south-central Oklahoma and includes Norman, Lawton, Moore, Ada, Duncan, Ardmore and parts of southern Oklahoma City. The district backed President Donald Trump by a wide margin in 2024 over Democrat Kamala Harris.

Jacob previously ran in 2024 for the U.S. House in Oklahoma's 20th Congressional District, but lost in the general election to a Republican who garnered three-fourths of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. Republicans have held all five of Oklahoma’s U.S. House seats since 2021, and prior to that dominated the delegation for years starting in 2013.

On Jacob's campaign website, he says he served more than five years in the Army as a cryptologic linguist, deployed to southern Syria and later graduated from OU law.

He also has taken several progressive positions that could draw GOP scrutiny in the general election, including calling for ICE to be abolished explicitly on his campaign website under his list of policy positions.

California state Sen. Aisha Wahab advanced to an August runoff in the special election for California's 14th Congressional District, which will determine who fills the House seat vacated by former Rep. Eric Swalwell after he resigned in April following sexual misconduct allegations.

Under California law, if a candidate does not receive more than 50% of the vote in a special primary, the top two finishers compete in a runoff.

Wahab also advanced from the June 2 top-two primary, facing each other again in November as voters decide who will represent the district for the full term beginning in January 2027.

Swalwell stepped down from the House seat he had held for more than a decade and ended his bid for California governor after the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reported allegations of sexual misconduct involving multiple women, including a former aide who accused him of rape. Swalwell has denied the allegations.

Endorsed by the California Democratic Party, Wahab became the first Afghan American woman elected to public office in the United States in 2018 and the first Afghan American elected to the California State Legislature in 2022.

Wahab has focused on housing affordability, public safety, and healthcare costs, according to their campaign websites.

California’s polls have closed in a special election primary to fill the vacant congressional seat once held by former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., in the state’s 14th Congressional District.

The East Bay district, which includes communities such as Fremont, Hayward and Livermore, drew attention after Swalwell resigned from Congress earlier this year, triggering the special election process.

The race has drawn added attention because Swalwell had been running for California governor before ending his campaign and resigning from Congress following allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, which he denies.

Voters were choosing from a crowded field of candidates. Among the most closely watched contenders were Democratic state Sen. Aisha Wahab and Bay Area Rapid Transit director Melissa Hernandez. Republicans Wendy Huang and Dena Maldonado were also on the ballot, seeking to gain ground in a district that has traditionally favored Democrats.

Jackson Lahmeyer, a pastor with backing from President Donald Trump, and Mark Tedford, an Oklahoma state representative, advanced to a primary runoff on Tuesday evening in a bid to replace outgoing Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., in the state's first district.

With no candidate capturing the majority needed to win the primary outright, the runoff is scheduled for Aug. 25.

Lahmeyer, who has positioned himself as a pro-Trump candidate, leads Sheridan Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma and has made political topics a part of his preaching from the pulpit, citing his belief that the U.S. is a Christian nation. He has invited political guests to his congregation and has given away MAGA-affiliated merchandise.

“I would rather be labeled a ‘Christian Nationalist’

than a ‘godless globalist’ any day of the week,” Lahmeyer said in a 2022 interview with Word & Way.

Trump endorsed him in early May.

Tedford, a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives with a background in business, has touted his previous accomplishments as proof of real-world experience.

“Mark’s record is built on results, not rhetoric, earning him CPAC’s 2026 Conservative Achievement Award, one of the highest honors in the conservative movement,” Tedford’s website reads, referring to the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Lahmeyer and Tedford look to fill Hern’s seat after Hern announced he would run for the Senate.

Hern, in turn, is running to fill the seat of Markwayne Mullin, the Senator selected by Trump to become DHS secretary earlier this year.