The House is growing closer to having a fresh wave of new faces in the chamber after four states held congressional primaries Tuesday night to fill seats held by retiring members or those seeking higher office.
Reps. Dan Kildee (D-MI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Jake LaTurner (R-KS) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) are among the House members who are declining to run for reelection or running for the Senate.
Their decision to forgo another term in their seats opened the floodgates for Democrats and Republicans who hope to become part of the 2025 freshman House class.
Michigan
In Michigan, Kildee decided not to run for a seventh term in the state’s 8th Congressional District, which has been in the Kildee family since the 1970s. Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet and Republican Paul Junge won their respective primaries and will go on to face each other in the general election.
Republicans have been eyeing Kildee’s seat as a pickup opportunity thanks to redistricting, and the Cook Political Report rates the seat as a toss-up with a 1-point advantage for the GOP.
Meanwhile, Slotkin became the Democratic nominee for Senate to replace outgoing Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Tuesday night, leaving her 7th District wide open. Curtis Hertel won the Democratic nomination and Tom Barrett won the Republican nomination to replace the congresswoman after both candidates ran unopposed in the primaries.
The 7th District narrowly backed Donald Trump in 2016 but then backed Joe Biden by a slim margin in 2020. Slotkin’s open seat is ranked a toss-up with a 2-point GOP advantage.
Missouri
Though not an open seat, Missouri’s 1st District is assured to get a new representative after Wesley Bell defeated incumbent Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) in the primary. With the seat comfortably in Democratic hands since 2000, it is likely Bell will become the district’s congressman in November. He will face Republican Andrew Jones, who beat his closest primary competitor by just over 1 percentage point.
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) is ending his career after 15 years in the House, serving Missouri’s 9th District from 2009 to 2013 and the state’s 3rd District since 2013.
Republican Bob Onder won a crowded primary for the 3rd District’s GOP nomination and will go on to face Democrat Bethany Mann in November. The Cook Political Report rates Luetkemeyer’s open seat as solidly Republican.
Washington state
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) made heads turn earlier this year when she decided not to run for reelection, despite heading the influential Energy and Commerce Committee and being eligible for another two-year term as chairwoman under GOP conference rules.
Washington state follows a top-two primary contest. McMorris Rodgers’s seat in the 5th Congressional is likely to remain in Republican hands, giving Republican Michael Baumgartner an advantage over Democratic nominee Carmela Conroy. Baumgartner and Conroy defeated nine other challengers.
Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) is also forgoing reelection, but the seat is expected to still stay under Democratic control. The race has not yet been called, but Democrat Emily Randall and GOP candidate Drew MacEwen are likely to advance to the general election.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Kansas
Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-KS) opted not to run for reelection after serving only two terms in office, ushering in seven candidates to vie for his seat: five Republicans and two Democrats.
Derek Schmidt, the state’s former attorney general who lost to Gov. Laura Kelly (D-KS) in 2022, won the Republican nomination. Democrat Nancy Boyda won the primary by a narrow margin, defeating Matt Kleinmann by a little over 700 votes when the race was called, despite Kleinmann leading for much of the night.
Local News
