Democrats Select Candidates in 2026 Midterm Primaries

Additional primaries are scheduled for June 2 in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, Montana and Iowa, with the final contests set for Delaware on September 15. The midterms will fill 35 Senate seats and all 435 House seats. Republicans currently hold 53 Senate seats to Democrats' 47 and 218 House seats to Democrats' 212, with five House vacancies.

Platner, a 41-year-old Marine Corps veteran and oyster farmer, is the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine after Governor Janet Mills withdrew from the race. Platner is running against Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has held the seat for nearly 30 years.

Bruce Wolpe of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney said Platner has drawn support despite limited political experience. Platner has apologized for a military tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol and has since covered it.

Retired firefighter and union leader Bob Brooks won the Democratic nomination for a House seat in Pennsylvania. Jack Schlossberg, 33, grandson of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former U.S. ambassador Caroline Kennedy, is seeking a House seat in New York. Schlossberg has described his campaign as focused on public service rather than celebrity.