Incumbents in both parties are under pressure as the polls begin to close in the first 2026 midterm primaries, as voters in North Carolina, Texas and Arkansas weigh in on the debates within their parties and set the stage for the battle for control of Washington this fall. One incumbent is guaranteed to lose in these states, since redistricting forced Texas Democratic Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee into a member-versus-member primary that’s being fought along generational lines. The two are locked in a tight race with about two-thirds of the expected vote in, with Menefee holding a slight lead but just shy of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. In Texas, the top two candidates move to a head-to-head primary runoff election if no one gets a majority. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, before the State of the Union address in February.Kenny Holston / The New York Times/Pool via Getty ImagesOther incumbents face serious primary challenges, too.Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s bid for another term is in deep trouble in Texas, where he is the only incumbent House Republican running for re-election in the state who did not get President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Crenshaw trails state Rep. Steve Toth by 19 points with almost 60% of the expected vote in.In North Carolina, Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee is locked in a tight rematch of the 2022 primary that sent her to Congress against Durham County Commission member Nida Allam. Foushee has a 2-point lead over Allam with about 90% of the projected vote in. Allam has tried to cast Foushee as not progressive enough on issues including Israel and the role of artificial intelligence, and Allam’s allies have blanketed the airwaves with attacks on Foushee’s past support from pro-Israel groups, arguing that she’s in the pocket of special interests and big business.Foushee has pushed back, framing herself as a productive progressive with the experience and seniority needed to counter the Trump administration. She has cast the attacks over outside money as hollow given Allam’s backing from outside groups, too.Representative Valerie Foushee, a Democrat from North Carolina, speaks during a campaign event at Rivals Barbershop ahead of the North Carolina primary election in Durham, North Carolina, US, on Sunday, March 1, 2026. Cornell Watson / Bloomberg via Getty ImagesWhile much of the national attention is focused on Texas’ competitive Senate races on both sides of the aisle, there are a wealth of competitive House races down the ballot. Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales’ re-election bid has drawn the most attention in recent weeks, as he faced allegations of having had an affair with a former staffer in his congressional office who subsequently died by suicide.And Democratic Reps. Julie Johnson and Sylvia Garcia face primary danger as well. Garcia is running above 50% with about two-thirds of the expected vote counted in her district, as she seeks to defeat a challenge from state Rep. Jarvis Johnson and prevent the race from going to a runoff. Key primaries Tuesday will also shape the House battleground districts that will decide control of the chamber in the fall.Republicans are looking for nominees to take on Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez in heavily Latino South Texas, which swung hard toward Trump in 2024, while Democrats are looking for a standard-bearer against GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz in a neighboring seat. Republicans will also anoint their candidate in North Carolina’s 1st District, who will square off against Democratic Rep. Don Davis in another key race this fall. Meanwhile, there are open seat primaries across Texas to watch, too, particularly where Trump has weighed in to shape the future of the Republican Party in Congress.In one of them, residents are poised for a lookalike transition: The congressman from Texas’ 22nd District, Troy Nehls, is retiring at the end of the year, and his twin brother, Trever Nehls, is projected to win the GOP primary in the deeply Republican district.