On Tuesday night in New Hampshire, Democrats won yet another Republican seat in a special election—marking their 10th flip of Donald Trump’s second term. On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, we unpack that race, then dive into a ton of others, including Steve Daines’ attempt to hand off his Senate seat to a preferred successor, Darrell Issa’s last-second dropout, runoff drama in Texas, upcoming primaries in Illinois, and more!

Primary season started with a bang on Tuesday night, headlined by Texas’ high-intensity Senate race. But there were tons of other important elections on the ballot, not just in the Lone Star State but in North Carolina and Arkansas as well. We recap the top contests on this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, which include the first House incumbent to lose this year, multiple races headed to runoffs, and yet another special election flip by Democrats.

We’re also joined this week by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, the founder of a new group devoted to electing Democrats to county-level office nationwide called Boosting Future Leaders Onward. Poloncarz tells us all about these important but overlooked posts, including their far-reaching powers and how Democrats are using them to combat Donald Trump’s attacks on our democracy. He also highlights key elections across the country taking place this year.

At long last, the 2026 primaries are upon us! On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, David Nir and guest host Joe Sudbay preview some of Tuesday’s most important races, including both parties’ primary for Senate in Texas, a scandal-plagued GOP congressman’s desperate bid for reelection in San Antonio, an early test for House Democrats facing upstart primary challengers in North Carolina, and more.

Also joining us is Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, who explains how her organization, the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, helps make sure progressive ballot measures succeed and anti-democracy efforts fail. Fields Figueredo walks us through the entire life cycle of an initiative, which doesn’t end at passage—implementation is critical, too. And she spotlights some of the most important measures voters across the country will get to weigh in on this year.