Primary season came to an end this week when voters in Delaware headed to the polls on September 15. That same day, early in-person general-election voting started in four states. So it’s a good time to take a step back and look at what the primaries told us about where the American electorate is right now. It’s always important to beware of simplistic narratives about the primaries. We don’t have a national system of nominating contests — even for the national office of the presidency — and the 50 states have widely varying rules, traditions, and party dynamics. But there are some clear trends that may carry over into November and beyond.

. A lot of incumbents are leaving, but not involuntarily.

Generally, 2026 has not been a great year for incumbent officeholders. But most open seats were triggered by retirements rather than primary defeats. According to a tabulation from the Pew Research Center, 74 House members (42 Republicans and 32 Democrats) chose not to stand for reelection, the most since 1992, according to a Brookings Institution study. It should be noted that 28 of these retirees weren’t hanging it up but were instead running for other offices. Still, 11 House incumbents (six Democrats and five Republicans) and two Senate incumbents (both Republicans) lost 2026 primaries for reelection. That’s no higher than the “kill rate” in the last midterm election, in 2022, when 14 House members and no senators lost primaries.

Many incumbents managed to win because their big fundraising and name-identification advantages offset what was clearly an anti-Establishment mood among voters from both parties. Some analysts have also noticed a generational trend toward younger candidates, but the record is mixed. There were young fogies (like Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Seth Moulton) and old insurgents (like his octogernarian opponent, Ed Markey) in some races.

. While Democrats did shift to the left, the trend was overstated.

One of the most prominent national narratives about the........

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