July 29, 2026, 6:24 p.m.
WHEN: Polls close at 7 p.m. on Aug. 4.
BIG PICTURE: With the biggest contests set in a general-election matchup, only a handful of primaries remain competitive in the Old Dominion: Republicans jockeying to take on three-term Sen. Mark Warner (D), and contentious Democratic contests in the 1st and 8th Districts.
SENATE: Making his Mark
Warner is well-positioned to win a fourth Senate term as he runs unopposed in the Democratic primary. Three Republicans—2018 candidate Bert Mizusawa, cybersecurity manager Kim Farington, and Marine Corps veteran David Williams—are running in the GOP primary to take on the senator in November.
- ANALYSIS: Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s blowout win in the 2025 governor’s race was a good omen for Warner's prospects this year. None of the GOP opponents running have raised seven figures to date, a sharp contrast from the incumbent’s $16.1 million war chest.
- COOK RATING: Solid Democrat
HOUSE: D.C.’s backyard
The Commonwealth will host a handful of notable primaries, but the main act will come in November, when the parties duke it out in Virginia-01, -02, and -07.
- Virginia-01. Democratic leaders have their preferred candidate in Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor, who is on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue list. But that designation has sparked dismay among some of Taylor’s Democratic opponents, who have asked the state party to confirm its neutrality in the primary. Taylor remains in the driver’s seat, winning endorsements from the governor, both senators, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. She is likely to be the nominee to challenge Rep. Rob Wittman.
- COOK RATING: Lean Republican
- Virginia-08. The 76-year-old Rep. Don Beyer (D) faces a plethora of Democratic challengers in his Northern Virginia district, but the splintered nature of the field makes an upset unlikely.
- COOK RATING: Solid Democrat
A HELPING HAND: Buttigieg on the scene
Along with his endorsement of Taylor in the 1st District, Buttigieg also gave the nod to former Reps. Elaine Luria in the 2nd District and Tom Perriello in the 5th.
- ANALYSIS: Buttigieg, who has endorsed candidates throughout the country, endorsed Luria in the leadup to her 2020 campaign. Though Taylor is running in a contested primary, she has the support of the DCCC, and the additional outside support might further boost her.
AS SEEN ON TV
In Luria’s first TV ad, in which she is shown sweating on the stationary bike and lifting a barbell, she declares that “Hampton Roads needs a fighter who'll take on rising costs and corruption.” The former congresswoman touts her 20-year service in the Navy while describing her opposition to President Trump in Congress as “fighting the most corrupt administration in our history.”
Taylor targets Wittman’s vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill in her first TV ad, arguing that the incumbent voted to “jack up our health care costs while he made himself one of the richest members of Congress.” The ad spotlights the bill’s cuts to Medicaid, a program that 1-in-8 of the congressman’s constituents depend upon.
