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Democratic Party battleground primaries, 2022
| 2022 Democratic Party primary elections |
|---|
 |
| Battleground primaries |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds State executive battlegrounds |
| Federal primaries |
| U.S. Senate primaries U.S. House primaries U.S. House primaries with multiple incumbents |
| State primaries |
| Gubernatorial primaries Attorney General primaries Secretary of State primaries State legislative primaries |
| Primary overviews |
| Democratic Party primaries, 2022 Republican Party primaries, 2022 Top-two and top-four battleground primaries, 2022 U.S. House battleground primaries, 2022 |
| Primaries by state |
General elections are often the focal point of election-year media coverage as they determine control of elected offices up and down the ballot. Primary elections, however, can provide insight on future elections as they help dictate the direction each party takes.
Although many of the most competitive primaries take place for open seats or offices that are held by a different party, even high-ranking federal officeholders can lose renomination to primary challengers. In the 2014 primary for Virginia's 7th Congressional District, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R), ranked behind only then-Speaker John Boehner (R) in Republican House leadership, was defeated by economics professor Dave Brat (R).
On this page, you will find information on noteworthy and notable Democratic Party primaries that took place across the country for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state executive offices, and state legislatures in 2022. The page also includes information about notable top-two primaries for Democratic seats.
Ballotpedia identified 40 Democratic battleground primaries in 2022.
Click here for information on Republican Party battleground primaries in 2022.
Click on the links below to learn more about general election battlegrounds by race type:
- U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2022
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2022
- Gubernatorial battlegrounds, 2022
- Top-two and top-four battleground primaries, 2022
Criteria
It is typically difficult to predict how competitive primaries will be until after filing deadlines take place. However, Ballotpedia used a number of factors to give insight into the most interesting 2022 primary elections. Factors that were used to determine the competitiveness of primaries included:
- Whether or not the seat was open (retiring or resigning incumbent)
- Notable endorsements of multiple candidates
- Significant fundraising from multiple candidates
- Number of candidates
- Incumbent's years in office (if seeking re-election)
- Whether or not the district's general election was expected to be a battleground
U.S. Senate primaries
There were 4 U.S. Senate Democratic battleground primaries in 2022.
- United States Senate election in Iowa, 2022 (June 7 Democratic primary)
- United States Senate election in Ohio, 2022 (May 3 Democratic primary)
- United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- United States Senate election in Wisconsin, 2022 (August 9 Democratic primary)
The following map shows each state with a Democratic battleground primary for U.S. Senate in 2022. Hover over or tap a state to view the incumbent's name.
U.S. House primaries
There were 30 U.S. House Democratic battleground primaries in 2022.
- Georgia's 7th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 24 Democratic primary)
- Illinois' 17th Congressional District election, 2022 (June 28 Democratic primary)
- Illinois' 3rd Congressional District election, 2022 (June 28 Democratic primary)
- Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2022 (June 28 Democratic primary)
- Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2022 (June 28 Democratic primary)
- Illinois' 8th Congressional District election, 2022 (June 28 Democratic primary)
- Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- Michigan's 11th Congressional District election, 2022 (August 2 Democratic primary)
- Michigan's 12th Congressional District election, 2022 (August 2 Democratic primary)
- Minnesota's 1st Congressional District special election, 2022 (May 24 Democratic primary)
- Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District election, 2022 (May 10 Democratic primary)
- Nevada's 1st Congressional District election, 2022 (June 14 Democratic primary)
- New York's 10th Congressional District election, 2022 (August 23 Democratic primary)
- New York's 12th Congressional District election, 2022 (August 23 Democratic primary)
- North Carolina's 13th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- North Carolina's 1st Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- North Carolina's 4th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- Ohio's 11th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 3 Democratic primary)
- Oregon's 4th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- Oregon's 5th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- Oregon's 6th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- Texas' 15th Congressional District election, 2022 (March 1 Democratic primary)
- Texas' 15th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 24 Democratic primary runoff)
- Texas' 28th Congressional District election, 2022 (March 1 Democratic primary)
- Texas' 28th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 24 Democratic primary runoff)
- Texas' 30th Congressional District election, 2022 (March 1 Democratic primary)
- Texas' 30th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 24 Democratic primary runoff)
- Texas' 34th Congressional District election, 2022 (March 1 Democratic primary)
- Texas' 35th Congressional District election, 2022 (March 1 Democratic primary)
- Texas' 37th Congressional District election, 2022 (March 1 Democratic primary)
The following map shows each state with a Democratic battleground primary for U.S. House in 2022. Hover over or tap a district to view the incumbent's name.
State executive primaries
There were 8 state executive Democratic battleground primaries in 2022.
- Florida gubernatorial election, 2022 (August 23 Democratic primary)
- Hawaii gubernatorial election, 2022 (August 13 Democratic primary)
- Illinois Secretary of State election, 2022 (June 28 Democratic primary)
- Massachusetts Secretary of State election, 2022 (September 6 Democratic primary)
- New York gubernatorial election, 2022 (June 28 Democratic primary)
- Oregon gubernatorial election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
- Texas Attorney General election, 2022 (March 1 Democratic primary)
- Texas Attorney General election, 2022 (May 24 Democratic primary runoff)
The following map shows each state with a Democratic battleground primary for a state executive office in 2022. Hover over or tap a state to view the battleground primaries in that state and the incumbent's name in each race.
State legislative primaries
Ballotpedia did not identify any state legislative battleground primaries in 2022.
Top-two primaries for Democratic seats
Ballotpedia did not identify any top-two battleground primaries for Democratic-held seats in 2022.
California uses a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election. In states that do not use a top-two system, all parties are usually able to put forward a candidate for the general election if they choose to.[1][2]
Unlike the top-two format used in some states (Louisiana and Georgia special elections for example), a general election between the top-two candidates in California occurs regardless of whether the top candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round of elections.
As of June 2025, California was one of five states to use a top-two primary system, or a variation of the top-two system. See here for more information.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Change log
This section lists every change that was made to our battleground list between the launch of the page in February 2022 and the close of the primary election season.
- August 8, 2022: Added RI Gov.
- July 1, 2022: Added HI Gov and MD Gov. Removed FL-20, MO Senate, and MA AG.
- June 10, 2022: Added NY-17.
- June 3, 2022: Added NY-10 and MI-12.
- May 20, 2022: Removed CA-9, IL-13, and NY Lt. Gov.
- May 9, 2022: Removed CO-7.
- April 18, 2022: Added FL-20, NY Gov, and NY Lt. Gov.
- April 11, 2022: Added OR-4. Removed CO-8 and OH-13.
- April 6, 2022: Added NC-1, NC-4, NC-13, MA AG, MA SoS.
- March 28, 2022: Added OK Senate and IL-3. Removed FL Senate.
- March 7, 2022: Added TX-28 runoff.
- February 18, 2022: Added NY-12.
- February 11, 2022: Added MI-11.
- February 4, 2022: Added KY-3.
- February 1, 2022: Launched initial battlegrounds list with 28 races.[3]
2020 battlegrounds
Ballotpedia identified 64 Democratic battleground primaries in 2020. There were nine senate battleground primaries, 37 house battleground primaries, nine state executive battleground primaries, and nine top-two battleground primaries for Democratic-held seats. Six state legislative chambers also had Democratic battleground primaries. To read more about the 2020 Democratic Party battleground primaries, click here.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed August 13, 2024
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Elections in California," accessed August 13, 2024
- ↑ The original 28 races identified were: FL Senate, IA Senate, MO Senate, OH Senate, WI Senate, CA-9, CO-7, CO-8, GA-7, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-13, IL-17, NE-2, NV-1, OH-13, OR-5, OR-6, TX-15, TX-28, TX-30, TX-34, TX-35, TX-37, IL SoS, OR Gov, and TX AG.
