What to know about this week’s US primary elections in Tennessee and Hawaii

Voters in Tennessee and Hawaii are headed to the polls for another key round of midterm primaries, where they will choose the Republican and Democratic candidates to compete in November’s elections.

Those in the US state of Tennessee will head to the polls to decide a slate of challengers for November’s midterm election, with Republicans seeking to further consolidate their hold in the state. This year’s election season in the state of seven million located in the southeastern US has already been transformed in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that weakened federal protections for minority voters. That prompted the state’s legislature to redraw its congressional map, cleaving its only Black-majority district, and the only currently represented by a Democrat, in half.

As a result, Republicans will be hoping for a clean sweep of all nine of the state’s congressional districts. Meanwhile, firebrand Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn is seeking to overcome her opponents to gain the party’s nod in the gubernatorial race to replace Republican Bill Lee. Democrats will also pick their champions in long-shot bids to take both the governor’s office and the open Senate seat.

In Hawaii, the primary election is on August 8. Two incumbent Democratic congressmen are looking to fend off challenges from a host of opponents, while the Democratic governor is also running against several opponents.

State Representative Justin Pearson, who rose to national prominence after being temporarily expelled from the state legislature in the wake of a gun reform protest in 2023, had initially launched an upstart bid to unseat longtime incumbent US Representative Steve Cohen in the Democrat-dominated Ninth Congressional District.

That all changed following this year’s Supreme Court ruling on voting rights and the state’s mad-dash redistricting effort, which saw the Ninth District redrawn to include only part of the Black-majority city of Memphis, while newly encompassing a slate of rural and wealthy suburban areas.

The district is now expected to lean Republican. Cohen has left the race entirely, and Pearson is facing a crowded Democratic field of challengers hoping to transcend the demographic changes. He remains the top fundraiser as he faces off with state Senator London Lamar, who has framed herself as an experienced legislative operator, and healthcare executive Jim Torino.

The 31-year-old Pearson has been a top critic of the redistricting, calling it a “racist tool of white supremacy” and a galvanising moment for voters in the state.