NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The death toll from Kenya’s anti-government protests on Monday has surged to 31, marking the highest single-day toll since the demonstrations began earlier this year, the state-funded human rights commission said Tuesday.
It said another 107 people were injured and more than 500 were arrested amid widespread destruction of property, including supermarkets. The arrest figure largely tracked with the one issued by police. The death toll did not say whether any security forces were included.
For weeks, youth and other citizens have taken to the streets to protest against police brutality and poor governance and to demand President William Ruto’s resignation over alleged corruption and the rising cost of living.
Ruto has not commented on Monday's protest or its toll.
The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, on Tuesday urged that the grievances leading to the protests are addressed. Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said he “renews his call for calm and restraint, and full respect for the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
Monday’s demonstrations, which were met with police roadblocks preventing access to downtown Nairobi, were planned to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the historic Saba Saba pro-democracy protests. Saba Saba is Swahili for Seven Seven.
July 7 holds deep significance in Kenya, marking the first major pro-democracy protests in 1990 that called on then-President Daniel arap Moi — Ruto’s political mentor — to transition from a one-party state to a multiparty democracy. That demand was realized during the 1992 general elections.
This year's wave of protests was sparked by a blogger's death in police custody last month. Police shot a civilian at close range during a protest on June 17. On June 25, thousands of youths turned out across the country.
A total of 50 people have been killed in the protests over the last two weeks.
The Kenya National Cohesion and Integration Commission, a government body whose commissioners are appointed by the president, on Tuesday urged politicians not to fuel ethnic tensions and criticized police for using excessive force towards protesters.
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen last week told police to “shoot on sight” anyone who approaches police stations during protests after several were burned.
The public anger has built on Ruto's efforts to make Kenyans pay more to help pay off massive government debt. Last year, thousands of young people protesting rising taxes stormed parliament, leading Ruto to promise to cut government spending.
With some people taking advantage of the chaos, some businesses have said they have lost large amounts of goods.
"They invaded our shop, and by the way, we have lost so many things. We lost cash, phones, a lot of them,” mobile phone seller Nancy Gicharu said.
ADDITION: CLARIFIES DATE - Riot police scatter protesters with water cannons during demonstrations to mark the historic 1990 Saba Saba (a Swahili word that means seven seven) protests for democratic reforms in the Kangemi slum of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
ADDITION: CLARIFIES DATE - Demonstrators gesture to anti-riot police during demonstrations to mark the historic 1990 Saba Saba (a Swahili word that means seven seven) protests for democratic reforms in the Kangemi slum of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in the Lone Star State will make their second attempt to nominate a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in a primary runoff election on Tuesday, the electoral version of the Texas two-step.
Also on the ballot are primary runoffs in more than a dozen congressional districts, plus state contests for lieutenant governor, attorney general and others.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn was the top vote-getter in the March 3 primary, but strong showings by two GOP challengers forced the four-term incumbent to Tuesday’s head-to-head matchup with state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the second-place finisher who received President Donald Trump’s endorsement on May 19.
The contest is Trump’s next opportunity to purge the party of incumbents he views as insufficiently loyal to him and his agenda. It also sets the stage for a general election where Democrats are increasingly optimistic about their chances to score an upset in the heavily Republican state as they look to retake control of the U.S. Senate. Historically, voters have tended to punish the incumbent president’s party at the ballot box in midterm election years.
The winner will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in the general election.
Trump seemed open to endorsing Cornyn following the primary, and he did not excoriate the incumbent in his endorsement of Paxton, as he’s done recently with Republican incumbents in Indiana, Louisiana and Kentucky. But he said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”
Cornyn was critical of Trump ahead of the president’s 2024 campaign.
Since much of the Texas primary campaign has focused on the candidates’ loyalty to Trump, the counties where the president has the most support could play a decisive role. Although many of the counties Trump won in 2024 with 80% or more of the vote are rural and sparsely populated, collectively they made up about a fifth of the GOP primary vote. Paxton beat Cornyn in these counties, 45% to 40%, while Cornyn performed better than Paxton in the rest of the state.
In counties Trump carried with between 50% and 80% of the vote, Cornyn received about 42% of the vote, edging Paxton by a percentage point. Republican primary voters in the 12 counties Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024 preferred Cornyn, 44% to 40%. These counties made up 25% of the overall primary vote, larger than the share of Trump’s 80%-plus counties.
Only two incumbent U.S. senators from Texas have lost a primary in the last 100 years.
In 2025, Republicans redrew the state’s congressional districts at Trump’s urging as part of an effort to maintain control of the U.S. House.
Among the notable primary runoffs that resulted from the new congressional map, Democratic U.S. Reps. Christian Menefee and Al Green will face each other in the redrawn 18th Congressional District. In the new 33rd Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson faces a challenge from her predecessor, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.
Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:
Polls close statewide at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET. Most polls are in Central time and close at 8 p.m. ET, while polls in the westernmost part of the state are in Mountain time and close at 9 p.m. ET.
The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in Republican primary runoffs for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, railroad commissioner, Court of Criminal Appeals, state Senate and state House and in Democratic primary runoffs for U.S. House, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state Board of Education and state House.
Voters who did not participate in a party primary on March 3 may vote in the runoff for either party. Voters who did cast a ballot in a party primary may only vote in the runoff of the same party as they did in the primary. In other words, Democratic primary voters may not vote in a Republican primary runoff or vice versa. Voters in the non-partisan primary may vote in either party’s runoff.
As of the March 3 primary, there were nearly 19 million registered voters in Texas.
About 2.2 million Republican primary votes and about 2.3 million Democratic primary votes were cast in the March 3 Texas primary.
In the 2022 Republican primary for Texas Attorney General, turnout was about 1.9 million voters in the primary and about 932,000 in the primary runoff.
About 63% of the vote in the March 3 Republican primary was cast before primary day.
As of Thursday, about 621,000 Republican primary ballots and about 262,000 Democratic primary ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.
Counties tend to release all or nearly all results from early and absentee voting in the first vote update of the night, before any in-person Election Day results are released.
In the U.S. Senate primary in March, the AP first reported results at 8 p.m. ET just as polls closed in most of the state. By 11:39 p.m. ET, 75% of the vote had been counted. Vote results were released continuously until about 5:58 a.m. ET, with about 98% of the total vote counted.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Texas requires an automatic recount only in cases of a tie vote. Losing candidates may request and pay for a recount if the margin is less than 10% of the leading candidate’s vote. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
As of Tuesday, there will be 161 days until the 2026 midterm elections.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters while campaigning for his primary runoff race Monday, May 18, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign event in Lubbock, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Annie Rice)
