Georgia’s primary elections left no outright victors for two top Republican nominations, pushing the state into additional campaigning and spending ahead of a June 16 runoff that will determine who Republicans nominate for U.S. Senate and governor. The runoff matches former college football coach Derek Dooley against Rep. Mike Collins for the GOP Senate slot, after Rep. Buddy Carter was knocked out of that race. In the Georgia governor contest, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson advanced to a runoff, with the Democratic gubernatorial nomination going to former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Bottoms, who had been running for the governorship and is now the Democratic nominee, has said she wants to ensure “every Georgian has an opportunity to succeed,” and she framed her effort around stopping “Donald Trump every time his policies hurt Georgia” while pursuing actions meant to improve life across the state. She received a rare endorsement from former President Joe Biden after serving in his administration, the coverage said.
The Republican Senate runoff sets up a general-election matchup between the winner and Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who had no opponent in Tuesday’s primary. The coverage described Ossoff as the only Democratic senator in the country seeking reelection this year and as a target in a state that President Donald Trump won two years ago, with Republicans defending their Senate majority.
Republicans will spend roughly a month between the primary and the June 16 runoff competing with each other before turning their attention to Ossoff and Bottoms. In the governor race, the Republican contest itself has been framed as bruising and expensive, extending the intra-party fight even as the candidates look ahead to how their nominees will counter the Democratic slate.
The Senate primary coverage highlighted politics inside the Republican field, including attacks and disputes that played out as candidates tested their alignment with Trump. The report also said Collins faced attacks tied to a House ethics complaint that accused him of abusing taxpayer funds by paying the girlfriend of a top aide for work the aide said she allegedly didn’t perform. It added that the Office of Congressional Conduct, after an initial inquiry, referred the matter to the House Ethics Committee.
A quote in the primary debate capture included Buddy Carter asking Collins, “If taxpayers can’t trust you to properly steward their money, how can they trust you to be a U.S. senator?” Collins responded by telling Carter, “I can tell through your voice that you know how the polling is going out there.” The coverage further described Collins as having sponsored the Laken Riley Act in 2025, a law requiring immigrants to be detained when charged with certain crimes, and said Republicans argued the issue could damage Ossoff because Ossoff initially voted against the measure before supporting it after Trump returned to the White House.
In the governor contest, the coverage said more than $125 million was spent on advertising in the Republican primary, including more than $66 million by Jackson’s campaign, citing ad-tracking firm AdImpact. It contrasted that figure with Democrats’ spending for the governor race, which the report said totaled about $4 million.
Jones argued that his record as a state senator and lieutenant governor, along with Trump’s endorsement, should make him the clear choice for Republican voters. Jackson, by contrast, argued he could win over antiestablishment conservatives and characterized Jones as an insider, telling voters on Tuesday night that Jones was “working inside the system for his own benefit,” and saying, “I cannot be bought, and I will not back down.”
Beyond the statewide governor and Senate races, the coverage also described developments in Georgia’s U.S. House primaries and in judicial elections. Democrat Jasmine Clark won her party’s nomination for Georgia’s 13th Congressional District after Rep. David Scott died in April while seeking another term, and the report said Clark is a state representative, microbiologist, and Emory University lecturer who promised to prioritize science in Congress. The report also said Clark’s candidacy was boosted by more than $2 million in outside spending by cryptocurrency interests, though Clark said she did not court the support.
In House contests, the coverage said Loudermilk announced his retirement in Georgia’s 11th District and endorsed staffer Rob Adkerson, who advanced to a runoff against neurologist John Cowan. In Georgia’s 10th District, east of Atlanta, the report said state Rep. Houston Gaines was the top Republican seeking to take Collins’ seat, and it said Jim Kingston, son of longtime U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, was the top Republican to take Carter’s seat in coastal Georgia’s 1st District. The report also described how Andrew Clyde, a three-term Republican incumbent in Georgia’s 9th District, fended off primary challenges from former Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon and Hall County Commissioner Gregg Poole.
Finally, Tuesday included Georgia judicial races, which are technically nonpartisan but held in a context shaped by past appointments. The report said Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren won over Democrat-supported former state Sen. Jen Jordan, and Justice Charlie Bethel defeated Democrat-support Miracle Rankin, while noting that Ben Land is unopposed for a six-year term. It also said the state Judicial Qualifications Commission, in statements dated Sunday, said Jordan and Rankin violated rules of judicial conduct by publicly endorsing each other and making statements supporting the restoration of abortion rights, and that the commission said it reached its conclusions after receiving and reviewing complaints about each candidate.