Georgia’s Republican primary did not yield outright nominees for the governor’s race or the party’s pick for U.S. Senate, setting up runoffs that will prolong a high-stakes intraparty fight in the battleground state, the Associated Press reported. With about a month until the June 16 runoff, Republicans are set to spend more time and money competing against each other before turning to the Democratic general-election nominees.
On the Republican side of the U.S. Senate contest, the runoff will feature former college football coach Derek Dooley and Rep. Mike Collins, after Rep. Buddy Carter was knocked out of the race. The GOP Senate nominee is expected to face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is the only Democratic senator in the country seeking reelection this year and who had no opposition in the primary.
Ossoff, 39, is running for a first reelection campaign in Georgia, a state President Donald Trump won two years ago, and Republicans are likely to portray him as vulnerable as they defend their Senate majority. The AP reported that Ossoff has positioned himself as a critic of political corruption, including targeting Trump and his sons for business dealings described in the story as having enriched the first family.
The Republican primary for Senate also became a test of loyalty to Trump, who did not endorse a candidate, according to the AP. Collins, Dooley and Carter each said they would advance Trump’s agenda in Washington. Collins also faced attacks during the GOP primary, including over a House ethics complaint accusing him of abusing taxpayer funds by paying a girlfriend of a top aide for work that was alleged not to have been performed.
In the governor primary, the AP reported that Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson advanced to the runoff, extending what the article described as a bruising and expensive campaign battle. On the Democratic side, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms clinched the nomination in the primary, with a rare endorsement from former President Joe Biden reported by the AP, and she told voters Tuesday night that she wanted to ensure “every Georgian has an opportunity to succeed.”
Bottoms framed her campaign around both opposing Trump when she said his policies hurt Georgia and taking action to improve life across the state. She also aimed to become the first Democrat to win a Georgia governor’s race since 1998. The AP reported that her general-election opponent in the governor race would depend on which Republican emerges from the runoff between Jones and Jackson.
The AP reported that spending figures underscored the intensity of the Republican governor contest: more than $125 million was spent on advertising in the Republican primary, and more than $66 million of that total came from Jackson’s campaign, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact. By contrast, Democrats running for governor had spent about $4 million, according to the same AP account, as the contest headed into the runoff phase.
In the Senate and governor races, the AP reported that messaging on Trump’s influence and campaign positioning figured prominently. Jones argued that his conservative record as a state senator and lieutenant governor, along with Trump’s endorsement, should make him the choice for Republican voters, while Jackson’s campaign sought to draw support from antiestablishment conservatives with an argument that he could not be bought and that Jones represented political insiders.
Alongside the statewide contests, the AP reported results and runoff matchups for other parts of Georgia’s primary calendar. Democrat Jasmine Clark won her party’s nomination to succeed Rep. David Scott in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District after Scott died in April while seeking another term; the AP said Clark is a state representative and a microbiologist and lecturer at Emory University, and that her candidacy drew more than $2 million in outside spending by cryptocurrency interests, though she said she did not court the support. Republicans also advanced in multiple U.S. House districts, including a runoff in the 11th District between Rob Adkerson and neurologist John Cowan.
In northeast Georgia’s judicial politics, the AP reported that Democrats fell short in the races for state judgeships that were technically nonpartisan on the ballot. The article said Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren defeated Democrat-supported former state Sen. Jen Jordan, and that Justice Charlie Bethel defeated Democrat-supported Miracle Rankin, while a third justice, Ben Land, was unopposed for a six-year term. The state Judicial Qualifications Commission said in statements dated Sunday that Jordan and Rankin violated rules of judicial conduct by publicly endorsing each other and by making statements supporting the restoration of abortion rights.
By the time the June 16 runoff arrives, the AP said, Georgia’s Republican candidates will have spent roughly a month extending intraparty disputes in both major statewide races. The outcomes will determine who takes on Ossoff in the Senate contest and who challenges Bottoms in the governor’s race as the parties move deeper into the midterm election cycle.