Results expected as voters cast ballots in three states and Washington DC
Voters have been casting their ballots in primary elections in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Georgia, where a closely watched runoff will determine the candidates facing Democratic opponents in Senate and gubernatorial races this November.
In Washington DC, a Democratic stronghold, voters also participated ahead of the November mayoral election.
In Alabama, a Republican primary runoff for Senate between Trump-endorsed Barry Moore and Jared Hudson represents another measure of the impact of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement on voter decisions.
These primaries serve as the latest evaluation of Donald Trump’s influence within the Republican Party. In deeply conservative Oklahoma, Trump has endorsed Kevin Hern for the Senate seat formerly held by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Hern has successfully deterred other significant challengers in Oklahoma, a state that has not elected a Democratic senator since 1990, according to the Associated Press.
A more substantial test of Trump’s sway, which has generally been effective in Republican primaries this year, may arise in the crowded race to succeed outgoing Governor Kevin Stitt.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, voters will finalize their choices for gubernatorial and US Senate elections.
For the Senate, US Representative Mike Collins and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are the finalists for the Republican nomination. The winner will face rising Democratic figure Jon Ossoff in November.
In the Republican primary campaign for governor, Trump-backed Burt Jones is competing against healthcare billionaire and political newcomer Rick Jackson. Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State and a longtime political adversary of Trump, was excluded from the race after finishing third earlier this year.
We will provide updates on results and reactions as the night progresses.
Georgia Republican Senate primary on a knife edge in early count
With 15% of votes counted in Georgia, the Republican nomination race for the US Senate, to challenge incumbent Jon Ossoff, remains extremely close. Trump-endorsed Congressman Mike Collins holds 51.9% of the vote, while former football coach Derek Dooley, supported by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, has 48.1%. The current margin is fewer than 6,000 votes.
Polls close in Georgia primary runoff elections
Polling stations closed at 7pm local time across Georgia, where voters participated in several primary runoff races, including Republican contests for the US Senate and governor nominations. Updates on vote counts will be provided shortly.
A visit to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website highlights that the state’s elections remain overseen by Brad Raffensperger, the chief election official whom Donald Trump threatened with possible prosecution in early 2021 if he did not assist in "finding 11,780 votes," one more than needed to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
Due to his refusal to aid Trump’s efforts to alter the election outcome, Raffensperger became unpopular among Trump supporters and finished a distant third last month in the Republican primary for governor.
Raffensperger received less than half the votes of the two leading candidates who advanced to today’s runoff: Trump-backed Burt Jones, who supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election through false fraud claims, and self-funding healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson.
The current administration is engaged in efforts perceived by election experts and former officials as an assault on voting rights, employing Justice Department lawsuits, FBI investigations, and an executive order aimed at restricting mail-in voting. These actions reflect the former president’s unfounded claims that he lost the 2020 election due to voting fraud.
Since Donald Trump’s second term began, numerous 2020 election denialists have been appointed to key agencies such as the Department of Justice and the FBI to pursue widely discredited fraud allegations. These efforts can intimidate election workers and voters in swing states that Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020.
The Justice Department has filed lawsuits seeking sensitive voter data from 30 states, despite election administration being under state jurisdiction. The FBI has launched investigations into debunked voting fraud allegations in Georgia, Wisconsin, and other swing states lost by Trump in 2020.
In late March this year, Trump issued an executive order tightening mail-in voting rules, which he has long claimed, without evidence, contribute to fraud. The order grants the United States Postal Service unprecedented authority to implement new rules making mail voting more difficult.
This multi-faceted push to change voting rules is ongoing despite laws empowering states and Congress to regulate elections, prompting lawsuits from states and nonpartisan voting rights organizations.
Donald Trump has maintained a strong record in this year’s primaries, with many of his endorsed candidates winning their contests.
However, none have faced a self-funded opponent with the financial resources of Rick Jackson, according to the Associated Press. Trump has supported Burt Jones, who, as lieutenant governor, was involved in Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden. The president has repeatedly praised Jones’ loyalty.
Jackson has contributed more than $93 million of his own money to secure the nomination. The 71-year-old businessman built his fortune through a company providing contract healthcare personnel and has used his wealth to saturate television and online platforms with advertisements.
