US primaries in Oklahoma, Georgia, others: Key takeaways from the results
Trump-backed candidates fall short in primary results in the US ahead of crucial midterms in November. Burt Jones, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, has
Trump-backed candidates fall short in primary results in the US ahead of crucial midterms in November. Burt Jones, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, has lost in Georgia’s gubernatorial run-off to billionaire Rick Jackson, but candidates backed by the US president secured Senate nominations in Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma in the primary elections on Tuesday. Voters also decided the party candidates for the congressional race in California and a mayoral primary in Washington, DC, as the United States gears up for November’s midterm elections, seen by some as a referendum on Trump’s second term. Here’s who won and lost the primaries – and how Trump-endorsed candidates fared. Who won in Georgia? Georgia attracted a lot of media attention over the fight between Jones and Jackson. Though Trump-backed Jones lost in the governor’s race, voters in the state elected the US president’s pick for the Senate primary. Mike Collins, who was endorsed by Trump just a few days before the ballots were cast, won the Republican Senate run-off in Georgia. Collins is now set to face Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in what has been touted as one of the most competitive midterm campaigns in the country.
Collins defeated Republican Governor Brian Kemp-endorsed Derek Dooley, a former college football coach. In the run-off for governor, Jones lost despite a yearlong endorsement from Trump. The president reiterated his support last week, praising Jones’s “Courage and Wisdom” in a social media post. Jackson had spent at least $100m out of his pocket, as compared with nearly $30m spent by Jones in total, during the campaign. Jackson will now face Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, in November in another pre-eminent battleground state. Who won the Alabama primary? Alabama brought good news for Trump, where he had successfully backed Barry Moore, a three-term congressman who has promised to be “a warrior for President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda” if elected to the Senate. Moore defeated former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson, who presented himself as a Washington outsider. Alabama is a Republican stronghold, and the GOP primary victor is expected to prevail in November. He will face lawyer Everett Wess, who defeated small business owner Dakarai Larriett in the Democratic run-off. Who won the Oklahoma primaries? Oklahoma’s Republican primary for governor also tested Trump’s endorsement. The president weighed in late, throwing his support two weeks ago to former state Senator Mike Mazzei, without a clear frontrunner in the field.
The BriefWire