No state has felt former President Donald Trump’s wrath over the 2020 election more than Georgia, where he is trying to oust the incumbents in statewide office who certified that President Joe Biden won the state.
Trump has set his sights on Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in particular. In an effort to oust Kemp, Trump backed former Sen. David Perdue – who lost his seat in a runoff election to Democrat Jon Ossoff, one of two Democrats elected to Georgia’s Senate seats in 2020, thereby handing the Senate majority to the Democrats.
According to an April poll by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, 40% of Republican primary voters said they would never vote for Bush. Two-thirds of those voters said that’s because he is a member of the Bush family. Forty-one percent said they wouldn’t vote for Bush because he’s not conservative enough.
Bush tweeted a concession and called attention to Tuesday’s shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which left at least 18 children and one adult dead.
“But after the tragic events of earlier today, it’s important to keep life’s temporary disappointments in perspective,” Bush said. “There are grieving parents in South Texas today. My family and I are grieving with them.”
CBS News projected at 8:30 p.m. ET that Kemp will win the Republican nomination, easily defeating Perdue and delivering a rebuke to Trump.
Kemp will take on Democrat Stacey Abrams, whom he defeated in 2018.
“I am fully supporting Brian Kemp in his run to beat Stacey Abrams,” Perdue told supporters in his concession speech. “We’re going to do everything we can to make damn sure Stacey Abrams doesn’t take over this state.”
The Georgia secretary of state’s office tweeted Tuesday that the state is on a “solid path” to surpass the record for midterm primary turnout.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom Trump asked in January 2021 to “find” enough votes to overturn the results, is also running for reelection. Trump backed U.S. Rep. Jody Hice in the race. He’s one of the House Republicans who challenged the election results in Pennsylvania and Arizona on Jan. 6, 2021.
In another blow to Trump, Attorney General Chris Carr – who backed Kemp and Raffensperger in 2020 – is projected to defeat Trump-backed primary challenger John Gordon.
But CBS News projects that Herschel Walker, the Trump-endorsed former football player, will win the Republican nomination to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. CBS News also projected Warnock will win the Democratic nomination.
CBS News projected Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene will win the Republican nomination in Georgia’s 14th District, easily defeating a number of challengers.
In her victory remarks, Greene gave a stark warning to what she views as the establishment Republican party and “globalist elites.” “Sending me back to Washington will send a message to the blood sucking establishment. It is we who will set the political agenda for the next decade and not them,” she said.
In Georgia’s new 7th District, CBS projects U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath – who currently represents the 6th District – will win the Democratic primary. She defeated Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux of the current 7th District.
Alabama and Arkansas are also holding primaries Tuesday. Trump has made his prefences known in the the Senate race for the open seat in Alabama — twice. He first backed longtime loyalist Mo Brooks, but later dropped his endorsement in March, when Brooks was struggling in the polls. After Trump pulled his endorsement, Brooks, who was one of the members of Congress who objected to election results, said the former president “asked me to rescind the 2020 elections.”
Despite losing Trump’s endorsement, Brooks has managed to hold on in the polls. A recent Emerson poll showed Katie Britt (32%), current Sen. Richard Shelby’s former chief of staff, slightly ahead of businessman Michael Durant (26%) and Brooks (25%).
In Arkansas, CBS News projected Trump’s former White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, won the gubernatorial primary, after leading the pack in fundraising and polling. Her father, Mike Huckabee, was Arkansas governor from 1996 until 2007.
A few crucial runoffs are happening in Texas, which dealt with a shooting Tuesday near San Antonio. In Texas’ 28th District, incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar faces Jessica Cisneros after Cuellar failed to net 50% of the vote in the March 1 primary.
CBS News projected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will win the Republican nomination, easily defeating Land Commissioner George P. Bush. While Paxton is mired in many scandals, Bush – the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, nephew of former President George W. Bush and grandson of former President George H.W. Bush – couldn’t overcome his family name.
