ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia is at the center of Tuesday’s primary election as Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger try to repel candidates backed by former President Donald Trump seeking revenge for his 2020 election defeat.
Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia is testing Republican voters’ tolerance of controversy in her primary election. On the part of Democrats, the representative of the United States Lucy McBatt and the representative of the United States Carolyn Bourdain oppose after Macbeth changed the area due to relocation.
In Alabama, three Republicans are in a fierce race for the nomination of retired US Senator Richard Shelby. In Arkansas, former White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders is a frontrunner for Republican nominations for governor.
In Texas, two run-offs are attracting a lot of attention: Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to keep Land Commissioner George P. Bush, while Representative Henry Quellar is trying to repel his progressive rival in the 2020 rematch.
What to watch on Tuesday’s primary in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and Minnesota:
GEORGIA
Trump’s revenge has fueled the main challenges facing Kemp and Rafensperger, both of whom have resisted pressure to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
Trump recruited former US Senator David Purdue to take over Kemp for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, but Purdue lagged behind in research and fundraising. Kemp is increasingly confident that the Republican Party will send him to a rematch in November with Stacey Abrams, who has no opposition to the Democratic nomination.
Rafensperger, the state’s top election official, faces a difficult challenge from U.S. envoy Jody Hayes, who has popularized Trump’s lies that widespread voter fraud or forgery is worth the 2020 election.
Trump’s U.S. Senate nominee, football legend Herschel Walker, appears to be seeking a Republican nomination, although some Republican leaders have warned that Walker will not be elected in November against current Democrat President Raphael Warnock. Walker is accused of threatening his ex-wife’s life, exaggerating his business record and lying that he graduated from the University of Georgia.
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Green, a political lightning rod, is trying to repel a number of Republican contenders. The Trump-backed favorite was stripped of her duties on the committee last year because of racist remarks, her embrace of conspiracy theories and past approval of violence. A group of voters tried but failed to remove her from the ballot, accusing her of helping spark the January 6 uprising in the US Capitol.
In the Atlanta region, an unfavorable new district has prompted the Republic of Macbut to jump in the Democratic primary against fellow Republican Bourdain. Macbeth said her bid to stay in Congress was linked to the fight for gun safety on behalf of her son Jordan, who was killed in a shooting 10 years ago.
ALABAMA
Shelby’s retirement marked the beginning of hot and expensive primary elections for the GOP nomination for the position.
US spokesman Mo Brooks faces Katie Britt, former leader of the Alabama Business Council and former Shelby Chief of Staff, and businessman Mike Durant, best known as the helicopter pilot who was shot down and held captive in the events described in of the black hawk “”
Trump initially backed Brooks last year, but withdrew approval in March after their relationship deteriorated. Trump has given no other support in the race. The broken field increases the chances of the race going to the runoff on June 21.
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey is trying to avoid a run-off as he faces several contenders from his right flank.
Lindy Blanchard, Trump’s ambassador to Slovenia, and businessman Tim James criticized Ivy’s support for raising the gas tax and tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a temporary mask mandate and calls for people to be vaccinated. They also criticized Ivy for chartering a school that welcomed LGBTQ students.
Ivy emphasized her conservative experience, including signing legislation – now blocked by the courts – to make abortion a crime at every stage of pregnancy. In a campaign ad, the governor pulled a gun from his bag to note that he supported unauthorized concealed carrying.
ARKANSAS
In Arkansas, two-term U.S. Sen. John Buzman hopes to defy the challenge of three Republican rivals in a race in which he had to rely on his support from Trump as well as leading Republican figures in the state.
The soft Buzman took a more aggressive tone in his campaign ads, promising to finish the wall on the US-Mexico border.
Buzman’s rivals include former NFL player Jake Beckett, who has the support of the Super PAC, which broadcasts commercials attacking Buzman as conservative, and Ian Morgan, a conservative activist and former television reporter.
Sanders, a former Trump spokesman, has benefited greatly from the Republican election for governor. She faces a long-term major challenge from former talk show radio host Doc Washburn.
Sanders broke fundraising records and focused mainly on national issues, criticizing President Joe Biden on issues such as inflation while ignoring her rivals.
Five Democrats are seeking the party’s nomination for governor, with a favorite being nuclear engineer and ordained Minister Chris Jones.
Candidates are vying to succeed Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is barred from running for re-election.
TEXAS
Texas held its first primary election in 2022 in March, but the runoff will finally feature two major races.
One puts the Bush dynasty on the line: Republican George P. Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, spent the last year challenging Paxton, a two-term Attorney General.
George P. Bush is the last of his family to still hold public office, finishing 20 percentage points behind Paxton in a four-party primary. Since then, Bush’s efforts to fill the gap have focused on highlighting Paxton’s legal problems, including an ongoing FBI investigation into allegations of corruption and a separate 2015 indictment on securities fraud charges.
Paxton, who has denied wrongdoing, has broad party support and Trump support.
On the part of the Democrats, MP Cuelar’s candidacy for a 10th term met with a new national battle for abortion rights. His position as one of the last Democrats against abortion in Congress has become a central issue in his runoff against Jessica Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration lawyer and abortion advocate.
The leaders of the Democratic Chamber lined up behind Cuelar. Cisneros fell behind Cuelar by about 1,000 votes in March, but Cuelar did not reach the 50% threshold to avoid a run-off.
MINESOTA
Tuesday’s primary election in the 1st Congressional District in southern Minnesota is the first step in replacing US Republican Jim Hagedorn, who died of cancer in February. Special general elections to fill the remainder of Hagedorn’s mandate in the Republican-facing area are scheduled for August 9th.
Hagedorn’s widow, Jennifer Carnahan, is making the most outspoken appeal to Trump supporters. She was the state chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party until she was expelled last August after a prominent donor was charged with sexual trafficking.
U.S. Representative Jeremy Manson, the founder of a far-right faction that broke away from the main Minnesota House GOP, was backed by U.S. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Former State Representative Brad Finstad has the support of several Minnesota GOP officials. He reminded voters that he was Trump’s director in Minnesota for the USDA’s rural development.
On the Democratic side, the candidate approved at the party’s district congress earlier this month is former Hormel Foods CEO Jeffrey Ettinger. Opponents include University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer at President George W. Bush’s White House.
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Associated Press writers Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Andrew Demilo in Little Rock, Arc .; Paul Weber in Austin, Texas; and Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.
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