Trump falls short in Georgia governor’s race: 5 takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries

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Georgia Republicans dealt a blow to President Trump on Tuesday, bucking his preferred pick, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R), for healthcare executive and billionaire Rick Jackson in the Peach State’s gubernatorial primary.

Jackson defeated Jones by single digits in the Republican gubernatorial runoff — marking the second time one of Trump’s endorsees in a major statewide race has lost this cycle.

Yet, Trump did see several bright spots in the Tuesday primaries and runoffs in Georgia, Oklahoma and Alabama. His last-minute endorsement for Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) in the Georgia Senate GOP runoff paid off, with Collins easily defeating former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was supported by Gov. Brian Kemp (R). The congressman will now take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of the most competitive races this year.

And in Alabama, Trump-backed Rep. Barry Moore (R) won the GOP runoff to replace Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R), though some polling had signaled potential trouble for the president’s endorsee. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), another Trump pick also won his GOP primary for Oklahoma Senate.

Here are The Hill’s takeaways from Tuesday night’s primaries and runoffs:

Trump’s primary picks have checkered night

Trump was dealt a mixed bag Tuesday, with one of his earliest primary picks losing the Georgia gubernatorial runoff.

It’s just the second time one of Trump’s chosen gubernatorial candidates lost their primary so far this cycle. Earlier this month, Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) lost to businessman Zach Lahn despite Trump’s support.

Kemp also notably offered a last-minute endorsement to Jones as well, yet neither endorsement from two GOP heavyweights was enough to help consolidate enough support for Georgia’s No. 2 leader.

Still, the president notched wins in several Senate and gubernatorial races elsewhere Tuesday. The Trump-Kemp divide was on display in the Georgia Senate GOP runoff where Trump’s last-minute pick, Collins, beat Kemp-backed Dooley.

Collins will now face off against Ossoff, who has a strong national profile and is seen as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat this November.

Collins aligned himself more closely with Trump in the primary and touted his work on the Laken Riley Act, the first piece of legislation that the president signed into office in his second term. The legislation allows federal officials to detain certain undocumented immigrants accused or convicted of certain crimes like burglary or theft.

Dooley, who sought to align with Kemp’s brand of conservatism, touted himself as the political outsider who wanted to turn things around in Washington, D.C.

Moore beat former U.S. Navy SEAL Jared Hudson in the Alabama Senate GOP runoff for Tuberville’s seat while Hern won the Oklahoma primary for the full-term to replace Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin who left the Senate this spring.

Former state Sen. Mike Mazzei (R), who also secured a Trump endorsement several weeks out from the primary, made it into the Republican runoff for Oklahoma governor. He placed a narrow second behind state Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R).

A billionaire trounces Trump favorite in Georgia

Jackson, once known only in GOP donor circles, is a step closer to becoming a household name after pouring tens of millions of dollars into his bid to take on former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) in the governor’s race this fall.

Billionaires have had a tricky track record in seeking higher office, yet Jackson’s wealth helped slingshot him from political unknown to Republican frontrunner in less than six months.

The win was particularly notable given Jones was the one candidate that both Trump and Kemp both endorsed. And the results are particularly striking juxtaposed against the Senate runoff given Collins and Jones’s stylistic similarities and staunch support for the president.

Jackson notched notable endorsements from GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rick Scott (Fla.) as well as state Attorney General Chris Carr (R).

Carr and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who both unsuccessfully ran for the GOP’s gubernatorial nod last month, garnered just over a quarter of the vote during the initial primary.

Both men were key figures who rebuffed Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Jones, meanwhile, signed Electoral College documents falsely claiming Trump beat former President Biden in Georgia’s 2020 election.

This contrast might offer one reason why some Carr and Raffensperger voters ended up backing Jackson, a political outsider, over the Trump ally in the state.

Crypto spending pays off in Alabama

The primary runoff for Senate in Alabama offered voters a choice between Moore, a third-term congressman who touted his experience and alignment with Trump, and Hudson, a political newcomer who criticized Moore’s Washington ties.

With Trump’s endorsement, Moore bested Hudson for the party nod on Tuesday, despite some polling ahead of the race suggesting the outsider was in the lead.

The results are another win for Trump — but they’re also a boon for the cryptocurrency industry.

The New York Times on Tuesday reported that a group tied to Fairshake, the leading crypto super PAC, had spent nearly $10 million on ads to help elect Moore, who owns crypto assets and has supported related legislation in Congress.

Moore pushed back against criticisms that he’d been bought by crypto interests, arguing the industry respects his stance against federal government control of currency, 1819 News reported back in April.

The crypto industry has been ramping up its spending ahead of the midterms after spending tens of millions of dollars in 2024.

Trump faces another runoff test in Oklahoma

Trump will face another key test of his influence in Oklahoma, where his pick for governor of the Sooner State advanced to an Aug. 25 Republican primary runoff.

Drummond and Mazzei, a former state budget secretary, both fell short of the majority support needed to win Tuesday’s primary outright — despite Trump’s attempt to put his thumb on the scale for Mazzei.

The winner of this summer’s runoff will all but certainly score the seat succeeding term-limited Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) this fall. The GOP has long dominated the governor’s mansion in Oklahoma, and the state voted for Trump by big margins in all three of his elections.

After a mixed night for Trump in other key Tuesday races, the Oklahoma governor’s contest offers yet another opportunity to test the power of the president’s endorsement ahead of November.

But before Oklahoma can finalize the governor’s runoff in August, another one of Trump’s picks for governor of South Carolina is headed into a June 23 runoff.

Lt. Gov. Pam Evette (R-S.C.) and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson are squaring off for the solidly Republican office in hopes of replacing outgoing Gov. Henry McMaster (R). If Evette can win the runoff with Trump’s support, it’ll mark another victory for his primary scorecard.

But, The Washington Post reported this week that Trump is considering endorsing both candidates in a bid to hedge his bets.

DC navigates ranked choice ballot as voters select key leaders

Washington, D.C., saw notable delays in Tuesday’s primaries as the district contended with ranked-choice voting for the first time and dealt with voters who were still in line when polls closed.

The district’s Board of Elections announced that vote centers had closed as of 10:44 p.m. EDT, more than two hours after polls closed at 8 p.m.

Once votes started coming in, Democrat Robert White, an at-large member of the D.C. council, was quickly projected to win his party’s primary for D.C.’s nonvoting delegate to Congress, defeating leading rival Brooke Pinto, the councilmember for Ward 2 in the district, in what’s already become the most expensive race on record for the office.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) is stepping down after 18 terms as the district’s House delegate, clearing the path for just the third-ever person to hold the seat since the modern office was set up in the 1970s.

The race for mayor was yet to be called before midnght Wednesday, with Democrat Janeese Lewis George, a D.C. city councilmember, leading by double digits over top rival Kenyan McDuffie, a former D.C. city council member-at-large.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) is retiring after three terms, marking the office’s first Democratic primary without an incumbent in two decades.

If Lewis George loses her lead and falls below 50 percent support, experts expect counting could take several days as election officials navigate the first-ever cycle ranked-choice voting with since D.C. passed a ballot initiative to implement the system two years ago. If no candidate snags more than half the vote among first-choice picks, the lowest vote-getter is eliminated and the count slips into subsequent rounds.

In a city where roughly three-quarters of voters are registered Democrats, the winners of the party’s primaries for both mayor and delegate are expected to sail through this fall and take the helm of the nation’s capital for the remainder of Trump’s term.

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Barry Moore

Brad Raffensperger

Brian Kemp

Burt Jones

Chris Carr

Joe Biden

Jon Ossoff

Keisha Lance Bottoms

Kevin Hern

Markwayne Mullin

Mike Collins

Randy Feenstra

Rick Scott

Ted Cruz

Tommy Tuberville

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