Georgia’s GOP Senate runoff to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff is the marquee race as voters cast ballots in four states and Washington, D.C.
Voters in four states and Washington, D.C., are casting ballots Tuesday in a primary calendar led by Republican runoff elections in Georgia and Alabama, including a closely watched Georgia Senate contest that will determine who challenges Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
The Georgia Senate runoff pits Rep. Mike Collins against Derek Dooley after no Republican candidate reached 50% in last month’s primary. Collins, a second-term congressman and trucking business owner, led the first round with almost 41% of the vote. Dooley, an attorney and former University of Tennessee football coach, won about 30%. Rep. Buddy Carter was eliminated after finishing behind them.
The race has sharpened a broader argument inside Georgia Republican politics. Collins secured President Trump’s endorsement over the weekend and has campaigned as a close ally of the president. Dooley is backed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and has presented himself as a political outsider while saying he would work with Trump.
The nominee will face Ossoff, who won his Senate seat in 2021 by 1.2 percentage points and is now the only Democratic senator seeking reelection in a state Trump carried in 2024. That has made the seat a top Republican target, though the extended GOP nomination fight has given Ossoff more time to raise money for the general election.
Georgia Republicans are also deciding a runoff for governor between Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson. Jones, who has Trump’s endorsement, finished more than 50,000 votes ahead of Jackson in the May 19 primary. Jackson has been endorsed by state Attorney General Chris Carr, who finished behind them in the first round.
In Alabama, Republicans are choosing between Rep. Barry Moore and former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson in a Senate runoff to replace Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is leaving the chamber to run for governor. Moore, who has represented Alabama in the House since 2021, has Trump’s support and took nearly 40% in the first primary. Hudson received almost 26% and is running as an outsider aligned with Trump’s America First agenda.
Oklahoma is holding primaries for the Senate seat previously held by Markwayne Mullin, who left to become Homeland Security secretary. Rep. Kevin Hern, who has Trump’s endorsement along with backing from Senate Republican leaders, faces four GOP challengers. Five Democrats are also seeking their party’s nomination in a state Trump won by a wide margin in 2024.
California voters in former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s district are holding a special primary to fill the remainder of his term, with the top two candidates advancing to an Aug. 18 special election. In Washington, D.C., voters are choosing candidates for non-voting delegate and mayor, with the mayoral primary using ranked choice voting for the first time after voters approved the system in 2024.
The results will set several November matchups and offer another measure of Trump’s influence in Republican primaries, particularly in Georgia and Alabama, where his endorsements are central to the day’s highest-profile contests.
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