Overview
- Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic gubernatorial primary Tuesday by clearing the 50% threshold, making her the party’s nominee and avoiding a runoff in the November governor’s race.
- Republican primaries for governor and U.S. Senate failed to produce majority winners, sending Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Rick Jackson to a June 16 runoff for governor and Rep. Mike Collins and Derek Dooley to a June 16 runoff for the Senate.
- Incumbent justices Charles Bethel and Sarah Hawkins Warren were reelected to the Georgia Supreme Court and Benjamin Land ran unopposed, preserving the court’s conservative-appointed majority and denying challengers backed by Obama and Harris.
- The high-profile judicial contests drew unusually heavy outside spending and national attention, with roughly $4 million in advertising overall and a $500,000 backing from Gov. Brian Kemp’s PAC, but endorsements for challengers failed to flip seats.
- The outcomes matter for redistricting and voting-rights fights because a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling loosened federal oversight; Gov. Kemp has called a special legislative session to consider new U.S. House maps that the state courts would likely review.