Georgia Gov. Kemp defeats Trump-backed challenger

Long before Georgia voters went to the polls Tuesday, former President Donald Trump criticized Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for not overturning election results in 2020. Despite Trump’s endorsement of David Perdue, Kemp won with just over 73 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary. He had the help of the establishment Republican Party, with several governors and former Vice President Mike Pence stumping for him in recent weeks. Kemp will run against Democrat Stacey Abrams in the fall.

What are the results of other primaries? Also in Georgia, former football star Herschel Walker easily won his GOP primary bid for U.S. Senate. On the House side, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene won the Republican primary after prevailing in a recent court case that allowed her to remain on the ballot. In Alabama, the race between Republican Rep. Mo Brooks and challenger Katie Britt will advance to a runoff, as the race was too close to call on Tuesday. And in Texas, several runoff races from the March primary finished Tuesday. Attorney General Ken Paxton won against George P. Bush, one of the last in his family to hold office. The runoff between Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, the last pro-life Democratic U.S. House representative, and Jessica Cisneros was again too close to call Tuesday night.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Stew about what the primaries might reveal about the GOP and Trump’s influence.