No state has felt the wrath of former President Donald Trump over the 2020 elections more than Georgia, where it is trying to oust state incumbents who certified that President Joe Biden won the state.
Trump has set his sights on Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in particular. In an effort to oust Kemp, Trump backed former Sen. David Perdue, who lost his seat in a second round to Democrat Jon Ossoff, one of two Democrats elected to the Senate seats in Georgia in 2020. the majority in the Senate to the Democrats.
CBS News projected at 8:30 pm ET that Kemp would win the Republican nomination, easily defeating Perdue and handing a reprimand to Trump.
Kemp will face Democrat Stacey Abrams, whom she defeated in 2018.
“I’m fully supporting Brian Kemp in his career to beat Stacey Abrams,” Perdue told fans in his award speech. “We will do our best to ensure that Stacey Abrams does not take over this state.”
Georgia’s secretary of state’s office tweeted Tuesday that the state is on a “solid path” to break the record for participation in the midterm primaries.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom Trump asked in January 2021 to “find” enough votes to overturn the results, is also running for re-election. Trump supported U.S. Rep. Jody Hice in the race. He is one of the House Republicans who challenged the election results in Pennsylvania and Arizona on January 6, 2021.
CBS News predicts Herschel Walker, the former Trump-backed football player, will win the Republican nomination to face incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. CBS News also projected that Warnock will win the Democratic nomination.
David Perdue and Brian Kemp. Joe Raedle / Getty Images, Joe Raedle / Getty Images
CBS News predicts Deputy Majorie Taylor Greene will win the Republican nomination in Georgia’s 14th District, easily defeating several rivals.
In his comments on the victory, Greene gave a strong warning to what he considers the establishment’s Republican party and “globalist elites.” “Sending me back to Washington will send a message to the blood-sucking establishment. It is we who will set the political agenda for the next decade and not them,” he said.
Two incumbent Democrats clash in Georgia’s new District 7. Rep. Lucy McBath, who defeated a Republican incumbent in 2018 in District 6, is now in the same district as Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, who was the only Democrat to oust a Republican incumbent in 2020.
Alabama and Arkansas also hold primaries on Tuesday. Trump has twice announced his preferences in the Senate race for the open seat in Alabama. He first supported longtime loyalist Mo Brooks, but later left his support in March, when Brooks was fighting in the polls. After Trump withdrew his endorsement, Brooks, who was one of the members of Congress who opposed the election results, said the former president “asked me to rescind the 2020 election.”
Despite losing Trump’s endorsement, Brooks has been able to hold on to the polls. A recent Emerson poll showed Katie Britt (32%), the former chief of staff of current Sen. Richard Shelby, slightly ahead of businessman Michael Durant (26%) and Brooks (25%).
In Arkansas, CBS News projected that former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders win the gubernatorial primaries, after leading the group in fundraising and polls. His father, Mike Huckabee, was governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007.
A number of crucial landslides are occurring in Texas, which involved a shooting on Tuesday near San Antonio. In Texas District 28, incumbent Henry Cuellar faces Jessica Cisneros after Cuellar failed to get 50% of the vote in the March 1 primary.
CBS News predicts Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will win the Republican nomination, easily defeating Land Commissioner George P. Bush. Although Paxton is embroiled in many scandals, Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, nephew of former President George W. Bush and grandson of former President George HW Bush, could not surpass his last name.
According to an April poll by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, 40% of Republican primary voters said they would never vote for Bush. Two-thirds of those voters said it was because he was a member of the Bush family. Forty-one percent said they would not vote for Bush because he is not conservative enough.