LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – Sen. John Boozman has won the Republican primary in Arkansas, defending the efforts of right-wing rivals after relying heavily on his support for Donald Trump and leading state GOP figures.
Boozman defeated three rivals in Tuesday’s Republican primary. Three Democrats are seeking the party’s nomination for Boozman’s seat in Tuesday’s primary.
The two-term, soft-spoken senator had the backing of Trump, who stood out in all ads and emails, and had adopted a more combative style during his re-election candidacy. Boozman is on the verge of chairing the Senate Agriculture Committee if Republicans gain control of the Senate and had the support of groups such as the National Rifle Association.
But his rivals had tried to portray the incumbent legislator as not conservative enough. They included former NFL player Jake Bequette, who was backed by a super PAC who spent more than $ 1.5 million on ads supporting his bid and attacking Boozman.
Conservative activist Jan Morgan and Pastor Heath Loftis also applied for the nomination.
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Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas and Minnesota hold primary elections on Tuesday.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
– Kemp wins Georgia GOP governor’s career in a scathing rebuke to Trump
– Mid-2022: What to See in Georgia, Texas, Elsewhere
– The race in the U.S. Senate in Georgia will pit Warnock against Walker
– Georgia’s Secretary of State Raffensperger confronts Trump’s ally
– MP Marjorie Taylor Greene wins GOP primaries as proof of her divisive policy
– Unopposed Stacey Abrams remains a target in Republican primaries
– Former Trump Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Wins GOP Candidate for Arkansas Governor
Follow all AP stories about the midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
ATLANTA – U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath defeats fellow Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux in a Georgia primary race between two incumbents who became rising stars after overthrowing Republican districts during much time.
The contest in the 7th district of the Atlanta Congress cost the Democrats one of two Georgian lawmakers who had won seats in the House for the party since 2018.
McBath chose to run for Bourdeaux instead of running for re-election in the neighboring 6th District, which he had represented for two terms. McBath left his former district after the Republican-controlled state legislature redesigned it to be more conservative.
Bourdeaux, who was seeking a second term, said she was shocked by the challenge of a colleague she had called a “sister”. McBath said his decision was driven by his desire to continue defending gun safety in memory of his teenage son, who was shot in 2012.
In the November election, McBath will face the Republican primary winner among five candidates.
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LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – Nuclear engineer and ordained minister Chris Jones has won the Democratic nomination for governor of Arkansas as he rises to the top of the extremely red state.
Jones defeated four rivals in Tuesday’s primary, winning the majority needed to claim the nomination without a second round. He will face Republican Sarah Sanders and libertarian candidate Ricky Dale Harrington in the November election.
Jones is among dozens of black Democrats running for office in areas won by former President Donald Trump. Arkansas has never before elected an African-American to a state or federal position.
He launched his campaign last year with an online video that quickly went viral. In the video, Jones talked about his faith, love of science, and his family’s history in the state.
Jones is running to succeed Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is unable to run for re-election, and plans to run for president in 2024.
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ATLANTA – Former Sen. David Perdue said he called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to congratulate him on his victory in the Republican government primaries.
Perdue had been recruited by Donald Trump to challenge Kemp, who had angered the former president by dismissing his baseless allegations of widespread election fraud. But Perdue never gained much traction in the race and was easily defeated by the starter on Tuesday.
Perdue said he would work to make sure Kemp outperformed Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams in the November election, a resumption of her contest four years ago.
“Everything I said about Brian Kemp was true, but here’s the other thing I said was true: it’s a much better option than Stacey Abrams. We’ll put ourselves behind our governor,” Perdue said.
“We will do our best to make sure that Stacey Abrams does not take over this state and let the awakened mob take care of our beloved children and grandchildren,” she said.
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LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has won the Republican nomination for governor of Arkansas after a campaign in which she focused primarily on national issues and criticizing President Joe Biden.
Sanders defeated former radio and podcast presenter Doc Washburn, who made a lengthy bid for the GOP nomination in Tuesday’s primaries. Five Democrats were also seeking their party’s nomination for governor in Tuesday’s primaries.
Sanders has received support from his former boss, former President Donald Trump, and has broken fundraising records since entering the race last year. Sanders, the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee, covered the state with announcements aimed at Biden on issues such as inflation and promising to fight the “radical left.”
He is running for successor to outgoing Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is unable to run for re-election and is considering running for president in 2024.
Trump had publicly encouraged Sanders to run for governor when he announced in 2019 that he would leave the White House to return to his home state.
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is once again the GOP candidate for his job in a second-round victory over Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
Bush is the only member of his famous family still in office, but the loss means he will leave now in January. This will leave the Bush dynasty out of office only one of the few times in the last 40 years.
The near end of the Bush era, at least for now, came at the hands of a two-term incumbent still being prosecuted on a 2015 felony charge and a separate FBI investigation into the corruption charge. But most importantly in Texas, Paxton had the support of Donald Trump, the former president who has mocked and antagonized the Bush family on his way to take his mantle as a GOP flagship.
Paxton, who has denied wrongdoing, is now serving a third term in Texas, where a Democrat has not won a statewide office in nearly 30 years.
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ATLANTA – U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defeated five fellow Republicans in a Georgia primary that tested Conservative voters’ tolerance of the first-term congresswoman’s divisive policy.
Greene, a GOP right-wing celebrity, will return to the polls in the November general election. He will face the winner of a three-way Democratic primary in Northwest Georgia’s 14th District, a seat won to give Republicans a big lead.
Jennifer Strahan and other Republican rivals tried unsuccessfully to convince voters that Greene’s combative rhetoric and unwillingness to embrace baseless conspiracy theories did little to benefit his constituents.
Greene raised more than $ 9 million to defend his seat and spent more than $ 6.6 million in the primaries to defend his own party’s attacks. She remained on the ballot after voters made a failed effort to disqualify her by alleging that she encouraged the January 6 Capitol uprising and riots that disrupted Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
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ATLANTA – Georgia’s Republican attorney general has defeated a Republican primary rival who entered the race with the support of former President Donald Trump.
Unofficial election statements show that Attorney General Chris Carr won the Republican nomination for John Gordon, who campaigned primarily against Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread election fraud.
Gordon said he wanted an investigation into the 2020 election and blamed Carr for not doing enough. Carr bluntly said the two Republican senators from Trump and Georgia lost that election and that there was no need to investigate.
Appointed to the Attorney General’s office by the governor in 2016, Carr is seeking his second full term. His major accomplishments include pursuing human trafficking, obtaining a $ 636 million opiate deal and defending Georgia’s 2021 voting law.
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ATLANTA – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has defeated Donald Trump-backed rival David Perdue after a furious push by the former president to punish Kemp for not annulling the 2020 election results.
Kemp’s victory on Tuesday sets another race in the general election against Democrat Stacey Abrams, who had no opposition to her primaries. The November resumption of its 2018 competition is likely to be one of the most expensive and closely watched in the country.
Perdue was courted by Trump for running for office because Kemp did not accompany the former president’s effort to undo his defeat in the 2020 Georgia election. Perdue accepted Trump’s electoral lies, and opened two debates among the candidates with the claim that the 2020 vote was “manipulated and stolen”. Election officials found no evidence of fraud after multiple reviews.
Kemp survived the challenge by using the power of his power to push through a series of legislatures through the Republican-controlled legislature of Georgia. He signed measures that cut taxes, allowed people to carry concealed guns without permission, and helped ban transgender girls from high school sports.
The governor also took advantage of the abundant state coffers to give salary increases to public employees and announced two large electric vehicle factories.
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