A plethora of open Republican and Democratic races statewide attracted crowded fields for Georgia’s May 19 midterm primaries. That means a lot of primary races on both sides of the aisle are going to runoffs on June 16 — most notably, the Republican gubernatorial and senate races.
For the governor’s race, Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire health care CEO Rick Jackson both advanced to a runoff with about 39% and 33% of the vote, respectively.
Meanwhile, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms decisively captured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination with 56% of the vote. State Sen. Jason Estevez (D-Atlanta) came in second, with 18.7% of the vote, followed by Mike Thurmond, Geoff Duncan, Derrick Jackson, Amanda Duffy and Olu Brown.
Little Five Points resident Dave Baldwin, 46, who voted for Bottoms, said the governor’s race was his top priority. “She was a good mayor,” he said. “And that was enough.” Baldwin said he did consider voting for second place finisher Estevez.
For the US Senate race, Republicans US Rep. Mike Collins and former football coach Derek Dooley, who’s backed by outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, will head to a runoff. Collins won 40.5% of the vote, with 30.2% for Dooley. The winner will challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who handily won his primary, running unopposed.
Many voters who spoke to Atlanta Civic Circle and our Election Day reporting partners lamented the long list of downballot races — and the lack of information about the candidates. That is one reason that only three statewide races were decided outright — for Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner and Public Service Commission (PSC) District 3.
Keep reading for those results, along with the statewide races heading to June 16 runoffs. We’ve also got results for nonpartisan judicial races, which were decided on Tuesday, and the Fulton County Commission and metro Atlanta legislative races that will go to a runoff.
Jonesboro voters Bobbie Ciminski and her husband Torin Foltz both said they felt overwhelmed by the number of races and candidates on their ballots, including the large Democratic field for the 13th Congressional District, after the death of longtime US Rep David Scott (D-Atlanta).
In a six-way Democratic primary, state Rep. Jasmine Clark (D-Lilburn) won outright, with 56.1% of the vote. She will face Republican Jonathan Chavez in the general election.
“You get excited to do your research and then you get kind of lost,” Ciminski said about the lengthy ballot. “Normally, I do better research. I just felt a little unprepared.”
“A lot of that is just the lack of local news outlets that tell you what’s going on in your community,” Foltz added. “You don’t hear about a lot of things locally.”
Most statewide races trigger runoffs for Dems, Repubs — or both
The only three statewide matchups that were finalized in the May 19 primary were the races for Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner and Public Service Commission (PSC) District 3.
For Attorney General, State Rep. Tanya Miller (D-Atlanta) won the Democratic primary against attorney Bob Trammel with 84.5% of the vote. Miller will face Republican state Sen. Brian Strickland (R-McDonough), who defeated state Sen. Bill Cowsert with 71.6% of the vote.
For Agriculture Commissioner, race, Republican incumbent Tyler Harper will face Katherine Juhan-Arnold, who won the Democratic primary with 62.1% of the vote against Sedrick Kent Rowe, Jr.
For PSC District 3, Democratic incumbent Peter Hubbard, who ran uncontested, will face a rematch with Republican Fitz Johnson, whom Hubbard beat in a special election last year. Johnson eked out a win with 50.2% of the vote against challenger Brandon Martin.
Here are the statewide races going to a runoff on June 16:
Lieutenant Governor: Both the Democratic and Republican primaries will go to a runoff. The Democrats are Sen. Josh McLaurin (D-Sandy Springs) and Sen. Nabilah Parkes (D-Duluth). The Republicans are Sen. John F. Kennedy (R-Macon) and Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming).
Secretary of State: Both parties require a runoff. The Democrats are Dana Barrett and Penny Brown Reynolds. The Republicans are Tim Fleming and Vernon Jones.
Labor Commissioner: A Democratic runoff will determine whether Republican incumbent Bárbara Rivera Holmes faces either Nikki Porcher or Michelle “Michi” Sanchez.
Insurance Commissioner: A Democratic runoff will decide if Keisha Sean Waites or DeAndre Mathis faces Republican incumbent John King.
State School Superintendent: On the Democratic side, Lydia Powell eked out an outright primary win with 50.5% of the vote in a three-way race. Republican incumbent Richard Woods failed to avoid a runoff, garnering 49.9% of the vote. He’ll face Fred “Bubba” Longgrear in the Republican runoff.
Public Service Commission District 5: Democrat Shelia Edwards won her three-way primary outright for this open seat. Republicans Josh Tolbert and Bobby Mehan will duke it out in a runoff.
Hailey Weiner and Atlanta Community Press Collective‘s Zak Kerr contributed reporting.
