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Primary elections were held Tuesday in Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Idaho and Pennsylvania. The contests were seen as a further test of President Donald Trump ‘s grip on Republican voters.
In Kentucky, Trump’s handpicked candidate Ed Gallrein defeated Rep. Thomas Massie in a primary election challenge. Trump sought to unseat Massie after the eight-term representative broke with him on issues, including the release of the Epstein files.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic voters have picked nominees they hope can flip Republican-held seats seen as critical for the party to retake the U.S. House. The races showed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s influence in the state, with all three candidates he endorsed in contested races winning.
In Georgia, Republicans will have two runoffs on June 16. Mike Collins and Derek Dooley will compete for the chance to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November. In addition, Burt Jones and Rick Jackson advanced to the runoff for governor. Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic nomination for governor.
In Oregon, Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek defeated nine primary challengers and she will face off in November against Republican Christine Drazan. Voters also rejected a gas tax increase as prices at the pump soar with the war in Iran.
In Alabama, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore advanced to a runoff for the Republican nomination to replace Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who won the GOP nomination for governor and will face Democrat Doug Jones.
The Latest:
Christine Drazan wins GOP primary for Oregon governor
The victory by the state senator sets up a rematch for November, when she will again face Democrat Tina Kotek. Drazan ran against Kotek in 2022 and lost.
Drazan advanced from a crowded field of 14 GOP primary candidates that included a fellow Republican legislator and a former NBA player.
Oregon Republicans welcome the defeat of the gas tax increase
“I’m not surprised at all that Oregonians have rejected a completely unpopular tax increase,” Republican state Sen. Bruce Starr, who helped lead the gas tax referendum campaign, told The Associated Press Tuesday night. “Oregon voters will not be ignored. Oregon taxpayers will not be ignored.”
US Rep. Barry Moore advances to a runoff for Alabama’s GOP Senate nomination
He’s a three-term congressman and member of the House’s conservative Freedom Caucus who has said Alabama deserves a “Trump conservative” in the Senate.
Trump has called Moore “a totally reliable MAGA Warrior!” During a brief telephone rally Monday night, Trump said: “Barry is going to do a fantastic job. He will fight for you in the Senate.”
Patti Adair wins GOP primary for Oregon’s lone competitive US House seat
Adair, a county commissioner in central Oregon’s Deschutes County, beat one opponent to win the Republican primary for the state’s 5th District.
The state’s lone competitive U.S. House district stretches from southern Portland across the Cascade Range to Bend, which is in Deschutes County.
Adair will face off against the incumbent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, in November’s general election. Republicans are hoping they can win the seat back from Democrats after briefly flipping it for one term in 2022 for the first time in decades.
Derek Dooley still celebrating with supporters — and his mother
The Georgia Republican is still making the rounds at his watch party after qualifying for a June 16 Senate primary runoff against U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.
Different from many other candidates, Dooley has been milling about most of the night, starting soon after polls closed. Among his happiest supporters: his mother, 86-year-old Barbara Dooley.
Derek’s late father, Vince Dooley, was the longtime University of Georgia football coach and athletic director.
Barbara Dooley ran for Congress in 2002 and lost a Republican runoff. Vince Dooley considered a gubernatorial bid as a Democrat in 1990 but opted against it.
The legendary coach died in 2022, shortly after endorsing his former player, Republican Herschel Walker, in a failed Senate bid.
Keisha Lance Bottoms vows to stop Trump when policies ‘hurt Georgia’
Speaking at her celebration after winning the Democratic nomination for Georgia governor, Lance Bottoms vowed to stand up to the president.
She also said Georgians showed their voices would “never be silenced” and promised to make sure every resident had a chance to succeed.
“It means stopping Donald Trump every time his policies hurt Georgia, and also taking action here to make life better for people across the state,” she said.
Oregon voters reject raising the state’s gas tax
The Democratic-controlled Legislature passed the contested gas tax increases last year when it also raised a series of other fees to help fix roads and close a gap in the state’s transportation budget.
Republicans launched a referendum campaign to refer it to the ballot and give voters the final say on whether to raise the tax by 6 cents to 46 cents a gallon.
The rejection of the tax is a win for Republicans. Democrats didn’t organize efforts to campaign for the gas tax increase, noting it was coming before voters as the Iran war causes prices at the pump to skyrocket. Some party members said in the lead-up to the primary that they anticipated voters would reject it.
Rep. Mike Collins and Derek Dooley make GOP runoff in Georgia’s US Senate race
They will compete in a June 16 runoff after neither candidate received at least 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.
Collins, 59, represents a district east of Atlanta. Dooley, 58, is a lawyer and former football coach running for office for the first time.
Another candidate, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, did not qualify for the runoff.
The winner will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
Dakarai Larriett and Everett Wess advance to Democratic runoff for US Senate in Alabama
The seat is being vacated by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor.
Oregon’s Democratic governor wins her primary
Incumbent Tina Kotek beat nine opponents to win the Democratic primary. Political experts had expected her to win, as her challengers had raised little to no money and didn’t have experience in elected office.
Kotek will face off in November against whoever advances from a crowded Republican primary field of 14 candidates.
Chris Rabb wins the Democratic primary for open US House seat in Philadelphia
A self-described “proud troublemaker,” Rabb is a member of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, where he made a name for himself by backing left-wing causes. He will almost certainly go to Washington next year to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans since no Republican filed to run in the majority Black district.
Rabb was endorsed in the four-way primary by progressive stalwarts including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and online streamer Hasan Piker.
He fended off Sharif Street, a state senator and former state party chair who had prominent establishment backers and a familiar name as the son of John F. Street, the city’s former two-term mayor. Rabb also beat Dr. Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon who was backed by millions of dollars from 314 Action, a left-leaning political action committee aimed at electing scientists to Congress.
Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Democratic nomination for Georgia governor
The former Atlanta mayor hopes to win a seat that has eluded her party for more than two decades.
Bottoms’ pitch to voters was that she was “battle-tested” after a mayoral term in which she had to manage crime and the COVID-19 pandemic before her surprise decision not to seek reelection.
Like other Democrats, Bottoms cites expanding healthcare, affordable housing and better education as among her top issues.
Democrats have not won the Georgia governor’s office for 24 years.
Collins looks ahead to general election fight against Ossoff
Georgia Rep. Mike Collins criticized Ossoff during remarks Tuesday night, aiming to link him to Democrats in California and New York.
He talked up his support for the Laken Riley Act and his longtime support for the president. Although he must first c
