Georgia primary results set up high-stakes runoffs for governor, Senate

The election results are in from the May primary and general elections, and several candidates will face off in a June runoff election.

In the races for governor and U.S. Senate, both Republican primaries resulted in a runoff while Democrats secured their spot on the ticket.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic primary for governor with 56% of the vote.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Rick Jackson received the most votes in the governor’s race with Jones receiving 38% and Jackson receiving 33% of the vote.

Ben Taylor, an Atlanta News First political analyst, said he could not think of a time in Georgia political history when a candidate like Rick Jackson made such headway in an election.

“It is quite unprecedented, and the key thing to remember is that not only are we heading to a runoff in the governor’s race but very likely in the Senate race as well,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins received the most votes in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate with 41% of the vote, and Derek Dooley came in second with 30% of the vote. Sen. Jon Ossoff ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Taylor said Ossoff is a prolific fundraiser and now has more time to win votes.

“He’s going to be able to work with the Georgia Democratic Party to sort of organize a statewide campaign, get out the vote efforts, things like that, and that’s the kind of thing you can do when you’re not running in a runoff and you’re not having these interesting fights with each other,” he said.

Ossoff and Bottoms can now work together to garner support while Republicans battle it out in the runoff, he said.

The runoff will take place on June 16, and early voting will run from June 8-12.

Other Primary Races

U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson and Nikema Williams won their Democratic primaries, and U.S. Reps. Rick Allen, Andrew Clyde and Clay Fuller also won their Republican primaries.

State Rep. Jasmine Clark won the Democratic primary for Georgia’s 13th District.

The ticket for attorney general was also decided with Democrat state Rep. Tanya Miller facing state Sen. Brian Strickland in the November general election.

Both Democrats and Republicans will need to have runoffs for the Georgia Secretary of State seat and the lieutenant governor seat before those races are decided.

It looks like Fitz Johnson narrowly defeated Brandon Martin on the Republican ticket for District 3 of the Public Service Commission with 50.19% of the vote. This means Johnson will once again face Peter Hubbard in the general election.

Nonpartisan Races

Georgia Supreme Court justices Sarah Hawkins Warren and Charlie Bethel kept their seats defeating challengers Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin. Bethel narrowly defeated Rankin with 51% of the vote.