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Georgia is holding highly-watched gubernatorial primaries on Tuesday. Polls in most of the state closed at 7 p.m. ET.
The race and the stakes:
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp resoundingly defeated former Sen. David Perdue is challenging in a major blow to President Donald Trump's endorsement power — and the political potency of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state.
Kemp was elected in 2018 as a Trump ally running on a decidedly conservative platform. But Kemp fell out of favor with the former president — first over his selection of political newcomer Kelly Loeffler for an open US Senate seat, and then after the governor certified President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory in Georgia and defended the integrity of the state's voting process.
Trump then endorsed Perdue, who lost reelection to now-Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a 2021 runoff election, to face off against Kemp. Perdue has also attacked the integrity of Georgia's elections and said he wouldn't have certified the 2020 election had he been governor.
Other Republicans who challenged Kemp include far-right activist Kandiss Taylor, human resources professional Catherine Davis, and political newcomer Tom Williams.
Kemp managed to win outright and avoid a runoff against Perdue.
When Perdue entered the gubernatorial race in December, his endorsement from Trump and the force of the former president's 2020 election claims were seen as invaluable assets in a GOP primary, as Kemp's popularity had appeared to wane among many MAGA grassroots supporters.
However, Kemp rebounded politically, outraising Perdue and running a stream of advertising while the former senator largely went dark on the airwaves during the last week of the race.
The governor also took advantage of the high visibility and power of his role, signing into law conservative pieces of legislation passed by the GOP-controlled legislature including a restrictive election law and a bill limiting the discussion of race in public schools.
Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has cleared the field to lock up her party's nomination to challenge Kemp in what will be one of the most hotly-contested governor's races of the 2022 midterms.
In 2018, Kemp narrowly edged out Abrams by a 50.2%-48.8% margin, or 1.4 percentage points.
Democrats are hoping to build on Biden's 2020 victory, along with the 2021 runoff victories of Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Ossoff, to prove that the party's strength in the Southern state is real — despite the challenging national political environment.
Follow Insider's live coverage of all of Tuesday night's primaries here.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/HbfmXW8
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