Democrats took a step toward electing the first African-American female governor in American history and resolved some of their biggest House primary fights across four states Tuesday night, while Republican voters get the chance to remake the powerful congressional delegation in the biggest red state.
In the most closely watched race of the night, former state Rep. Stacey Abrams crushed state Rep. Stacey Evans in Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. If she prevails in November, Abrams will make history as the first female African-American elected to a governorship. Republicans, however, have won four straight elections for governor in Georgia.
The most consequential races on the ballot also included a closely watched Democratic House primary runoff in Texas, where an establishment-vs.-grassroots fight has blown out into the open after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee publicized past statements by Laura Moser, whom it saw as a weaker general-election candidate. The party’s efforts paid off: Moser was crushed by attorney Lizzie Fletcher, who will go on to face GOP Rep. John Culberson in the fall.
The first result of the night came from Kentucky, where Amy McGrath, a female Marine veteran whose biography was the subject of a viral video campaign last year, upset Lexington Mayor Jim Gray for the Democratic nomination in a conservative district that could become a big November battleground. McGrath – whose victory represents another success for female candidates in Democratic primaries this spring – prevailed despite national Democrats recruiting Gray to run late last year.
Here’s a state-by-state guide to what was on the ballot:
Georgia
The story of the night was Abrams’ historic achievement. In a statement after the race was called, she thanked voters "who believed that a little black girl who sometimes had to go without lights or running water … could become the first woman gubernatorial nominee from either party in Georgia’s history."
Democrats think the state’s changing demographics, combined with a favorable national environment, give Abrams a chance in November – especially now that the GOP frontrunner, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, has been forced into a July runoff for the GOP nomination with Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Cagle struggled to break 40 percent – well shy of the majority needed to advance to the general election.
Meanwhile, Democrats are picking their nominee in the 6th Congressional District – the suburban Atlanta seat made famous last year by a more-than-$60-million special election that sent now-Rep. Karen Handel (R-Ga.) to Congress.
Jon Ossoff, the Democratic nominee last year, isn’t running this year. In early returns, it looked like a three-way race for two spots in a runoff, with tech consultant Kevin Abel, former local TV news personality Bobby Kaple and Lucy McBath, an activist for stricter gun laws, at the top of the pack.
Texas
The Democratic primary runoff in the 7th Congressional District, where Fletcher beat Moser, was the most intriguing. In February, before the primary, the DCCC released a summary of opposition research against Moser, which quoted from her past statements disparaging Texas and suggested that GOP Rep. John Culberson would easily depict her as a carpetbagger if she won the nomination.
The gambit failed in the first round, when Moser, a former journalist, finished second to Fletcher, forcing Tuesday’s runoff.
But when the votes were tallied Tuesday night, Fletcher easily defeated Moser, extinguishing most of the controversy over national Democrats’ role in the race.
Democrats also picked nominees in two other battleground congressional districts: the sprawling 23rd District, which stretches from West Texas to San Antonio, and the suburban Dallas 32nd District. The districts are represented by Republican Reps. Will Hurd and Pete Sessions, respectively.
Iraq War veteran Gina Ortiz Jones easily defeated Rick Trevino in the 23rd, and Colin Allred, an attorney and former NFL linebacker, dispatched attorney Lillian Salerno.
Meanwhile, Republicans were poised to choose nominees for five solid-red House seats being vacated by retiring GOP members (in one of the seats, scandal-plagued former Rep. Blake Farenthold has already resigned). The winners of Tuesday’s runoffs will be heavy favorites to come to Congress in 2019.
Kentucky
The lone race of interest in Kentucky came in the Lexington-based 6th District, where GOP Rep. Andy Barr is running for a fourth term and will face McGrath in the fall. McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot, generated lots of headlines last year when she announced for the race with a slick announcement video that generated a financial windfall for her campaign.
Despite McGrath’s early momentum, national Democrats recruited Gray, the party’s 2016 nominee against Sen. Rand Paul. Gray didn’t have an official designation from the DCCC, despite the recruiting effort – a possible indication the national party saw McGrath’s momentum coming.
The final vote tally, with 100 percent of precincts reporting: McGrath with 49 percent of the vote, to 41 percent for Gray.
Still, the seat leans Republican: Trump carried the district by 15 points in 2016. In the minutes after the race was called, Republicans quickly signaled they intend to argue McGrath is too liberal for the Republican-leaning district. Democrats, meanwhile, released a weeks-old internal poll that showed McGrath leading Barr in the district.
Arkansas
Democrats are targeting the state’s 2nd Congressional District, around Little Rock, where GOP Rep. French Hill is running for a third term. National Democrats are most excited about state Rep. Clarke Tucker, a member of the DCCC’s “Red-to-Blue” roster of promising recruits who won the nomination outright on Tuesday night against three challengers.
President Donald Trump carried the district by around 10 percentage points in 2016.
Meanwhile, the state’s governor, Republican Asa Hutchinson, easily defeated former TV reporter Jan Morgan in a GOP primary on Tuesday – one day after Hutchinson received an endorsement from Trump on Twitter. The incumbent was among a group of GOP governors eating dinner with Trump at the White House on Monday.
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