June 21 Primaries Review

Another week of primary elections took place on June 21, 2022. Voters in Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., went to the polls. Here, Election Central takes a closer look at some of the key takeaways of this latest round of primary elections. 

Georgia 

This was Georgia’s second 2022 primary election. In the May Republican primary, Governor Brian Kemp easily defeated his main challenger Senator David Perdue. This was important because Perdue was strongly backed by former President Trump, who contributed not just his support but also a lot of money to Perdue’s campaign. Experts watched that election closely, to see how much influence Trump still had over Republican voters. Kemp’s victory seemed to indicate that voters considered more than just Trump’s opinion when voting for a candidate.  

The same trend continued during the Republican primaries on June 21. In the 6^th District, physician and retired Marine Rich McCormick won 66 percent of the vote to defeat attorney Jake Evans, who was endorsed by Trump. The same thing happened in the 10^th District. Businessman Mike Collins easily defeated Trump-endorsed Vernon Jones with 75 percent of the vote.  

Alabama 

In Alabama’s Republican Senate primary race, Trump originally endorsed six-term congressman and House Freedom Caucus member Mo Brooks. Brooks spoke at the Capitol Building before the riots began on January 6, 2021. Brooks also vocally supported Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged. Brooks also had the support of other prominent Republicans, such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. However, once Trump saw that Brooks was losing to GOP challenger Katie Britt, Trump switched his endorsement to Britt. (Britt is the leader of the Business Council of Alabama.) Trump said that he switched his endorsement because Brooks encouraged voters to move past the 2020 election and look to the future instead, which Trump viewed as a slight. Britt won 63 percent of the vote and defeated Mo Brooks. 

Virginia 

In the 2^nd District primaries, Republicans chose state Senator Jen Kiggans over businessman Jarome Bell by more than 28 percent of the vote. Kiggans will face off against Democratic Representative Elaine Luria in the November general election. This Senate race is expected to be one of the most competitive congressional races in the country. 

Washington, D.C. 

Mayor Muriel Bowser won her Democratic primary. She is projected to win the general election in November as well. If she does win in November, Bowser will become the first D.C. mayor since 1986 to serve a third term. Bowser beat out her two Democratic challengers with a pledge to increase the size of the police force to reduce the number of violent crimes in Washington, D.C. 

Dig Deeper Which states hold primaries next? Use the Internet to find out.