Georgia Primary Results: Democrat Jasmine Clark Wins Primary, Succeeds Late US Rep. David Scott | Today’s news

Democrat Jasmine Clark won her party’s nomination Tuesday to replace Rep. David Scott for a two-year term representing Georgia’s 13th congressional district after Scott died in April while seeking another term.

Clark is a state representative, microbiologist and Emory University lecturer who has promised to put science first in Congress. Her candidacy has been bolstered by more than $2 million in outside spending by cryptocurrency interests, but Clark said she did not court the endorsement. She edged out other Democrats including former school board member Everton Blair, state Sen. Emanuel Jones and reality TV personality Nebesky Kimes.

Clark will be the favorite to succeed Scott for a full term beginning next January, with Jonathan Chavez unopposed to become the Republican nominee.

Meanwhile, two-term U.S. Rep. Mike Collins advanced to the Republican U.S. Senate runoff in the Georgia primary.

Owner of a family trucking business, Collins, 58, represents a district east of Atlanta. An ally of President Donald Trump calls himself a “MAGA mover” and has made immigration enforcement a centerpiece of his candidacy.

Georgia Republicans are looking for a Democratic challenger US Senator Jon Ossoff. Of the other rivals, Rep. Buddy Carter plays his conservative tapes on Capitol Hill, while former college football coach Derek Dooley presents himself as a political outsider.

In the Republican gubernatorial primary, Gov. Burt Jones and health care billionaire Rick Jackson advanced to a June 16 runoff, extending the bruising battle.

Trump endorsed Jones last year, and Jones thanked him Tuesday night. A Jones win would strengthen Trump’s influence in a critical battleground state. The president’s royal record in Georgia was shaky, failing to unseat Gov. Brian Kemp and others in 2022 and endorsing Herschel Walker when he lost in the Senate that year.

Democratic voters are also considering who should lead the party’s bid for the governor’s office for the first time since 1998. The candidates include Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta; Geoff Duncan, a Republican-turned-Democrat who served as lieutenant governor; Jason Esteves, former state senator; and Mike Thurmond, former state labor commissioner.

The US Senate race will help determine control of Capitol Hill

Ossoff, 39, secured his party’s nomination for a second term on Tuesday night. He had no opposition in the primaries.

He is the only Democratic senator in the country seeking re-election this year in a state Trump won in 2024, making his race one of the most closely watched in the country. He positioned himself as a critic of political corruption and targeted Trump and his sons in business dealings that enriched the first family.

This is Ossoff’s first re-election campaign. In 2021, he became the first Jewish senator of Georgia.

Meanwhile, the Republican primaries were a test of loyalty to the president. Collins, who represents a district east of Atlanta, and Carter, who represents a district anchored in Savannah, play their conservative record on Capitol Hill. Dooley says he would support Trump’s agenda without being immersed in Washington politics.

Carter attacked Collins over a House ethics complaint that accused him of misusing taxpayer funds by paying a top aide’s girlfriend for work she allegedly did not perform. The Office of Congressional Conduct referred the matter to the House Ethics Committee after an initial investigation.

Collins denies wrongdoing.

“If the taxpayers can’t trust you to manage their money properly, how can they trust you to be a U.S. senator?” Carter asked Collins in the primary debate.

“Mate,” Collins retorted, “I can tell by your voice that you know how the voting works there.”

Collins sponsored the 2025 bill, which would require immigrants to be detained when accused of certain crimes. Republicans believe the issue hurts Ossoff because he originally voted against the measure before supporting it after Trump’s 2024 victory.

Huge stakes in Republican governor’s race

More than $125 million was spent on advertising in the Republican gubernatorial primary, with Jackson’s campaign spending more than $66 million of that, according to the latest data from ad tracking firm AdImpact. By contrast, Democrats running for governor spent only about $4 million.

Jones says his conservative history as a state senator and lieutenant governor, combined with Trump’s support, should make him an obvious choice for Republican voters.

“I think Georgia just spoke, y’all,” Jones said at his election night party. “The reason I know we’re going to win is because of friends and family.

He emphasized his support for tax and regulatory cuts and also acknowledged the president.

“I couldn’t leave this stage without thanking President Donald J. Trump,” he said.

Jackson is betting that his outsider will win over anti-establishment conservatives. On Tuesday night, he called Jones a political insider who “works inside the system for his own benefit.”

“I can’t be bought and I’m not going to back down,” Jackson said.

On the Democratic side, Bottoms hopes to win his party’s nomination and avoid a runoff. She was endorsed by former President Joe Biden after serving in his administration and plays down attacks on her one term as Atlanta mayor. She is the only black woman in the Democratic field, which can be a big advantage in a state where black women are the bedrock of the party.

Three other top Democrats have hopes of reaching the runoff. As a former Republican, Duncan says he can best attract swing voters to help Democrats win. Thurmond is campaigning on his deep experience in state government, and Esteves says he can build a “multiracial, multigenerational coalition” to win over Georgia’s young and diverse voters.

US House primaries

Scott’s death crushed the race, which was mostly about attacking him as too old and too absent. Voters in the majority-black district, which straddles Atlanta’s southern and eastern suburbs, will also vote in an all-party special election on July 28 to fill Scott’s unexpired term.

In the 11th district northwest of Atlanta, Loudermilk announced his retirement and endorsed staffer Rob Adkerson, who is being challenged by neurologist John Cowan and Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore.

In the 10th District east of Atlanta, state Rep. Houston Gaines is the top Republican vying to succeed Collins. Jim Kingston, the son of longtime U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, is the top Republican to take Carter’s seat in coastal Georgia’s 1st District.

In Northeast Georgia’s 9th District, three-term Republican incumbent Andrew Clyde fended off primary challenges from former Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon and Hall County Commissioner Gregg Poole.

Democrats are hoping to defeat the incumbent

The general election for judges in Georgia takes place on Tuesday. These positions are technically nonpartisan, but eight of the nine state supreme court justices were appointed by Republican governors. Democrats are backing Miracle Rankin in her challenge to Justice Charlie Bethel. They hope a strong Democratic turnout could produce the first defeat of an incumbent judge since 1922.

Judge Sarah Hawkins Warren defeated Democratic-backed former Sen. Jen Jordan on Tuesday. The third judge, Ben Land, has been unopposed for six years.

The state Commission on Judicial Qualifications, which investigates allegations of judicial misconduct, said in statements Sunday that Jordan and Rankin violated rules of judicial conduct by publicly endorsing each other and making statements in support of restoring abortion rights.

The commission said it reached its conclusions, which are not final, after receiving and reviewing complaints against each candidate.

State Democratic Party Chairman Charlie Bailey called the commission’s statement “a cynical attempt by a mere bureaucratic branch of the Georgia Republican establishment to hide the truth about this race from the voters of Georgia.”