HAPPENING TODAY: Runoffs to finalize GA Dem ticket
Dems nominate candidates for SOS, other races
Georgia Democrats will return to the polls one more time on Tuesday to finalize their statewide ticket with just over four months until the November general election.
The Democratic runoffs are set to be a huge test for gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, who has made endorsements in three of Tuesday’s contests.
In the race for Secretary of State, State Rep. Bee Nguyen, who represents the same Atlanta House district that Abrams once did, was the top vote-getter in May’s primary election.
But Nguyen missed out on the 50% threshold to win the election outright, triggering a runoff with second-place finisher Dee Dawkins-Haigler. The winner is set to face off against incumbent Brad Raffensperger in a race that will decide who will oversee Georgia’s vote count ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Abrams has endorsed Nguyen, but many of the candidates that did not make the runoff have endorsed Dawkins-Haigler.
Former prosecutor Charlie Bailey and longtime Atlanta city councilman Kwanza Hall are set to duke it out for the Democratic Lieutenant Governor nomination. Bailey, who ran for Attorney General in 2018, placed second in the May primary and has since earned Abrams’ endorsement.
Hall, who served the remainder of John Lewis’ final term in Congress, finished first despite raising little money and declining to attend public forums, debates and campaign events — a strategy that he appears to be replicating in the runoff. The Republican nominee, State Sen. Burt Jones, will be awaiting the winner of this Democratic runoff.
State Rep. William Boddie, a Democrat from East Point, has earned Abrams’ endorsement in the race for Labor Commissioner. He is facing entrepreneur Nicole Horn in Tuesday’s runoff. State Sen. Bruce Thompson, a Republican from White, secured his party’s nomination in May.
Abrams has not taken a side in the race for Insurance Commissioner, which features 2018 nominee Janice Laws Robinson and party activist Raphael Baker. Republican incumbent John King, who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019, is seeking his first full term.
While Republicans do not have any statewide runoffs, they will be deciding two hotly contested North Georgia congressional races. The results could further diminish former President Trump’s grip on the Georgia Republican Party after stinging defeats in the May primary.
They will also be choosing a nominee to take on Rep. Sanford Bishop, a Democrat from Albany who represents the state’s only competitive congressional district.
On my way to VOTE...💯