President Donald Trump’s endorsement will once again be put to the test in multiple Republican primaries on Tuesday, which will also mark the kickoff of major general election campaigns for Senate and governor in battleground Georgia.
Subscribe to read this story ad-free
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
Voters head to the polls for primaries in Oklahoma, as well as the District of Columbia, where the battle for mayor has highlighted broader divides in the Democratic Party. And Alabama and Georgia are holding primary runoffs in races where no candidate won a majority of the primary vote on May 19.
In California, voters in the 14th Congressional District will weigh in on a replacement for former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, though this special primary election could lead to a special general election in August if no candidate wins a majority of Tuesday’s all-party vote.
Here are the key races to watch on Tuesday:
Trump’s Georgia picks
Trump made a last-minute endorsement in the Republican Senate runoff in Georgia, backing GOP Rep. Mike Collins in the very early hours of Sunday morning. Collins is facing former football coach Derek Dooley, and the winner will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November in a race that will be central to the battle for the Senate.
Collins finished first in the May 19 primary with 40% of the vote to Dooley’s 30%. Collins quickly touted Trump’s endorsement on the airwaves, revising one of his TV spots to note that he had the president’s backing.
Dooley, meanwhile, has gotten a boost from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. The governor is personally close with the Dooley family — Dooley’s father was a legendary University of Georgia football coach — and Kemp and his wife joined Dooley on the campaign trail throughout the primary. Kemp also appeared in Dooley campaign ads, which have pitched Dooley as a political outsider who will “work with President Trump and always put Georgia first.”
Kemp told reporters on Monday that he was “very clear with the president of why I thought we needed a political outsider in this race. And the best political outsider was Derek Dooley to beat Jon Ossoff. And obviously he disagreed with that. And the voters are going to weigh in tomorrow to settle that score.”
Dooley has outspent Collins on the airwaves since the primary, but Collins has noted that he was outspent in the primary, too. He’s cast that as an indicator of strong grassroots support.
Collins has framed himself as a staunch Trump ally, saying in a runoff debate that he is a “conservative work horse” and noting frequently on the trail and in ads that he authored the Laken Riley Act, an immigration enforcement measure that was the first bill Trump signed into law in his second term.
Collins has also drawn some controversies. He recently fired a longtime staffer, Brandon Phillips, from both the campaign and his congressional office, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, after publishing a disparaging post on behalf of Collins’ campaign account on X.
Phillips was also at the center of a House Ethics Committee probe into whether Collins misused congressional funds by paying Phillips for campaign work and by employing Phillips’ girlfriend, who did not do work for the office. Collins has said the allegations are “bogus.”
Meanwhile, Kemp could not run for re-election as governor due to term limits, and the race for the GOP nomination comes down to a runoff between Trump-backed Lt. Gov Burt Jones and billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, who have been battling over who can out-MAGA the other. The winner will face former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee, in November.
Jones has touted Trump’s endorsement in the race, and the president has held a pair of telerallies for him. Jones curried strong favor with Trump following the 2020 election when he was on the alternate slate of presidential electors who cast votes for Trump at the state Capitol after an official tally confirmed his defeat by Joe Biden.
Kemp also backed Jones just days before the runoff. Asked why he supported a political outsider in the Senate race but not the governor’s race, Kemp told reporters on Monday that voters have favorable views of his administration, “and we want to keep that going.”
Jackson has also compared himself to the president, painting himself as a wealthy outsider, businessman and change agent, often noting, “I’ll be Trump’s favorite governor.” The billionaire has spent more than $100 million of his own money on the race, saturating Georgia’s airwaves with ads.
There is uncertainty over what Republican voters who supported the third- and fourth-place finishers in the original May 19 contest will do — and whether they’ll turn out again. Jackson has aggressively courted voters who supported Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state Attorney General Chris Carr, and Carr has publicly endorsed Jackson, appearing in an ad to talk about his support. Raffensperger got 15% of the vote in the May 19 election, while Carr got 12%.
Alabama Senate runoff
The GOP primary to replace Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor, went to a runoff between Rep. Barry Moore and Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL. Moore, who has Trump’s endorsement, finished first in the May 19 primary with 39% of the vote, followed by Hudson at 26%.
The runoff has featured nearly $7 million in ads, largely boosting Moore, according to AdImpact. The three-term congressman has gotten support from Defend American Jobs, a super PAC tied to the cryptocurrency industry, and another group funded in part by the conservative Club for Growth Action, which has endorsed Moore. The groups have touted Trump’s endorsement and sought to cast Hudson as “Democrats’ stalking horse.”
Hudson has cast himself as a “warrior who will fight alongside President Trump.” An allied outside group has also knocked Moore as a “D.C. swamp king” and accused the congressman of “stolen valor.”
Moore has indeed faced some questions about his service in the Alabama National Guard and Army Reserve. A 2024 letter aimed at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz listed Moore as a retired staff sergeant. Moore’s campaign posted some of his military records online, which show Moore was honorably discharged with the rank of cadet, but at the same pay grade as a staff sergeant. Moore’s campaign blamed the letter’s organizers for inaccurately describing his service, saying he did not retire but was honorably discharged. The campaign said Moore “has never called himself a retired Staff Sergeant.”
Moore also said in a 2020 campaign ad that he had “been in those combat boots,” although he did not serve in combat. Moore’s campaign noted National Guard members train in combat boots, providing a link to the boots on his campaign website. Moore posted a video on social media in which he says, “I was never in combat and I never claimed to be.”
There is also a runoff for the Democratic nomination featuring attorney Everett Wess and businessman Dakari Larriett, but Democrats face a steep uphill climb in the deep-red state.
More Trump tests in Oklahoma
Trump has also taken sides in the race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, backing former state Sen. Mike Mazzei in the crowded primary and praising him as a “MAGA warrior.” The crowded Republican field also includes Attorney General Gentner Drummond, former state House Speaker Charles McCall and businessman Chip Keating.
Meanwhile, the race for lieutenant governor pits Stitt against Trump, who has endorsed former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon. The outgoing governor has endorsed David Ostrowe, the state’s chief operating officer.
Trump’s pick for the Senate in Oklahoma, GOP Rep. Kevin Hern, is expected to be on a glide path in the race to replace former Sen. Markwayne Mullin, whom Trump tapped to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Hern is facing multiple candidates in the primary, but none of his opponents have raised or spent significant funds.
Runoffs are possible in primaries in Oklahoma, where the top two finishers head to an Aug. 25 runoff if no one wins a majority of the primary vote.
Democrats battle in D.C.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser’s decision to retire spawned a crowded race and a major clash between the Democratic establishment and the progressive wing of the party. The race could result in another major U.S. city being led by a self-described democratic socialist.
The results of Tuesday’s Democratic primaries in the city could be unknown for several days. If no candidate wins a majority in the initial tally of first-choice votes, the race goes to a ranked choice tabulation, which could be a lengthy process since the District accepts mail ballots for up to 10 days after the election.
The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to be in a strong position in November in the deep-blue city, and the two frontrunners are City Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and former City Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie. Vincent Orange, another former councilmember, is also running, as are a slew of other candidates.
Lewis George has been on the council since 2021 and is leaning on unions and progressives in her bid for mayor. She’s focused on affordability and her backers include the city’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, four city councilmembers, progressive groups like Our Revolution and Working Families Party, and more.
McDuffie, who spent more than a decade on the City Council, has emphasized his experience and cast Lewis George’s proposals as unrealistic. He’s also framed her as soft on crime over her past support for redirecting police funding to violence intervention. McDuffie is backed by two councilmembers in addition to Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and a handful of business-affiliated groups.
The race for the District’s lone representative in Congress will be open for the first time since 1990, with Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton retiring. While the delegate cannot vote on legislation on the House floor, the delegate is the top advocate for residents in battles for statehood and autonomy.
The crowded field includes city councilmembers Brooke Pinto and Robert White Jr., former Clinton administration Justice Department official Kinney Zalesne, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko and former Holmes Norton aide Trent Holbrook.
California special election
Voters will also head to the polls in California’s 14th District to replace former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress amid allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied.
The state just held its regularly scheduled primary, in which voters chose two Democrats — state Sen. Aisha Wahab and Bay Area Rapid Transit Board member Melissa Hernandez — to advance to the general election. Both of those candidates are on the ballot for the special election as well, along with several others.
The winner of the special election will serve in the seat for the rest of the year, which could give the winner a boost in that fall election. Unless one candidate wins a majority of the special election vote on Tuesday and wins the race outright, the top two candidates will move on to an Aug. 18 special general election.
Deep-red House seats
Tuesday’s elections will also result in two likely new members of Congress, with open seat races in solidly Republican districts.
In Oklahoma’s 1st District, which includes Tulsa, Trump has backed pastor Jackson Lahmeyer in the race to replace Hern. There is a crowded primary field that includes state Rep. Mark Tedford and Kim David, the head of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and former state Senate majority leader.
But Lahmeyer has been on defense in the race’s final days after a news report prompted him to admit he sent text messages to a woman who was not his wife that crossed a “boundary line.”
In Georgia’s 11th District northwest of Atlanta, there is a GOP runoff to replace retiring GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk. The two candidates are John Cowan, a self-funding doctor who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2020, and Rob Adkerson, Loudermilk’s chief of staff, who has his boss’s endorsement for the seat.
