Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson have advanced to the June 16 Republican runoff for Georgia governor, extending a bruising campaign battle. President Trump endorsed Jones last year, and a Jones win would boost Trump's influence in a critical battleground state. The president's kingmaker record in Georgia had been shaky, failing to dislodge Gov. Brian Kemp and others in 2022 and backing Herschel Walker in a Senate loss that year. The Republican nominee will try to hold onto the governor's office for the party, which has won every election to the post since 2002, the AP reports.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who rejected pressure from Trump to "find" enough votes to reverse the president's 2020 election loss in the state, finished a distant third, with around 14% of the vote, compared to around 39% for Jones and 33% for Jackson, Politico reports.
- The winner of the GOP runoff vote will face former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the November election. She won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday. Bottoms snagged a rare endorsement from Joe Biden after serving in his administration, the AP reports.
- She has argued to voters that she was "battle-tested," trying to make a virtue out of a mayoral term where she had to manage crime, disorder, and the COVID-19 pandemic before her surprise decision not to seek reelection. Like other Democrats, she cites expanding healthcare, affordable housing, and better education as among her top issues. Bottoms faced criticism from former state Sen. Jason Esteves in the primary, but she benefited from wider name recognition.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
