More than 1 million Georgians voted ahead of today’s primaries, shattering the previous primary season record of about 857,000 in 2022.
The turnout helped Keisha Lance Bottoms avoid a runoff and claim the Democratic nomination in Georgia’s race for governor.
The former Atlanta mayor celebrated the victory with about 150 campaign supporters and staffers in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency International in downtown Atlanta.
Taking aim directly at Trump when she launched her campaign last May, the Bottoms’ team launched a video outlining her plans to expand Medicaid, end state income tax for teachers, target corporate landlords, and increase support for small businesses.
“This is a defining moment for Georgia and for our country,” Bottoms said in the video, which featured an homage to her late grandmother and her five-generation lineage that hails back to a Georgia plantation. “With chaos in Washington, Georgians need a leader who will stand up for them. I’m running for governor to fight for Georgia families and deliver the leadership they deserve.”
If Bottoms is successful in November, this would be the first time a Democrat won the governor’s race in more than two decades.
Attorney General
In the first big race called tonight, attorney general candidate Tanya Miller cruised to an apparent landslide victory over former state House Minority Leader Bob Trammell to secure the Democratic party’s nomination. The Associated Press called the race for Miller at 7:33 p.m. Tuesday after she received more than 82% of unofficial votes cast, with just 25% of precincts reporting.
“I am deeply honored to accept the Democratic nomination for Georgia’s Attorney General. None of this would be possible without my family, friends, and an incredible team who believed in this mission from the start. Together, we built a growing, diverse coalition of volunteers and neighbors who carried this campaign and I am grateful for every single one of them,” Miller said in a statement sent to Capital B Atlanta. “I also want to thank my friend Bob Trammell for running a hard-fought, principled campaign. I look forward to working with him and Democrats across Georgia to win up and down the ticket this November.”
Miller, a civil rights attorney, centered much of her campaign on a using the AG’s office to combat Georgia’s affordability crisis.
She said earlier this month that she wants to join the coalition of Democratic attorneys general nationwide who have used the office to block some of the Trump administration’s policies from taking effect.
“The strongest firewall against the policies that the Trump administration has been enacting and that are hurting citizens, and in particular, hurting Georgians, have been Democratic AGs,” Miller said. “They have been responsible for almost 100 lawsuits. The vast majority of those lawsuits have been successful.”
Below is a breakdown of some of the important contests still up for grabs tonight.
U.S. House
Six candidates are on the May 19 Democratic primary ballot to succeed Scott in Congress for the next two years.
State Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, led in the latest party-sponsored poll in the 13th District primary released on May 6, receiving 57% support from Democrats who were surveyed online. Educator Everton Blair remained a distant second (11%), followed by dentist and reality TV star Heavenly Kimes (9%), state Sen. Emmanuel Jones (9%), fellow dentist Joe Lester (1%) and faith leader Jeffree Fauntleroy.
Clark is a four-term state lawmaker and assistant clinical professor at Emory University. She recently received an endorsement from former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and $300,000 in campaign ad funding from the 314 Action Fund, a nonprofit working to get more scientists, doctors, and STEM professionals elected to public office.
In addition, six candidates — including Marcye Scott, Scott’s daughter — are competing to fill the late representative’s remaining term, which ends in January. A special election is set for July 28.
District 13
The passing of U.S. Rep. David Scott in April cast a larger shadow of uncertainty over who ultimately will replace him in Congress next year. But anointing his ultimate successor isn’t the only tough choice metro Atlanta voters will make Tuesday.
The congressional contest is just one of several key races that could be decided tonight. More than 1 million Georgians voted ahead of Tuesday’s primaries, shattering the previous primary season record of about 857,000 in 2022.
U.S. Senate
A pair of U.S. House Republicans — Mike Collins and Buddy Carter — and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, who has been endorsed by Gov. Brian Kemp, are competing in the Republican primary for a chance to take on incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff this fall.
Ossoff, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, has been identified as the Democratic Party’s most vulnerable U.S. Senate incumbent. However, that was before President Donald Trump’s approval rating sank over voters’ dissatisfaction with the economy, the initially hesitant release of the Epstein files, and the war in Iran.
Fulton County Commission chair
Incumbent Robb Pitts is battling to keep his leadership position on the board, which has been accused of failing to adequately address deplorable conditions at the Fulton County Jail and the growing inequality between the county’s north and south sides.
Challenging him are fellow commissioners Mo Ivory and Marvin Arrington Jr. The two have characterized Pitts as a champion of the status quo who isn’t aggressive enough in addressing the challenges faced by economically struggling residents of the county’s majority-Black southwest communities.
Pitts has touted the high quality-of-life awards cities in the region have received since he was first elected in 2017, in addition to Grady Health System’s recently announced plans to open a new medical campus in Union City.
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