Georgia, Oregon, Idaho and Kentucky primaries 2024: Tough night for progressives

Since the Dobbs decision, abortion has galvanized Democrats and liberals to victory in several races: There were the 2022 midterms; there was the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election; there was the ballot measure to codify abortion rights in the Ohio constitution last November.

But in Georgia today, the pro-abortion-rights message appears to have fallen flat; Pinson is beating Barrow 56 percent to 44 percent with about half of the vote counted. Why do you guys think that is?

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538

Tonight, Kaleigh's been updating us on state legislative races in Georgia. There's a misconception that female representation is markedly better in lower level offices, like state legislatures. It's a bit better, but not much. Women currently make up 28 percent of the U.S. Congress, and just 33 percent of state legislatures, nationwide. That number varies state to state, and some states we're watching today are below that average, while others are above: Idaho's state legislature is 30 percent women, Kentucky's 31 percent, Georgia's 35 percent, and Oregon's 41 percent (!), according to the Center for American Women and Politics.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor

Monica mentioned earlier that anti-abortion candidates in Georgia Republican primaries are doing fairly well, and I can't say I'm surprised. In an April survey by Morning Consult/Bloomberg, 70 percent of Georgia voters said that abortion would be "very important" or "somewhat important" to their vote for U.S. president, a bit less than the 76 percent of swing state voters overall. But when asked which presidential candidate they trust more to handle the issue of abortion, 41 percent said Biden and 37 percent said Trump, a narrower gap than we've seen in national polling that tends to favor Biden.

And of course, in a Republican primary the issue may be even less salient in the state. Just 37 percent of Republican voters in the state told the pollsters that the issue was very important, compared to 61 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of independents.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538

We’re up to 40 percent of the expected vote counted in the Republican primary for Georgia’s 3rd District, according to the AP, and Jack is up to 47 percent of the vote. If he can clear the majority threshold, he’ll avoid a June 18 runoff — and he’s trending in the right direction.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538