Georgia, Oregon, Idaho and Kentucky primaries 2024: Willis, McAfee win; tough night for progressives
Abortion didn’t help liberals flip a Georgia Supreme Court seat.
On May 21, voters in Georgia, Idaho, Oregon, Kentucky and California held key elections for Congress and nationally watched local races. Two key figures from one of Trump’s legal cases, Fani Willis and Scott McAfee, easily won their races, while conservatives won a Georgia Supreme Court election fought largely over abortion. In the House, progressives lost two key races in Oregon, while California voters picked a successor to Kevin McCarthy.
As usual, 538 reporters and contributors broke down the election results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.
Latest headlines:
Mainstream Republicans are trying to take their party back in Idaho
Perhaps the most interesting elections today in Idaho — where the first polls have just closed — are for the obscure position of precinct committeeman for the local GOP. As Monica has written, many state Republican parties are at war with themselves, and that’s the case in Idaho as well: Two traditionalist GOP groups, North Idaho Republicans and Gem State Conservatives, are trying to win as many precinct committeemen posts as possible in order to wrest control away from the party’s right wing, some of whom have ties to white nationalists.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
Scott has prevailed in his primary in Georgia's 13th Congressional District
Incumbent Democratic Rep. Scott has won his primary against 6 challengers, according to The Associated Press. He is likely to win reelection in this safe blue seat outside of Atlanta in November.
—Monica Potts, 538
Polls are now closed in southern Idaho and part of Oregon
It’s 10 p.m. Eastern, which means that polls are now closed in most of Idaho (the southern, most populous part) as well as in a sliver of eastern Oregon (however, the vast vast majority of Oregon won’t be done voting until 11 p.m. Eastern).
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538
Kentucky voters don't love school vouchers
Interesting, Monica! In a January survey from RABA Research, Kentucky voters were asked if they supported "diverting taxpayer dollars away from neighborhood public schools to use for private school vouchers." Only 26 percent said they supported vouchers and 74 percent opposed — though the question wording is a bit loaded, so we may expect that support could be a tad higher with a more neutral question. But given the very low support, I'm fascinated to hear that it's still a live issue in the state.
—Mary Radcliffe, 538
Georgia’s 3rd is going to a runoff
The AP is projecting that Jack and Dugan will go to a runoff to decide the Republican nominee in Georgia’s 3rd District. With 92 percent of the expected vote in, Jack has 47 percent and Dugan has 25 percent. The Trump-endorsed Jack will therefore go into the June 18 runoff a strong favorite to win.
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538