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.


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Dexter out to a big lead in Oregon’s 3rd District

Dexter was the big beneficiary of outside spending in the Democratic primary in Oregon’s 3rd District, and the early returns suggest those dollars really may have boosted her despite the fact she represents almost none of this seat in her current state legislative district. With 41 percent of the expected vote reporting, Dexter leads Jayapal 52 percent to 26 percent, so the outstanding votes are going to have to look pretty different for Jayapal to catch Dexter. Jayapal is trying to join her younger sister, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, in the House.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 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


Fong leads in California’s 20th

With 32 percent of the expected vote reporting in the Republican-on-Republican California 20th District special election, Assemblyman Vince Fong is leading Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux 74 percent to 26 percent. This is no surprise, since Fong had the endorsement of both Speaker Mike Johnson and ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose resignation triggered this special election.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


Initial results in Oregon's 4th District

With 29 percent of the expected vote reporting in the Republican primary for Oregon's 4th District, Air Force veteran and attorney Monique DeSpain leads former Keizer city councilmember, Amy Ryan Courser, 56 percent to 43 percent. DeSpain has an endorsement from Maggie's List — one of the GOP groups formed to elect more women to office that we've been tracking endorsements from this primary cycle. The winner of this primary will face incumbent Democrat, Rep. Val Hoyle in what's expected to be a competitive race.

—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor


That’s a wrap!

With all of tonight's key races now projected, it's time for us to hit the hay. Here's a recap of who won today:

- Despite trying to ride the wave of voter activation over abortion, former Democratic Rep. John Barrow failed to unseat Republican-appointed Justice Andrew Pinson in the only contested race for Georgia Supreme Court today.

- Challenges to a pair of major figures in Trump's Georgia election-interference case also went nowhere. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis easily won her Democratic primary, and Judge Scott McAfee won his judicial election against a self-described "conservative Democrat."

- The Republican primary in Georgia's 3rd District is going to a June 18 runoff between longtime Trump staffer Brian Jack and former state Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan.

- In Georgia's 13th District, incumbent Rep. David Scott prevailed over his six challengers to win his Democratic primary and will go on to seek reelection in November. Scott's challengers tried to focus on his age and health as an issue, echoing criticisms facing the Democrats and President Joe Biden in November, but incumbency proved too powerful an advantage.

- Out west, the DCCC got their candidate in Oregon's 5th District, as state Rep. Janelle Bynum easily dispatched attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner, who lost in 2022 in this seat against Republican Rep Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Bynum will face off against Chavez-DeRemer this November.

- In Oregon's 3rd District, state Rep. Maxine Dexter benefited from a plethora of outside spending to defeat former Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal in the Democratic primary, all-but-ensuring that Dexter will be this dark-blue seat's next representative.

- Republican Mike Erickson will get a third shot at winning a House seat as he cruised to victory in the GOP primary for Oregon's 6th District. At times, Erickson seems more focused on winning a defamation case against Rep. Andrea Salinas regarding an ad she aired last cycle against him than he does on beating her in an election.

- In Idaho's 2nd District, incumbent Republican Mike Simpson is poised to win his primary and likely reelection this fall. With more than 60 percent of the votes counted, he leads his closest challenger, investment adviser Scott Cleveland, 57 percent to 34 percent. (Scott Cleveland is a great quarterback name, now that this politics thing doesn't seem to be working out.)

- In the special election in California's 20th District (former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's old seat), Assemblyman Vince Fong defeated fellow Republican Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux. As a result, Speaker Mike Johnson will soon get an extra vote in the House.

—Monica Potts, Nathaniel Rakich, Kaleigh Rogers and Geoffrey Skelley, 538; Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections