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:
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
The lesson out of Oregon
Based on the blowouts in Oregon’s 3rd and 5th District Democratic primaries, is the lesson here just “big spending works”?
—Nathaniel Rakich, 538