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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Keeping an eye on a GOP incumbent in Idaho’s 2nd District primary

Polls close in part of Idaho in about a half an hour, but the only race we're really watching there is the GOP primary in the 2nd Congressional District. Republican Rep. Mike Simpson has represented the solidly red seat since first winning it in 1998, and he seems more likely than not to claim a 14th term in Congress this year. However, Simpson's relatively centrist brand has previously caused him trouble, like in 2022 when he only won 55 percent against a well-funded primary challenger.

Now, Simpson doesn't have the same scale of opposition this time around: His main competitor is Scott Cleveland, an Ada County (Boise) GOP central committee member running to Simpson's right who's only raised $100,000. Still, we're keeping an eye on Simpson's vote share because some establishment Republicans this cycle have had weak primary performances against more right-wing challengers, like Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack and Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales (who still has to face his challenger again in a May 28 runoff).

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538


Scott still has a big lead in Georgia's 13th District Democratic primary

With 62 percent of the expected vote in, incumbent Georgia Rep. Scott has 61 percent of the vote so far, according to The Associated Press. His closest challenger, Baker, a former city council member who lost to Scott in 2022, is at 11 percent.

—Monica Potts, 538


Barrow wasn’t always such a crusader for abortion rights

Matt Klein, from the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, reminds us that before reinventing himself as a crusader for abortion rights in this year's election, Barrow was a conservative Blue Dog Democrat in Congress:

Hard to come up with a better illustration of the old way to win elections as a Democrat in the Deep South vs. the new way!

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


Answer: Abortion wasn’t really on the ballot, despite Barrow’s attempts to make it so

Since control of the Georgia Supreme Court wasn’t up for grabs, it’s hard to see one seat’s election as a real referendum on abortion. Add in the fact that Barrow’s attacks on Pinson kind of fell flat — yes, Pinson previously defended the state’s abortion ban, but as solicitor general, it was his job to defend the law against a legal challenge — and it just wasn’t enough to galvanize voters.

—Kaleigh Rogers, 538


Two challengers are neck-and-neck in a Kentucky state Senate seat

In a Kentucky state Senate seat, it looks like an incumbent, state Sen. Adrienne Southworth, may be unseated by one of her two challengers, both former Navy SEALS. Aaron Reed is at 39 percent, and the other challenger, Ed Gallrein, is at 38 percent, with more than 95 percent of the expected vote reporting, while Southworth is at 22 percent.

Southworth, who represents the district just east of Louisville, was weakened by fights against her own party, largely stemming from her spreading election fraud conspiracy theories. But there's also little ideological daylight between Reed and Gallrein, and one political observer, Teri Carter, wrote that it largely seemed like a competition to wear the biggest cowboy hat. Control of the state Senate isn't at stake because Republicans have a supermajority in the legislature, but battles like this one could make a difference for issues like whether school vouchers can be used to pay for private schools in the state.

—Monica Potts, 538