Georgia 2022 Primary Election Results

The magic number for candidates in Tuesday’s party primaries was 50 percent plus one. Those who won a majority of the vote or ran unopposed can set their sights on the Nov. 8 general election. In contested races where no candidate won a majority, the top two finishers will face off in runoffs scheduled for June 21.

As of Wednesday morning, the results in the most closely watched races were clear; in a handful, though, including in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, whether a runoff will be necessary remains to be determined. All of the vote totals reported were unofficial, pending certification.

Gov. Brian Kemp

Incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp can focus on a November rematch with Democrat Stacey Abrams, whom he narrowly defeated back in 2018. Kemp thumped former Sen. David Perdue in the Republican primary. Former President Donald Trump had endorsed Perdue and was unstinting in his criticism of Kemp, who resisted Trump’s urging to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. Perdue conceded before the sun set Tuesday and said he would back Kemp. With 85 percent of the precincts reporting, Kemp held 73 percent to 22 percent for Perdue. Abrams had no primary opposition. Libertarian Shane Hazel also will be on the general election ballot.

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger

Another frequent target of Trump’s ire, incumbent Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, appeared to be headed to victory in his Republican primary. With 90 percent of the precincts reporting, Raffensperger held 51.9 percent, while current 10th congressional district Rep. Jody Hice, endorsed by Trump, trailed with 33.7 percent. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Bee Nguyen held 42 percent of the primary vote and appeared headed to a runoff against former state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler. Former Fulton County Commissioner John Eaves, who is Jewish, was running fifth out of five Democratic hopefuls.

The race for attorney general in November will pit incumbent Republican Chris Carr against Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan. With 90 percent of the vote reported, Carr held 73.7 percent against John Gordon, who was endorsed by Trump. Jordan held 77.4 percent of the Democratic vote against Christian Wise Smith.

With 90 percent of the vote tallied, Trump’s endorsed candidate in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Burton Jones, held 50.3 percent of the vote, just enough to avoid a runoff against fellow state Sen. Butch Miller, who had 31 percent. Meanwhile, Kwanzaa Hall and Charlie Bailey appeared headed to a runoff from a nine-candidate Democratic field.

Herschel Walker

Former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker, who carried Trump’s endorsement, ran away from the field in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate and will square off with incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock in November. With 90 percent of the vote reported, Walker held 68.5 percent, while his closest opponent, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, had 13.3 percent. Warnock held 96 percent of the vote in his Democratic primary against Tamara Johnson-Shealey.

Democrat Lucy McBath

In the marquee race on the Democratic ballot, the 7th congressional district Democratic primary, current 6th district Rep. Lucy McBath appeared headed to a comfortable victory over incumbent Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux. With 88 percent of the precincts reporting, McBath held 62.8 percent of the vote to 30.7 percent for Bourdeaux. On the Republican side, Michael Corbin and Mark Gonsalves looked set to advance to a runoff from a five-candidate field.

With 73 percent of the precincts reporting, the Republican race in the 6th congressional district was headed to a runoff between Rich McCormick, with 44.1 percent, and Jake Evans with 23.6 percent, out of a nine-candidate field. On the Democratic side, Bob Christian held 55.5 percent of the vote against Wayne White. McBath jumped into the 7th district Democratic primary after the Republican-controlled General Assembly made the 6th more Republican-friendly in the post 2020 Census redistricting.

Marjorie Taylor Greene

In the 14th congressional district, with 87 percent of the precincts reporting, incumbent Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held 69.7 percent of the vote against five rivals. Retired doctor and Air Force officer Charles Lutin, was running fifth. Greene will be challenged in November by Democrat Marcus Flowers, who held 75 percent against two other Democratic hopefuls.

With one-third of precincts reporting, it appeared likely that two Jewish candidates would be on the November ballot in state House district 51. Democrat Esther Panitch held 54.1 percent of the vote against Erendira Brumley. Republican Peter Korman was running unopposed. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Josh McLaurin is seeking a seat in the state Senate.

Betsy Kramer

With nearly two-thirds of the precincts reporting in state House district 50, another Jewish candidate, long-time Fulton County Republican Party official Betsy Kramer, appeared headed for a runoff. Kramer held 46 percent of the vote, trailed by Narender Reddy with 28.1 percent. The winner will face Democratic state Sen. Michelle Au, who ran unopposed. Au is seeking a House seat after her Senate seat was eliminated in redistricting.

In House district 121, Athens Democrat Jeff Auerbach — who is Jewish — ran unopposed and in November will face Republican Marcus Wiedower, who also ran unopposed.

Mitchell Kaye

In House district 45, Republican Mitchell Kaye, a member of Chabad of Cobb, recently won a special election to represent the district until the General Assembly reconvenes in January. Kaye did not seek a full two-year term. Democrat Dustin McCormick, whom Kaye defeated in the special election runoff, ran unopposed. With two-thirds of the precincts reporting, current district 43 incumbent Rep. Sharon Cooper led the Republican primary with 78 percent of the vote against Carminthia Moore.

Also in Cobb County, with 70 percent of the precincts reporting, the proposal to create a City of East Cobb appeared headed for defeat, with 72 percent of the voters opposed.

Relatively few problems were reported at polling places, with officials crediting heavy early voting of nearly 800,000 ballots for reducing lines on Tuesday. November will be a major test of Georgia’s new voting law, which has withstood court challenges thus far. The new rules were enacted by the Republican-dominated General Assembly amid debunked claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and despite two recounts in which Biden defeated Trump in Georgia by 12,000 votes.