Big night for women as 4 states vote

ATLANTA — It was shaping up as a big night for women as four states cast primary and runoff ballots, with Georgia Democrats taking the lead by nominating Stacey Abrams for governor.

She will attempt in November to become the first black female governor in American history.

Voters also picked nominees in Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas. A closer look at key story lines in those three states:

TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL RUNOFFS

Texas had three House runoffs that will be key to whether Democrats can flip the minimum 24 GOP-held seats they’ll need for a majority when a new Congress convenes next year. All three were among 25 nationally where Trump ran behind Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In a San Antonio- Mexican border district, Gina Ortiz Jones, an Air Force veteran and former intelligence officer, got Democrats’ nod to face Republican Will Hurd in November. Jones would the first openly lesbian congresswoman from her state.

Former NFL player Colin Allred won a battle of two attorneys and former Obama administration official in a runoff for the Democratic nomination in a metro-Dallas district. He topped Lillian Salerno and will face Republican Rep. Pete Sessions in November. Both Allred and Salerno made the runoff ahead of national Democrats’ initial preferred candidate. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee later lined up behind Allred.

A metro- Houston matchup between attorney Lizzie Fletcher and activist Laura Moser has become a proxy for the internal party fight between liberals and moderates. National Democrats’ campaign committee never endorsed Fletcher, but released opposition research against Moser amid fears that she’s too liberal to knock off vulnerable Republican Rep. John Culberson in the fall.

Republicans will be watching whether Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a favorite in his own re- election race, can help his former chief of staff join Congress. Chip Roy is in a runoff for a San Antonio-area seat being opened by the retirement of Rep. Lamar Smith. Cruz would love to place another ally among House conservatives.

DEMS BATTLE IN KENTUCKY

Voters in a central Kentucky congressional district opted for retired Marine officer and fighter pilot Amy McGrath over Lexington Mayor Jim Gray to advance to a fall campaign against Republican Rep. Andy Barr.

National Democrats once touted Gray as one of their best recruits in their efforts for a House majority. They said in recent weeks they’d be happy with McGrath, but the race still shaped up as a battle between rank- and- file activists and the party establishment.

McGrath was making her first bid for public office, among a handful of female Naval Academy graduates running for Congress this year.

Gray also lost a 2016 Senate race.

In eastern Kentucky’s Rowan County, voters denied a Democratic nomination to a gay candidate who wanted to challenge the local clerk who denied him and others same- sex marriage licenses.

David Ermold had wanted to challenge Republican Kim Davis, who went to jail three years ago for denying marriage licenses in the aftermath of an historic U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

ARKANSAS’ HEALTH CARE PREVIEW

While Washington fixates on the daily developments in the Russia election meddling investigation, Democratic congressional candidates insist they’ll win in November arguing about breadand-butter issues like health care.

Arkansas state Rep. Clarke Tucker is running for Congress in a Little Rock-based district by telling his story as a cancer survivor. His first target is a crowded Democratic primary field, and Democrats may be looking at a runoff.

Still, Tucker’s real target is Republican Rep. French Hill, who voted many times to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act.