History made in Georgia primary
Big night for women as four states cast votes
ATLANTA — Four states cast primary and runoff ballots Tuesday, with Georgia Democrats taking the lead by positioning Stacey Abrams to become the first black female governor in American history.
Abrams already set historical marks with a primary victory making her the first black nominee and first female nominee for governor of either majority party in Georgia.
Voters also picked nominees in Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas.
Georgia governor’s race: Democrats were set to nominate a woman for governor either way, with Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans battling it out in a pitched primary fight.
But the 44-year-old Abrams stood out in her bid to be the nation’s first black female governor. The Atlanta attorney and former state General Assembly leader also has been unabashed in her insistence that the way to dent Republican domination in Georgia isn’t by cautiously pursuing the older white voters who’ve abandoned Democrats over recent decades.
Rather, she believes the path is to widen the electorate by attracting young voters and nonwhites who haven’t been casting ballots.
She’ll test her theory as the underdog against either Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle or Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who will meet in a July runoff.
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 topped Lillian Salerno and will face Republican Rep. Pete Sessions in November.
Democrats 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.
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 a historic U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
Arkansas’ health care preview: 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. Tucker’s real target is Republican Rep. French Hill, who voted many times to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act.