Trump’s 2nd pick wins in Alabama
‘MAGA Mo’ loses his support and Senate runoff. Ex-president’s Georgia losses mount.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Katie Britt has won the Republican Senate nomination in Alabama, defeating sixterm U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks in a primary runoff after former President Trump took the unusual step of switching his endorsement.
The loss ends a turbulent campaign for Brooks, a conservative firebrand who had embraced Trump’s election lies and ran under the banner “MAGA Mo.” But the former president, who initially backed Brooks in the race to replace Britt’s former boss, retiring Sen. Richard C. Shelby, pulled his support as Brooks languished in polls.
Trump endorsed Britt after she emerged from the state’s May 24 primary with the most votes.
The state was among a few that voted Tuesday at the midpoint of a primary season that has been shaped by Trump’s effort to influence the GOP.
After defeats in last month’s Georgia primaries, Trump’s losing streak there continued Tuesday as two of his congressional picks faltered in GOP runoffs.
In the 6th District north of Atlanta, physician Rich McCormick beat Trumpbacked lawyer Jake Evans. In the 10th District east of Atlanta, trucking company owner Mike Collins beat Democrat-turned-Republican Vernon Jones.
Trump had persuaded Jones to run for the seat and drop his bid for governor to clear the field for former Sen. David Perdue. Perdue lost to GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, who had endorsed Collins. The seat is being vacated by GOP Rep. Jody Hice, who lost his bid to unseat Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, another top Trump target.
In Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser won the Democratic nomination for another term as mayor, fending off two challengers amid concerns over crime and homelessness.
But the Alabama Senate runoff drew particular attention due to the drama surrounding Trump’s endorsement and the fact that the winner will likely prevail in November after Trump won the state twice by more than 25 percentage points.
Trump rescinded his support for Brooks after their relationship soured and as the lawmaker languished in the polls. Brooks said at an August rally that it was time to move on from litigating the 2020 presidential race — which Trump said showed that Brooks had gone “woke.”
The race between Brooks, 68, and Britt, 40, represented a clash between different generations as well as two wings of the party.
Britt, Shelby’s former chief of staff, had cast herself as one of a new generation of leaders, emphasizing her socially conservative beliefs and painting Brooks as a career politician.
In Virginia, GOP voters were choosing congressional candidates to take on some of the most vulnerable Democrats.
In the coastal 2nd District, state Sen. Jen Kiggans won the Republican race to try to unseat Democrat Elaine Luria, a retired naval commander and member of the Jan. 6 committee. In central Virginia’s 7th District, six candidates were competing to face Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer.
In Georgia, Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen defeated former state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler in the secretary of state’s race.
Nguyen will face Raffensperger, the GOP incumbent who rebuffed Trump’s efforts to overturn President Biden’s win there. Raffensperger beat back a Trump-endorsed challenger in the May 24 GOP primary.