Marine veteran upsets Dem favorite in Ky. as 4 states vote
ATLANTA » A retired female fighter pilot upset an established Democratic politician Tuesday in a key congressional primary in Kentucky as four states cast primary and midterm ballots ahead of the November midterms.
Votes also were being tallied in Arkansas, Georgia and Texas. A look at key story lines: GEORGIA GOVERNOR’S RACE Democrats will tap either Stacey Abrams or Stacey Evans as the state’s first female nominee for governor from either major party. If Abrams ultimately were to prevail in November, she’d become the first black female governor in any state capital.
Both are Atlanta-area attorneys and former state lawmakers. They’re mostly aligned on policy but have shredded each other’s legislative and legal careers. More interesting, perhaps, are their competing strategies.
Abrams, 44, says Democrats can flip the GOP-run state only by expanding the electorate and attracting younger and nonwhite voters to the Democratic column. Evans, 40, says liberal policies can be pitched to all voters, even including white Georgians who have abandoned Democrats in recent decades.
Georgia Republicans, meanwhile, likely will have a runoff after a bitter primary that has been a run to the right on everything from immigration to support for President Donald Trump.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is expected to lead Tuesday’s voting, but it’s the men chasing him who’ve stolen headlines. One of Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s closing ads depicted him with a shotgun sitting next to a teenage boy supposedly wanting to date the candidate’s daughter. In another spot, Kemp drove a pickup truck he said would be useful in case he had to “round up criminal illegals.”
A state senator lagging badly in the polls tried to one-up Kemp. Michael Williams campaigned with a “deportation bus,” and when it broke down — literally — he suggested leftists had put water in the gas tank.
The GOP nominee will be a favorite in the fall, but some Georgia Republicans are concerned that a nasty runoff could harm the party in a state accustomed to more centrist, business-aligned governors who rarely flout Atlanta-based behemoths like Delta and Coca-Cola. Some GOP figures worry the gamesmanship already has ensured Georgia won’t land Amazon’s second headquarters.
TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL RUNOFFS
Texas has 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.
The Texas districts are among 25 nationally where Trump ran behind Hillary Clinton in 2016. Democrats could end up nominating women in all three districts, adding another wrinkle to a midterm election year that has seen record numbers of women running for office.
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.
In a San Antonio-Mexican border district, Gina Ortiz Jones is the favorite to become the first openly lesbian Latina congresswoman from her state. Republican Will Hurd currently holds the seat.
A Dallas-area seat matches two attorneys and former Obama administration officials, Colin Allred and Lillian Salerno. Both made the runoff ahead of national Democrats’ initial preferred candidate. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has since lined up with Allred, who is also a former player for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
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-andfile 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 bread-and-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.
The Arkansas district may not be at the top of Democrats’ national target list, but it’s the kind of district the party might have to win to be assured of regaining House control in November.