Election Results: Georgia Republican race for governor heads to runoff

Georgia’s race for governor is heading in two very different directions Tuesday night. On the Republican side, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones and billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson are headed to a June runoff. On the Democratic side, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has all but locked up her party’s nomination.

Republicans headed back to the ballot

The Associated Press has called the Republican primary for governor, and no candidate will win outright tonight. Jones has held about 37% of the vote throughout the evening, with Jackson close behind at about 34%. Under Georgia law, a candidate must clear 50% to avoid a runoff, and with a crowded field splitting the remaining votes, neither man came close to that threshold.

The two have spent months and millions of dollars attacking each other on the airwaves. Attorney General Chris Carr, one of their rivals in the race, put it bluntly at a recent debate, saying “there’s one really rich guy and one guy’s rich daddy that are trying to buy your vote.” The Jones and Jackson campaigns have traded accusations about everything from abuse of public office to shady business dealings.

Voters will settle the Republican nomination June 16.

Bottoms dominates on the Democratic side

The Democratic race is a different story. Bottoms has topped 60% of the vote, a commanding margin that puts her well above the threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Former state Sen. Jason Esteves is her nearest competitor with about 14%.

Bottoms spent much of the primary as the frontrunner and the target. Esteves repeatedly attacked her over the 2020 killing of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in Atlanta, calling her a “liability” for Democrats. Republicans, meanwhile, were already training their fire on her before the primary was over. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a recent debate that if Bottoms wins the governor’s office, Georgians “wouldn’t have safe streets.”

Her campaign pushed back, saying Bottoms “delivered results” as mayor and is “the candidate in this race best positioned to be elected as the first Democratic governor for the first time this century.”

What comes next

The Republican runoff between Jones and Jackson is set for June 16. The winner looks to face Bottoms in the November 3 general election, where Democrats are hoping to reclaim the governor’s office for the first time in more than two decades.